Tomorrow is the twenty-fifth anniversary of John Lennon’s death. To celebrate… er… no… to commemorate that fact the BBC is running a vote to find the greatest Lennon song.
We’ll skim quickly over the fact that the selection of songs to choose from is pretty bizarre (only one Beatles song!) and leap straight to the current results. And oh, look, Imagine is winning with 25% of the vote. There’s a surprise.
Think about it. Is Imagine really such a great song? Or is it just a pile of over-sentimental crap. Remember, this is the man who also wrote Instant Karma, Working Class Hero and Cold Turkey. Given those alternatives, how can anyone vote for Imagine?
Of course that’s a rhetorical question. People have no taste.
So if you’re going to vote, please think carefully. Try to imagine a world where Imagine was never written. Isn’t that a better world?
Update: Oh. There’s another Beatles song on the list. Julia from the White Album. Which may be a bit bit obscure but would be a fine choice.
I now have half of Lennon’s tunes playing in my head, simultaneously.I think that people only recognising/properly remembering a handful of the songs on that list might be contributing to the Imagine effect. How often do you hear most of them played? Imagine seems to steal almost all the Lennon-airtime, and Jealous Guy picks up the rest of it.I also think it decidedly odd that two Beatles songs are included on the list. Surely you either 1) discount all the Beatles tunes or 2) include a good smattering of the Lennon Beatles ones, and not just two from the same (in my head) era of Beatleness.
I would have voted for The Ballad Of John And Yoko had it have been there. I was never a fan of his solo stuff. The odd song was okay, but he’s never done a complete album I would happily listen to every track from.