“Imagine” by John Lennon - Overrated or deservedly praised?

Imagine is John Lennon’s most well known song, even including his Beatles songs. Does it deserve the praise or is overrated?

 

Deserves every bit of praise

 

Overrated like the majority of Beatles/Post Beatles material

**ducks**

 

Overrated. He made better songs in his solo career.

 

Hindsight only enhances the hokiness and hypocrisy of the tune.

 

It is an outstanding song.

As time goes on, it might have the same problem that Freebird, Stairway, and other great tunes have in that it becomes a bit of a cliche.

 

Pandering to the sentiments of the '70s... he wrote far better songs...

 

Not sure it's totally rated high, a lot of people don't like it, it's just his most played solo song.

 

Certainly a worthwhile and memorable song but I go with over rated. It is a pleasant but fairly pedestrian melody. It is a nice concept.

As mellow solo Beatle tunes go, it is not 10% of the song that Yesterday is IMO - either melodically, harmonically, lyrically or as an arrangement.

Even on the Imagine album, I place it only around the middle of the pack, preferring Jealous Guy, Oh My Love, How and Oh Yoko

 

under-rated

 

Not really. A video of him enjoying his 72 acre estate whilst singing about giving up possessions did that just fine in 1971.

 

I thought you meant the album. Same answer.
Great song. Great album.

 

Well he was just saying to imagine it, not actually do it.

 

Given this forum's (understandable) constraints on discussing religion and politics, I'm going to avoid going there.

Compared to some of the intellectual greats of our time, I look at John Lennon as a guy that read the dust cover of a book and thought he understood the book itself. I find "Imagine" to be an example of shallow thinking. I don't mind that others like it or find solace in it, but I am not impressed at all with the lyrics of "Imagine". It DID appeal to me as a 13 year old, because I bought the single, but by the time I was 23, the flaws in it from the first lines to the end were obvious to me.

I do like the music and the arrangement of it, though. And if it comes on the radio and I've not heard it in a few months, I'll probably listen to it again.

JcS

 

In terms of arrangement (verse, chorus, bridge) the song is perfect.

 

Bingo. Massively overrated as a song and the laughable lyrics. It's naivety is of its time but its hypocrisy is timeless (see: any celebrity or poltician).

 

You joke, but I think that is actually the point of the song. Not that he was saying "don't actually do it." But that he was saying "I know these all sound like a pipe dream, and I am just as guilty as everyone else. But wouldn't it be nice if... ? Imagine if... ?" That's all. But of course in today's "gotcha" climate of social media debate, everyone wants to jump all over him as a fraud and hypocrite. In this performance, in fact, he sings a variation of the lyric "imagine no possessions" where he says "I wonder if WE can" (Neil Young varied it again with "I wonder if I can" in a tribute performance).

 

That is the most perfect summation of Lennon I've ever read. For real. Dead on.

The rest of your post I agree with 100%, too. Lennon and his schtick and his message (from his solo years...I've got ZERO problem with his Beatles stuff) appealed a LOT more to me when I was a teenager than it did once I grew up.

 

Agreed!

 

I think it's overrated. I don't hate it or anything, I just think he wrote many better songs. It's nothing special musically, and I don't think the lyrics are as great as people say they are. It's not because I think they're hypocritical (the song is called "Imagine" for a reason), but I also don't think they say all that much.

 

I think Lennon often wrote of aspirations that he knew he'd never fulfill. The song is more a question than a call to action.

On its technical merits, and if you can separate from the fact that you've heard it 10 billion times, I think it's near perfect. I began to appreciate it even more once I started playing it. There can be real beauty in simplicity.

 

It's a great song. Maybe a little overrated. The Imagine album is a bit overrated to me, though it's still better than most of his solo work.

 

what does over-rated or under-rated mean anyway?
Some doesn t like Imagine for various reasons. Thats fine.
Many people love the song for various reasons.
Thats fine
Me
I love the song and I love the lyrics
Some here have called the melody pedestrian. My goodness-try and write an Universal anthem and see how easy it is
The words are very simple but really not. It s just a dream. Hypocritical perhaps but not really
Imo one of the best and most meaningful song ever written.
So I don t find it over-rated
I have enjoyed it since it came out and will keep on doin so until I die

 

hey man, he was just "imagining" giving up his possessions. can you dig??

 

Exactly, and that's the point - the song title and message is "Imagine". It's shocking that so many people disregard this, and criticize the song as it's a hyper - hypocritical political or social anthem.