John Lennon: Imagine Meaning

Song Released: 1971

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Imagine Lyrics

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the...

1. 1TOP RATED

   #1 top rated interpretation:
   coolchicka

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   Jun 15th 2014 report

   Through these lyrics, John Lennon was asking us to imagine a place where things that divide people did not exist. The song covers the violence issue we have in this world. We are surrounded by hate, cruelty, murder, war and racism. The world that he sings about tells us how we should want the world to be. In the song there is world peace and everyone is living together as one; sharing the world. It was written to show us that there is another way out there to live our lives; that we don’t need to hate and kill but to learn to live in peace and harmony with each other. It’s so pleasant to imagine that everyone is sharing the world, instead of fighting for the imaginary boundaries. These are all fantasies that can never come true and he is dreamer, he knows that there are many other people like him who dream of peace, love and equality -“You, you may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one.” He hopes that someday everyone will have the same dream and so it won’t be a dream anymore, it will become reality and then we won’t be separated by our countries or beliefs and we’ll live together as one. – “I hope someday you will join us, and the world will live as one.”

2. 2TOP RATED

   #2 top rated interpretation:
   CavGuy

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   Aug 4th 2006 report

   The meaning of this song is very simple. Just think of what our world would be like without governments, religion and posessions. He then lends his idea of what would happen. No war, hate nor poverty only peace. I think human nature would never allow this to happen. Too many powerful people would lose said power. It's a nice thought, though.
   
   This song was written during the height of the war in viet nam, the first nixon administration and the peace movement. Much of the popular culture of the time was centered around these factors. Notice how prevalent the song is today...The war against terrorism, the second bush administration and the peace movement...Coincidence?

3. 3TOP RATED

   #3 top rated interpretation:
   anonymous

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   Sep 5th 2009 report

   "Imagine there's no Heaven
   It's easy if you try
   No hell below us
   Above us only sky
   Imagine all the people
   Living for today"
   
   Heaven and hell, like all other opposites in this world, occur only in the human mind. God is oneness, and when your mind is free of attachment to this world, and you experience oneness with everything, you are in true Heaven, and there is no hell. To reach this oneness, you must also live in the moment. Time is an illusion. When we see things in this world change from one appearance to another, and use our memory to notice this change, we believe that time has passed. But when we are one with the Universe, time does not exist. Eternity is not endless time, it is no time. Oneness with everything means the constant state of bliss, nirvana.
   
   "Imagine there's no countries
   It isn't hard to do
   Nothing to kill or die for
   And no religion too
   Imagine all the people
   Living life in peace
   
   This is much easier to interpret and come to grips with. again it deals with separation. Humans suffer because they feel alone or separated. Having enemies makes them feel better about themselves, but this comes from fear. Feeling oneness with all God's creatures, with the Universe itself, is the only true happiness, and peace.
   
   "You may say that I'm a dreamer
   But I'm not the only one
   I hope someday you'll join us
   And the world will be as one"
   
   If everyone joined John in the dream of this song, the world would truly be as one. We may be evolving to this state. Humans became aware of themselves, their individuality, which also brought about their fear and suffering, but once they realize their oneness with the Universe, while they are still aware of their own being, a special spiritual race will evolve.
   
   
   "Imagine no possessions
   I wonder if you can
   No need for greed or hunger
   A brotherhood of man
   Imagine all the people
   Sharing all the world"
   
   This is such a beautiful phrase and gives you a view of what life could be like if all people truly loved each other as one.
   
   "You may say that I'm a dreamer
   But I'm not the only one
   I hope someday you'll join us
   And the world will live as one"
   
   John was a dreamer, and was able to put one of the greatest, most mysterious spritiual truths into a wonderful song that will be enjoyed forever
4. anonymous

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   Dec 8th 2021 report

   When asked by a journalist what the song means, he answered point blank
   "The song is basically the communist manifesto."
   As a life long leftist I could not agree more.
   When I first heard the song I thought "that's me".
5. anonymous

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   Feb 27th 2021 report

   The lyrics " You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one." I believe that line was in ref to Martin Luther King Jr. I have a dream. Submitted by Marcia Gadsden
6. anonymous

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   Nov 11th 2020 report

   Yes this is a song about peace. However , the Creator will bring paradise conditions back to the earth. Man made kingdoms will be done away with plus false religion. At that time love will rule because we will allow our Creator to tell us what is right and wrong not men or governments that separate people. No holidays to separate us either. “ Look I am making New Heavens and a New Earth.” The former things have been done away with. Perhaps John had read this in the Bible.
7. LyricsRange

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   May 7th 2020 report

   This song can be totally related to the current scenario of everyone in the world right now. The phase that everyone is going through.
   
   You can find more about this song on https://lyricsrange.com/imagine-lyrics-john-lenon/
8. fjodor2

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   Apr 20th 2020 report

   John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's Imagine has often been viewed as an atheist song. From a spiritual perspective, it can be associated with Sufi wisdom.
   
   Rabe’a al-Adiwiyah, a great woman saint of Sufism, was seen running through the streets of her hometown, Basra, carrying a torch in one hand and a bucket of water in the other. She wanted to burn down heaven and extinguish fire in hell so that people would live in the here-and-now, without fear of heaven or hell, and experience pure presence.
   
   https://spirit-rockmusic.eu/2020/02/john-lennons-imagine-atheist-or-spiritual/
9. fjodor7

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   Apr 16th 2020 report

   John Lennon's and Yoko Ono's Imagine has often been viewed as an atheist song. From a spiritual perspective, it can be associated with Sufi wisdom.
   
   In a Playboy interview, not long before his death, Lennon called himself "a most religious fellow".
   
   https://spirit-rockmusic.eu/2020/02/john-lennons-imagine-atheist-or-spiritual/
   
10. anonymous

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    Apr 2nd 2020 report

    This man was talking about the 5D reality, heaven on earth. Just about to shift out of this 3D soon....
11. anonymous

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    Mar 24th 2020 report

    It’s just a song, a beautiful melody and words Written by Lennon in a time of war That he made millions of dollars from. Someday there will be peace and the one God will create as promised a paradise that we will live for eternity. Maybe Lennon didn’t have to imagine but just read the Bible prophecy of what’s to come for those who Believe in Jesus Christ.
12. anonymous

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    Feb 1st 2020 report

    New world order.
13. anonymous

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    Jan 26th 2020 report

    The meaning of this song is very simple.just think of what our world would like without government, religion and possessions. He then lends his idea of what would happen. No war ,hate nor poverty only peace. I think human nature would never allow this to happen. To many powerful people would lose said power. It's a nice thought though
14. anonymous

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    Jan 6th 2020 report

    Imagine Earth. Earth without hate, earth without poverty, and earth without discrimination. Its really a wonderful thought that John Lennon tried to express through this song. Even though it will never really happen its nice to think about it
15. anonymous

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    Nov 21st 2019 report

    I think this song is such a beautiful song .This song connect a person to another person.
16. anonymous

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    Nov 16th 2018 report

    Bunch of communist bullshit is what it’s about.
17. anonymous

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    Sep 17th 2018 report

    i see him thinking what would we be without war and arguments and how people think he is a day dreamer
18. anonymous

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    Sep 7th 2018 report

    IF John Lennon lived in a Wig Wam and ate off the land i would have more respect for the virtue of the song. It is a beautiful piece for which he deserves credit for thinking about.
    However, the reality is he was a Millionaire living in Central New York and not prepared to give a cent up.
    I think this song means more to mere mortals like me than it ever did to Lennon.
    Life is great when you are at the TOP!

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