Yoko Ono: 'Imagine' tune is bigger than expected

I love Yoko Ono!! John Lennon too!! Give peace a chance!!

So, Imagine is bigger than she imagined.

＞Rolling Stone magazine ranked “Imagine” at No. 3 on its list of “The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.”

What were 1 and 2?

What were 1 and 2?

Cleo, No. 1 was 'Like a Rolling Stone' by Bob Dylan and No. 2 was 'Satisfaction' by The Rolling Stones.

Thank you Bogart! Can't say I agree 100% (though they'd both be in my top 50), but it's good to know.

A song with great meaning yet nobody really takes it seriously. If they did, the world be a much better place for EVERYONE.

would be a

Yoko Ono says John Lennon’s iconic “Imagine” wasn’t initially embraced by the public.

Hippies love the song because it was used as an anti-war anthem and is therefore defeatist and lacks any connection to reality. Not surprising since the song came out back when Yoko and John were running around naked and zonked out of their minds from every drug they could get their hands on.

@Wolfpack

defeatist and lacks any connection to reality

I wonder if conservatives such as yourself aim the same criticism at this:

But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Apply that to laissez-faire capitalism and American exceptionalism in foreign policy. Yeah, Jesus was such a hippie. Musta been zonked out of his mind.

Gosh Plastic Monkey!! Great comment!!

Bohemian Rhapsody is the greatest song ...end of story

@Cleo,

Thank you Bogart! Can't say I agree 100% (though they'd both be in my top 50), but it's good to know.

I was all set to say you were being trolled because both songs Bogart listed had "Rolling Stone" associated with them, but he is 100% correct.

Another "Rolling Stone" song in the Top 500 was "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" (at #168).

As for how they were selected, Wiki says this:

The song list was compiled based on votes by 172 musicians, critics, and music industry figures, with no fan input.

@plasticmonkey:

I wonder if conservatives such as yourself aim the same criticism at this: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.

I'm not a Christian so throwing the Bible in my face will not cause me to doubt my opinion of the naivete' of Yoko, John and the rest of the anti-war crowd. The song 'Imagine' is fine as just another airy ballad. But taken seriously as an anti-war anthem is ridiculous.

It's epitomizes the problem with the Left in general, the utter denial of the true nature of humanity. As much horror and death as war has caused over the entire span of human history, it is as natural to our species as breathing. The goal of Conservatives is to channel the natural human tendency to seek a better life for oneself in a manner that creates the greatest good for all. This is the best way possible to avoid conflict. The goal of Liberals (ie. Socialists) is to force people to deny their own individual goals and aspirations for the purposes of creating the unachievable - a utopian society of economic and social equals. Everywhere it has been tried and in whatever style or type imaginable it has failed. Trying to deny a person their innate aspirations is to declare war on him/her. The American Founding Fathers understood this and therefore created the most just form of government with respect for individual rights as its central pillar. Unfortunately, more than 200 years later that form of government no longer exists in America.

@Wolfpack "war... is as natural to our species as breathing"

Speak for yourself. If most humans were into war, we would have killed each other off by now. Instead, billions of people are busy making love and taking care of their new family members, not plotting wars.

Look up the etymology of the word "soldier" and you'll see it just comes from a word for money. Mercenaries killing for self-enrichment.

"Yoko and John were running around naked"

You've never been naked? What do you have, armor grafted onto your skin and a nickel plated chastity belt?

FadamorNov. 04, 2011 - 04:34AM JST. Another "Rolling Stone" song in the Top 500 was "Papa Was A Rolling Stone" (at #168).

Actually, Temptations made this song a hit in the 70's. The top song at that time was "Stairways to heaven" by Led Zepplin.

@TorafusuTorasan

Speak for yourself. If most humans were into war, we would have killed each other off by now.

The fact that wars have existed at every point in recorded human history speaks for itself. If you cannot acknowledge that war is natural to humanity then you are willfully ignoring history. If you have been paying attention to the news lately, you might be aware of the battles between Leftist protestors and the police in Oakland California. No one died, but there was violence all the same.

You've never been naked? What do you have, armor grafted onto your skin and a nickel plated chastity belt?

Hey, I was born naked - and I'm not ashamed to admit that! However, I don't feel the need to strip down and invite the media over to my house to take pictures of my wife and I in the buff. As if such an un-noteworthy act of self - expression will somehow contribute to the lessening of war in the world. Seems more like John and Yoko had an fetish with exhibitionism. There is nothing intrinsically bad about that, it's just meaningless - like their song.

Thanks Bogart - just been looking at the list, interesting choices. And thanks Fadamor- 172 industry insiders is hardly a representative sample, huh!

As for war being the true nature of humanity- only 50%, Wolfpack - I never met woman who wanted to start a war. OK, Maggie (Falklands) Thatcher - but she wasn't a proper woman.

@Wolfpack,

Those Oakland protestors that have almost died include antiwar veterans. You can debate whether the veterans are protesting to create a utopian, egalitarian society or whether they are just fed up with unnecessary wars. Anyway, you posited that conflict avoidance is the goal of conservatives, so your stance is almost identical to the nonviolent ideal of the vast majority of American protestors (disregarding a few pesky anarchists). Here's the latest incident:

Second Iraq war vet hurt during Oakland protests

The Associated Press

OAKLAND, Calif. -- A second Iraq War veteran was hospitalized Friday after officials said he was hurt during protests in Oakland a day earlier.

Kayvan Sabeghi, 32, was being treated at Oakland's Highland Hospital and was in fair condition, hospital spokesman Curt Olsen said, without releasing further details of Sabeghi's injuries, or of his treatment.

A week earlier, Marine veteran Scott Olsen, 24, suffered a skull fracture during clashes between police and Occupy Oakland participants in California on Oct. 25. Olsen, who also served in Iraq, worked his day job as a security software engineer and joined participants at night at Occupy San Francisco before traveling across the bay to the Oakland site where he was injured.

Dottie Guy, of the Iraq Veterans Against the War, said Friday that Sabeghi was in the intensive care unit of the hospital after suffering a lacerated spleen and internal bleeding. Guy said Sabeghi was taken to the hospital after being arrested and held in a jail cell.

Records show Sabeghi was booked early Thursday during the Occupy Oakland protests on suspicion of resisting arrest. He was one of 103 people officials said had been arrested by 3 p.m. Thursday.

Guy said when she spoke to Sabeghi early Friday he was in a "lot of pain."

Oakland police said they were conducting an investigation into the circumstances of his arrest, but would provide no additional details.

Guy said Sabeghi served with the Army in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

Jannetto, have you met Margaret Thatcher?

Or the thousands of women throughout history who have felt compelled to lead their people to fight?

No? Well, not having met them does not mean they do/did not exist.

Anyway, Imagine is just fine if you want to imagine. It's just imagining, after all.

@wolfpack

Great comments. I find it always amusing that when you disagree with liberals on any issue, they have to come out and take cheap shots. So what if someone doesn't like Lennon or his songs! Personally, I have always been a McCartney fan and liked his writing style better, but that's me. I never liked Yoko, never will, end of story and yes, "Bohemian Rhapsody" is by far, one of the greatest songs EVER! Hey, it's ok to disagree. Liberals think that a conservative is never allowed to pass judement on liberal behavior and conduct, but they sure will freak out if a conservative says, Merry Christmas. This country is so messed up.

@"fetish with exhibitionism"

Sorry, but I can't remember seeing Yoko Ono naked as you claim. In the famous cover for Rolling Stone, she's fully clothed in dark clothes, and John is naked (must have been a yin-yang reference, if you get my drift). In the bed-in footage, they are wearing pajamas or covered with blankets, as you can tell when John jumps up to confront the Andy Kapp cartoonist spinning the same spiel that we still hear from you and Bassfunk forty years later. I hope you guys never come across a little movie called Woodstock--there's a lot more nudity and protest songs than either of you could stand!

Not only Imagine. I bet John himself was bigger than she expected.

Wolfpack,

"The goal of Liberals (ie. Socialists) . . ."

I agree with your point about humanity's tendency towards violence. But please stop being intellectually lazy with the above nonsense. The two are not one and the same, despite the ease with which it allows you to view a far more complex world.

As much horror and death as war has caused over the entire span of human history, it is as natural to our species as breathing.

Trying to deny a person their innate aspirations is to declare war on him/her.

Wolfpack, do you mean that denying a person their innate aspirations to wage war is a declaration of war? Bizarre.

War and destruction may be a natural and unfortunate part of human nature, but I didn't know liberals or socialists deny this. I know there have been failed and sometimes monstrously ugly attempts at social utopianism (initiated by a desire to improve on human shortcomings and brought down by those very same shortcomings), but that shouldn't disqualify efforts to progress. Applying the label "liberal" is meaningless to me in this context. What exactly do you mean by that? Do not conservatives also make efforts to grow?

In any case, what is wrong with someone waking up in the morning and imagining a world free of fear, pain, hunger, and suffering? Children do it all the time. Are they silly liberals? Do they deserve your cynical anger?

@TorafusuTorasan

I hope you guys never come across a little movie called Woodstock--there's a lot more nudity and protest songs than either of you could stand!

Woodstock, yeah I heard a lot of people got high and had sex there. Then shortly afterward AIDS came along and well... it's a sad story.

Sorry, but I can't remember seeing Yoko Ono naked as you claim.

Gird yourself, it ain't pretty: http://www.beatlesbible.com/1968/05/19/john-lennon-and-yoko-ono-record-two-virgins/