Half a century of ‘Imagine’: Interesting facts about John Lennon’s peace anthem as it completes 50 years

On the 40th anniversary of John Lennon`s death, people paid tribute to the late Beatles star in New York. Photo: AFP

The closing ceremony of the 1996 Summer Olympics in remembrance of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing. A Coldplay concert soon after the terrorist attacks in Paris in 2015. What was common across these events was a rendition of John Lennon's eye-opening anthem for peace, ‘Imagine'. Ever since the song released in 1971, it has been a fixture in shows that were hosted to commemorate a tragedy or in performances where the central idea was to promote peace. Its simple lyrics, ‘You may say 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', make for a moving call for peace. This was also one of the biggest hits of Lennon's post-Beatles career.

Lennon and the song have a huge fan following throughout the world. Even today, the composition tops many music charts and music streaming services. The winner of a Grammy Hall of Fame award was also included in the list of ‘500 Songs That Shaped Rock and Roll' in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. As this important song completes 50 years in 2021, here are some interesting facts about what went into making it.

The inspiration
The song was composed in 1971. The inspiration behind this song came from several poems from Lennon's wife Yoko Ono's 1964 book ‘Grapefruit'. Reportedly, during a BBC interview Lennon had said, "Actually that should be credited as a Lennon-Ono song because a lot of it - the lyric and the concept - came from Yoko. But those days I was a bit more selfish, a bit more macho, and I sort of omitted to mention her contribution. But it was right out of Grapefruit, her book." Finally, in 2017, the National Music Publishers' Association announced that Yoko Ono would be given credit as a songwriter for ‘Imagine'.

Lennon was also inspired by a Christian prayer book which was given to him by comedian and activist Dick Gregory.

Writing and recording the song
The song was composed on a Steinway piano, at his Tittenhurst Park home in Ascot. Ono was present when Lennon, reportedly in one short writing session, composed the melody, chords, and most of the lyrics, and nearly completed the whole song. Lennon and Ono co-produced the song with Phil Spector. In a later interview with Rolling Stone, Spector remembered the time Lennon played the piano lick for the first time, and said: "There was no question that this was going to be a statement and it was going to be very commercial." Ono, in the same interview, had commented, "It's not like he thought, ‘Oh, this can be an anthem. It was just what John believed - that we are all one country, one world, one people. He wanted to get that idea out." The final recording featured Lennon on piano and vocals, Klaus Voormann on bass guitar, Alan White on drums and the Flux Fiddlers on strings.

A popular misconception was that the photos for the eponymous album cover were taken by artist Andy Warhol. However, they were actually the polaroids taken by Ono. Initially, Lennon had requested Warhol to take photos for the album cover. However, he later rejected them and decided to go ahead with the ones clicked by his wife. Interestingly, as reported by Daily Mail, in 2019, Warhol's original prints resurfaced. The photos belonged to Geoffrey Giuliano, author and well-known Beatles collector, and were being sold by Omega Auctions of Merseyside.

The song's music video was part of an 81-minute film to accompany the album ‘Imagine'. It featured shots of the couple at their home and the recording studio at Tittenhurst Park, as well as footage taken in New York City.

Fun fact: Singer George Michael paid around paid £1.67m for the Steinway piano on which this historic song was composed. He purchased the piano so that it won't go out of the country and as a report in Independent mentions, he had said that it eventually go back to "the museum in Liverpool where I think it rightly belongs."

The legacy
After its release, ‘Imagine' was among the top songs in almost every music chart across the globe. Lennon's last live performance was in 1975, when he took part in a televised tribute show for media mogul Sir Lew Grade and performed ‘Imagine' there. After Lennon's murder in 1980, the single again entered the top slot in most music charts and stayed there for weeks. Until today, it remains one of Lennon's best-selling singles as a solo artist.

Since 2005, the song is played just before the New Year's Times Square Ball drops in New York City. Until 2009-2010, the original recording was played; since 2010-2011, the song has been performed by the headlining artist. This song is routinely covered by famous artists - the list includes Elton John, David Bowie, and Dolly Parton.

In 2018, Ono released her own version of the song. It was unveiled on the late musician's 78th birthday, and was part of Ono's album ‘Warzone'. Rolling Stone described her version as boasting "a sparse yet intricate arrangement, starting with a simple synth drone that swells steadily beneath the 85-year-old artist's candid vocals."

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