Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
04-18-20, 04:58 PM
#101
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
^Aw, your posts here just exude warmth, kindness, and forbearance.
04-18-20, 05:01 PM
#102
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Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
Originally Posted by Norm de Plume
^Aw, your posts here just exude warmth, kindness, and forbearance.
Norm is bringing the funny...
04-18-20, 05:11 PM
#103
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
Originally Posted by Mabuse
It’s a naive song from a burned out guy whose music sucked by that point in his life. Maybe if he’d lived he would have had a Brian Wilson-like comeback, but he just sucked at the end.
04-20-20, 11:32 AM
#104
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Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
His entire solo output is sub par.
My take is that there was never a consistency of music and lyrics. One or the other was always terrible. So like the song Oh Yoko; great music, terrible lyrics. Or the converse, there’s Bring on the Lucie; great lyrics with bad music.
My take is that there was never a consistency of music and lyrics. One or the other was always terrible. So like the song Oh Yoko; great music, terrible lyrics. Or the converse, there’s Bring on the Lucie; great lyrics with bad music.
04-21-20, 06:55 PM
#106
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Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
Yes it is all I’m going to do in a thread titled “Is Imagine the worst song ever?”
05-02-20, 10:17 AM
#107
DVD Talk Limited Edition
Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
I read a bit of trivia about the song "Nobody Told Me" that I never heard before. John Lennon actually intended to give this song to Ringo Starr to record for one of his solo albums. But after that psychopath killed Lennon, his own recording of the song - not sure if it was considered a demo version or not - was mixed and released posthumously and it ended up as John Lennon's last top-10 hit song.
Really surprising because I think is this is one of John Lennon's best solo career songs and it doesn't seem like a Ringo type of song at all.
Really surprising because I think is this is one of John Lennon's best solo career songs and it doesn't seem like a Ringo type of song at all.
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05-03-20, 11:59 AM
#108
DVD Talk Legend
Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
^that's really cool. Never heard that bit of trivia.
And I totally disagree with you that it doesn't sound like a Ringo type of song. I just got finished watching The Beatles Anthology and listened to some of Ringo's solo stuff and it totally sounds like a Ringo song to me. I can hear him singing it in my head.
And I totally disagree with you that it doesn't sound like a Ringo type of song. I just got finished watching The Beatles Anthology and listened to some of Ringo's solo stuff and it totally sounds like a Ringo song to me. I can hear him singing it in my head.
05-03-20, 01:30 PM
#109
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Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
I absolutely agree. I can totally hear it in his voice.
That song does not transcend my two categories. The musicianship is superb. It really rocks. The lyrics are weak. The verses are like laundry lists. Very repetitive. Nothing all that inspiring or clever. I compare this song to early talking heads. Their lyrics were like laundry lists too, but they were clever and would grab on to hard, meaningful words and phrases.
I will concede the chorus is superb.
That song does not transcend my two categories. The musicianship is superb. It really rocks. The lyrics are weak. The verses are like laundry lists. Very repetitive. Nothing all that inspiring or clever. I compare this song to early talking heads. Their lyrics were like laundry lists too, but they were clever and would grab on to hard, meaningful words and phrases.
I will concede the chorus is superb.
05-03-20, 11:04 PM
#110
Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
I like the last posted song. But damn, John Lennon’s post-Beatles career has Yoko all up in the videos, on the records, dancing...
I also like “Imagine.” It’s kind of a “hippy-dippy” ode to the ideas and politics of his generation, but for me it’s like a musical time capsule.
Ozzy Osbourne’s “Dreamer” reminds me a bit of it.
I also like “Imagine.” It’s kind of a “hippy-dippy” ode to the ideas and politics of his generation, but for me it’s like a musical time capsule.
Ozzy Osbourne’s “Dreamer” reminds me a bit of it.
Last edited by brayzie; 05-03-20 at 11:10 PM.
05-11-20, 04:00 PM
#111
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Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
We need to give the honors to Baby Shark.
I mean, the song is used to torture people.
https://www.salon.com/2019/07/18/flo...ing-in-public/
I mean, the song is used to torture people.
https://www.salon.com/2019/07/18/flo...ing-in-public/
05-16-20, 02:06 AM
#112
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Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
Originally Posted by OldBoy
How does this have any hate?
1) The saccharine, yet dopey lyrics aren't a "moving poem", or an "examination of my role in the Universe"... "Imagine" is a shitty Hallmark card. Meaningless platitudes. Something a hack at Successories would shit out late Friday afternoon before a long weekend. Long before Billy Joel came around, John Lennon was KING of the "songs that sound deep and meaningful, but once you think about it, mean nothing at all".
2) John Lennon was a wife-beating, child-abandoning hypocrite. "Imagine no possessions", said the man with a custom-painted Rolls-Royce, a Patek Philippe wristwatch that cost $40,000 in 1972 ($247,885.78 in 2019 dollars), and had a refrigerated room just for his fur coats. Yeah, fuck that guy. As Elvis Costello said, "Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?"
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05-17-20, 06:34 PM
#113
Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum
2) John Lennon was a wife-beating, child-abandoning hypocrite. "Imagine no possessions", said the man with a custom-painted Rolls-Royce, a Patek Philippe wristwatch that cost $40,000 in 1972 ($247,885.78 in 2019 dollars), and had a refrigerated room just for his fur coats. Yeah, fuck that guy. As Elvis Costello said, "Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?"
I get the impression that Yoko Ono saw Lennon as a way to make herself famous. She was trying to make a name for herself as an artist/performance artist and it wasn’t really paying off until she met Lennon.
Despite all the anti-war peace stuff and looking like Jesus at times, Lennon sounds like a jerk.
Last edited by brayzie; 05-17-20 at 06:41 PM.
05-17-20, 06:43 PM
#114
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Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
Originally Posted by Rex Fenestrarum
As a hardcore "Imagine" hater, it's two things:
1) The saccharine, yet dopey lyrics aren't a "moving poem", or an "examination of my role in the Universe"... "Imagine" is a shitty Hallmark card. Meaningless platitudes. Something a hack at Successories would shit out late Friday afternoon before a long weekend. Long before Billy Joel came around, John Lennon was KING of the "songs that sound deep and meaningful, but once you think about it, mean nothing at all".
2) John Lennon was a wife-beating, child-abandoning hypocrite. "Imagine no possessions", said the man with a custom-painted Rolls-Royce, a Patek Philippe wristwatch that cost $40,000 in 1972 ($247,885.78 in 2019 dollars), and had a refrigerated room just for his fur coats. Yeah, fuck that guy. As Elvis Costello said, "Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?"
1) The saccharine, yet dopey lyrics aren't a "moving poem", or an "examination of my role in the Universe"... "Imagine" is a shitty Hallmark card. Meaningless platitudes. Something a hack at Successories would shit out late Friday afternoon before a long weekend. Long before Billy Joel came around, John Lennon was KING of the "songs that sound deep and meaningful, but once you think about it, mean nothing at all".
2) John Lennon was a wife-beating, child-abandoning hypocrite. "Imagine no possessions", said the man with a custom-painted Rolls-Royce, a Patek Philippe wristwatch that cost $40,000 in 1972 ($247,885.78 in 2019 dollars), and had a refrigerated room just for his fur coats. Yeah, fuck that guy. As Elvis Costello said, "Was it a millionaire who said "imagine no possessions"?"
05-18-20, 08:31 AM
#115
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: Is John Lennon’s ‘Imagine’ the worst song of all time?
Originally Posted by brayzie
I always thought of Lennon and Yoko as political activists during their time as a couple. Was it genuine or part of an evolve as a “brand”? Or a bit of both maybe?
I get the impression that Yoko Ono saw Lennon as a way to make herself famous. She was trying to make a name for herself as an artist/performance artist and it wasn’t really paying off until she met Lennon.
Despite all the anti-war peace stuff and looking like Jesus at times, Lennon sounds like a jerk.
I get the impression that Yoko Ono saw Lennon as a way to make herself famous. She was trying to make a name for herself as an artist/performance artist and it wasn’t really paying off until she met Lennon.
Despite all the anti-war peace stuff and looking like Jesus at times, Lennon sounds like a jerk.
I bet we’re all guilty of this in our own way. I think alcohol has destroyed lives and should be illegal before other things that are, yet I drink all the time. I believe in climate change and that we’re not doing enough, yet I drive a Nissan Frontier that gets 17mpg.
We’re all hypocrites with inner demons. And someone like Lennon was undoubtedly constantly surrounded by people that didn’t have his best interests at heart, and that’s just going to create an even further divide between “what I am” vs “what I want to be.”
Edit to add I’m not trying to defend wife-beating at all. That shit is deplorable.
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Norm de Plume (06-07-20)
