My Top 2000 Songs #1029: Imagine

It seems unfortunate that John Lennon's landmark 1971 solo single (from the album of the same name) has come to be so maligned--and even before its co-option as a woefully ill-considered Covid-era celebrity sing-along. I mean, yeah, I get it. The lyrics, naive at best and hypocritical at worst, come across as a little dated and trite in these cynical times (and that's even aside from the horrific Trump-induced end-times in which we currently find ourselves).

But screw it, I make no apologies. I still find it a deliriously beautiful song, certainly one of the finest moments from Lennon's undeniably hit-and-miss post-Beatles career. Forget your qualms about the sentiments, and you've still got one of the loveliest melodies ever committed to tape. Plus, bonus points for its deployment as an anti-censorship message in a classic episode of WKRP In Cincinnati, an episode that, sadly, has continuing relevance today in censorship-crazy Republican America.

So for three minutes, I can still get lost in a bubble of hope.

Live 1975:

I wasn't going to tick through the hundreds of cover versions, because you invariably end up on some abomination like this one by... Corey Feldman.