John Lennon - Imagine (Omr)

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Music reviews of Imagine (Omr)

Music Review: "Imagine" this
Rating: 4 Stars

I appreciate and admire the way Lennon used his music to mentally transform and rebuild himself, and he laid out his psyche to be scrutinized on this disc. It was John's other side that ripped away the curtains of deceit and exposed the fallacies that society hid from our eyes and ears. He pulled no punches, nor did he expect any-but he also handed out some brutal assaults on the parties who had tried to crucify him for their particular issues and vendettas.

Thankfully, the kinder, gentle tunes show the Libra side of John's soul--it's all there and out in the open on the title track: "Imagine" all the people living for today, living life in peace. To borrow from Yoko's idea on the back cover, try to envision Lennon's piano chords rolling past your mind as you lie on your back watching the clouds on a sunny day. The lyrics may be asking for too much, but in these times of violence as witnessed by today's youth killing each other in schools or worse, the global attacks of car bombs and terrorism unbound--would you turn down this dream? Sounding a bit like a jug band, "Crippled Inside" has a comic edge that was needed to soften Lennon's acidic compositions. Nicky Hopkins adds a great ragtime piano that could come from an old western movie saloon, and that's George Harrison doing the country shuffle on dobro.

Leaving one single rose in a vase as an apology, "Jealous Guy" says what men have wanted to say for all the stupid things we have done to the women in our lives:

I didn't mean to hurt you
I'm sorry that I made you cry
I didn't mean to hurt you
I'm just a jealous guy

John's vocal is particularly fragile, and this emphasizes his regret-he has only himself to blame. In a Playboy interview (yes, I did read it for the text!) in 1980 just before his death, John admitted how much he recognized Yoko as his complementary partner and how insensitive his actions had been toward her. As long as he was putting the cards on the table about his struggles, "It's So Hard" uses an opening blast from King Curtis's sax to clear your head, and John wears a hair shirt of frustration as his gutsy vocal adds to the confession. The guitars, sax, piano, and strings add a raven-like "Nevermore" confirmation to make it bitter. Keeping up his pleas for justice, righteousness, and an end to suffering, "I Don't Want To Be a Soldier" grabs the gathered studio assembly (Voorman-Keltner-Curtis-Harrison-Hopkins-Gordon, among others) and marches and chants in protest all the way to the demonstration.

When Lennon was victimized (or set up as a fall guy, depending on who tells it), he could fight back with a verbal ferocity that could startle onlookers and listeners-he virtually used his words as a master plastic surgeon wields a scalpel. In this case, he takes the near punk-like composition of "Gimme Some Truth" and spits venom like an Indian cobra at a portrait of Richard Nixon and his administration's dirty tricks. George Harrison's slide solo flays all accusers who would harm his friend, and Lennon rages as though he's been told to drink hemlock. Down your own throats first, he replies. You just try and tell me that Kurt Cobain didn't admire John.

For all his accusations of Paul McCartney as being a sop in love with his late wife, Linda (and writing music about it), John really did have his own mushy side for Yoko-witness "Oh My Love" and "Oh Yoko!" I don't begrudge the guy the chance to face his faults in the mirror, but these are as weak as anything he ever accused his writing partner of authoring. Speaking of McCartney, John takes a vicious, lethal swipe at him with "How Do You Sleep," and does an unrelenting character assassination via direct references to Sergeant Pepper and "Yesterday." The industry can substantiate that not everything that Paul released deserved long-term airplay (Ram and Wild Life) come to mind, but I didn't need John's primal scream rages of "Mother" from John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band, either. Let he who casts the first stone...

I'll wrap this with "How?" as John looks at the fork in the road and tries to figure his next move. Don't worry--he had plenty of issues left unresolved. I miss you, Mr. Lennon, and the 20th anniversary of that horrible moment in December brought back too many tears and regrets. Thanks for reminding us that we were born with wings-and teaching us again how to fly. As you said to your wife and soul mate, "My love will turn you on." It has-and still does-for all.

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