Lennon himself spoke of communism when he spoke of “Imagine”. But not in the way Babiarz

Przemysław Babiarz described the words of “Imagine” as “a vision of communism”. The statement of the sports commentator, describing the opening of the Olympic Games in Paris with the word, resonated widely in Poland. All because the journalist, speaking about “Imagine” sung in Paris, critically referred to the content of the song, which is widely considered to be a peace anthem. “A world without heaven, nations, religions and this is the vision of this peace that is to encompass everyone. This is the vision of communism, unfortunately” – he said on air, for which he was removed from commentating on the Games. John Lennon himself spoke about communism when asked about the words of “Imagine”, but he gave the lyrics a completely different meaning than Przemysław Babiarz.

What is John Lennon’s “Imagine” about?

“Imagine that there is no heaven or hell, only sky above us, no countries, nothing to kill or die for, no religion, no property, no greed, no hunger. We are all brothers to each other, we are one, we live in peace today” – sings John Lennon in “Imagine”, a song that saw the light of day in 1971, at the end of the US war in Vietnam. It sounds like a communist manifesto, but the author of the lyrics himself disputed this interpretation. Lennon pointed out that he was absolutely not talking about the kind of criminal communism that prevailed in the Soviet Union or China at that time.

“Imagine,” which says “imagine there’s no religion, no state, no politics,” does sound like the Communist Manifesto. But I’m not a communist, nor do I belong to any such movement, Lennon said. “I’ve always been politically opposed to the status quo. That’s pretty obvious when you’re brought up, as I was, to hate the police as the natural enemy, to despise the army as an organization that takes people with it and leaves them dead somewhere far away. I have that normal working-class attitude,” he explained.

Shortly after the premiere of “Imagine”, the audience for the song was divided into two groups, using the song to create their own goals and politics. Lennon was criticized not only by some politicians who saw a communist spirit in the song, but also by clergymen, for whom the appeal for “no heaven and no religion” was equivalent to life without God. John Lennon had to explain this issue as well.

It’s not about the lack of religion as in the lack of God. It’s about the lack of “my God is more important than yours” attitude, about positive prayer and imagining a world living in peace. A church once asked me if they could use “Imagine” but with the lyrics changed to “imagine one religion”. That showed me that they completely misunderstood the song. It would have killed it, it would have destroyed the whole idea – he said.

Depending on the recipient, some understood “Imagine” as an appeal for life in community and peace, without the elements that humanity has been able to fight for since the dawn of time, while others saw the author’s communist tendencies, from which Lennon did not distance himself with particular determination at that time. Even then, communism understood in the Soviet or Chinese style was a criminal system that claimed millions of victims. Lennon was also accused of blatant hypocrisy, because as a very rich man at that time (The Beatles broke up shortly before the premiere of “Imagine”) he appealed to get rid of worldly goods, which he himself did not do. Regardless of the various possibilities of interpretation, “Imagine” has been used for years to call for peace in the world and life in unity more often than as a symbol of communism. Since 1996, quite It is also regularly performed during the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.referring to the community of the world united for the time of sports competition.