Lennon’s Imagine vs Yoko’s Walking on Thin Ice

Message Bookmarked
Bookmark Removed

.

Poll Results

OptionVotes
Yoko Ono - Walking on Thin Ice 42
John Lennon - Imagine 14


✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 18 November 2017 09:06 (eight years ago)

This could be "Imagine" vs an elephant tap-dancing on my balls and Lennon would still lose.

faked potato (Noodle Vague), Saturday, 18 November 2017 09:30 (eight years ago)

I've never actually heard Walking on Thin Ice but there's no way Imagine's gonna win this

josh az (2011nostalgia), Saturday, 18 November 2017 17:36 (eight years ago)

Googled for their most popular songs and these are it. Walking On Thin Ice is Yoko's most popular song... probably her catchiest too and it's a really good, odd slice of no wave disco. It's worth the listen.

It's supposed to be the last song Lennon worked on, too and legend has it he was obsessed with it and played it several times a day. Supposedly he got shot the same day he was re-recording a guitar part because he was not happy with it.

I've always hated Imagine, even as a child with a Beatle-maniac father that song bored me to tears. Hope Yoko wins this one.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Saturday, 18 November 2017 21:29 (eight years ago)

Imagine is in my top 5 songs ever

flappy bird, Sunday, 19 November 2017 00:56 (eight years ago)

Yup

Οὖτις, Sunday, 19 November 2017 02:16 (eight years ago)

I love both these songs and think WOTI has John's maybe best ever guitar work but uh, Imagine. Even though this is ILM.

albvivertine, Sunday, 19 November 2017 02:43 (eight years ago)

'Walking On Thin Ice' because it's not 'Imagine'.

Zings Can Only Get Better (snoball), Sunday, 19 November 2017 11:24 (eight years ago)

"Supposedly he got shot the same day he was re-recording a guitar part because he was not happy with it." this isn't 'supposedly', it is a fact that this is the recording session he was returning home from when he was murdered.

Thin Ice obv, Imagine is treacly although it's good. I think Lennon's best solo song is 'watching the wheels' personally.

akm, Sunday, 19 November 2017 14:25 (eight years ago)

I think it's interesting that Imagine was kind of a redo of "I'll Get You" which was not treacly nor was it very nice.

akm, Sunday, 19 November 2017 14:27 (eight years ago)

Performed by Yoko Ono (vocals), John Lennon (guitar, keyboards), Hugh McCracken (rhythm guitar), Earl Slick (rhythm guitar), Tony Levin (bass), Andrew Newmark (drums), Jack Douglas (percussion)
vs.
Lennon on piano and vocal, Klaus Voormann on bass guitar, Alan White on drums and the Flux Fiddlers on strings.

respect to Klaus Voorman but Yoko has assembled a squad of killers there

she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Sunday, 19 November 2017 14:33 (eight years ago)

Lennon's solo on "Thin Ice" is one of his best things imo.

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 19 November 2017 14:57 (eight years ago)

It is, and a vision of the future we didn't get..

Mark G, Sunday, 19 November 2017 17:15 (eight years ago)

Haven't heard walking on thin ice

Voted imagine

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Sunday, 19 November 2017 17:34 (eight years ago)

There's a number of diff versions of "Walking on Thin Ice" on youtube. Which is the one that best represents the original intention, not a later remix? There are two '1981 re-edits' but one is longer, and sounds a bit smoothed out to me.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS5p345HBIM

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzV7FiuDYKo

glumdalclitch, Sunday, 19 November 2017 17:51 (eight years ago)

Didn’t listen to it full but sounds like the second link you got there is the original one.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Sunday, 19 November 2017 18:01 (eight years ago)

Btw, as Alfred mentioned, Approximately Infinite Universe is a fucking masterpiece, back to back.

glumdalclitch, Sunday, 19 November 2017 19:29 (eight years ago)

both of the above youtubes are unofficial edits

sound quality isn't great on this one but at least it's the proper recording:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ft7-xEiwvJw

dyl, Sunday, 19 November 2017 23:17 (eight years ago)

I think it's interesting that Imagine was kind of a redo of "I'll Get You" which was not treacly nor was it very nice.

― akm, Sunday, November 19, 2017 9:27 AM (ten hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

I don't hear this at all, besides the use of the word "imagine."

flappy bird, Monday, 20 November 2017 01:01 (eight years ago)

Fiy Flappy, not to abandon this sip, but fuck Lennon and head thee towards this. It will change your life, Garden State style and then some.

Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 20 November 2017 01:07 (eight years ago)

I don't hear this at all, besides the use of the word "imagine."

And "it's easy..."

The piano introduction is plausibly inspired by the 'oh yeah, oh yeah' rise and fall too.

glumdalclitch, Monday, 20 November 2017 01:10 (eight years ago)

ha thanks for the tip, Hood is a band I always meant to get around to but never did. will do some digging. is there a good record to start with? xp

flappy bird, Monday, 20 November 2017 01:10 (eight years ago)

Btw thanks dyl! That's what I was looking for.

glumdalclitch, Monday, 20 November 2017 01:11 (eight years ago)

You need to Flappy! Cold House is prob the best starter (of the electronic era), Rustic Houses tho..

Carry on Lennon Yoko folk. As if it matters.

Le Bateau Ivre, Monday, 20 November 2017 01:13 (eight years ago)

This is absolutely "Imagine", one of the greatest and strangest pop hits ever, but agree that AIU is a classic

Οὖτις, Monday, 20 November 2017 02:26 (eight years ago)

How is Imagine a weird pop hit? Not being facetious. Like if you say O Superman is one of the weirdest pop hits ever that makes instant sense for me but Imagine sounds like a standard, straightforward piano ballad.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 20 November 2017 02:40 (eight years ago)

how is one of the most omnipresent/evergreen hits of its decade simultaneously among the 'strangest pop hits ever'?

dyl, Monday, 20 November 2017 02:45 (eight years ago)

You guys are hilarious. Lyricallt it's almost without precedent for a top 10 hit

Οὖτις, Monday, 20 November 2017 02:50 (eight years ago)

It's also (clearly, still) quite unusual in its divisiveness

Οὖτις, Monday, 20 November 2017 02:51 (eight years ago)

Oh you mean lyrically! Yeah I can agree with that.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 20 November 2017 02:57 (eight years ago)

The juxtaposition of archetypal, minimalist pop structure w disconcertingly political, direct, even offensive lyrics is at the heart of its genius. This is the same kind of thing i enjoy from, say, Steely Dan, this kind of deliberate marriage of contradictions (smoothness belying cynicism etc.)

Οὖτις, Monday, 20 November 2017 02:59 (eight years ago)

hmm, let's see - schlocky ballad that was the go-to of the boomer high school teachers on the level of eric clapton's tears in heaven vs. a song that doesn't have this demarcation.....yoko obvs

Week of Wonders (Ross), Monday, 20 November 2017 04:42 (eight years ago)

"Imagine" is perfect in almost every way, but I think the bulk of its power comes from the contrast between the naive, almost pathetically innocent melody & playing, and the earnest, desperate plea for people to just fucking imagine a world that we know will never be possible. It's a song that reliably brings me to tears. The cynicism that Shakey speaks of is right up front, but it's not the bile spewing of Plastic Ono Band or most of the other songs on the Imagine LP... it's the anger of a child, really. Anger at people and at a world that could live together in harmony but never will. I understand that it's powerful if it works for you and schlocky if it doesn't, it's a thin line, but "Imagine" endures for me. a humanist hymn that isn't coded or ironic at all- its popularity is a testament & tacit acknowledgment of its premise, that we all yearn for the world it describes.

flappy bird, Monday, 20 November 2017 05:22 (eight years ago)

hmm, let's see - schlocky ballad that was the go-to of the boomer high school teachers on the level of eric clapton's tears in heaven vs. a song that doesn't have this demarcation.....yoko obvs

― Week of Wonders (Ross),

and, like with "Every Breath You Take" and "The One I Love," everyone missed the point.

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 20 November 2017 11:26 (eight years ago)

Can't remember Walking on Thin Ice, can remember Imagine, voted Walking on Thin Ice.

Terry Micawber (Tom D.), Monday, 20 November 2017 11:51 (eight years ago)

pet shop boys did a good remix of WOTI for their Disco 4 album.

mark e, Monday, 20 November 2017 11:55 (eight years ago)

one of two done for a 2003 "ONO" single, later collected on Disco 4

shackling the masses with plastic-wrapped snack picks (sic), Monday, 20 November 2017 12:32 (eight years ago)

"Imagine" possibly the most over-hated song.

Still, I always loved "Walking on thin ice"

Voted for the one that got covered by Elvis Costello, and Fuzzbox.

Mark G, Monday, 20 November 2017 16:24 (eight years ago)

and, like with "Every Breath You Take" and "The One I Love," everyone missed the point.

not convinced of this

she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 20 November 2017 16:56 (eight years ago)

it is interesting how polarizing this song is, especially here where I would suspect a lot of ilxors are sympathetic to its politics, but hate the messenger and the method of delivery

Οὖτις, Monday, 20 November 2017 16:59 (eight years ago)

I like the Costello version best

you had better come correct (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 20 November 2017 17:01 (eight years ago)

Wow I didn't realise Fuzzbox covered Walking On Thin Ice! My sister had that album, but I don't remember the cover song and I certainly hadn't heard the original when I was a teenager.

Colonel Poo, Monday, 20 November 2017 17:12 (eight years ago)

there should probably be a thread for quality covers of Yoko Ono songs cuz there are a lot (probably more than there are quality covers of solo John Lennon songs)

Οὖτις, Monday, 20 November 2017 17:14 (eight years ago)

I like the Costello version best

― you had better come correct (Ye Mad Puffin)

produced by Allen Toussaint!

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Monday, 20 November 2017 17:15 (eight years ago)

oh hello

yoko ono/ yoko ono covers S&D

Οὖτις, Monday, 20 November 2017 17:53 (eight years ago)

Nilsson's last single was two Yoko covers

Mark G, Monday, 20 November 2017 18:19 (eight years ago)

"Imagine" possibly the most over-hated song.

It's better than "All You Need Is Love".

Terry Micawber (Tom D.), Monday, 20 November 2017 19:00 (eight years ago)

"What would you suggest I do? Give everything away and walk the streets?" - John Lennon, 1980.

Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Monday, 20 November 2017 20:55 (eight years ago)

Xpost AYNIL isn't hated as much as I.

Mark G, Monday, 20 November 2017 21:27 (eight years ago)

both classics, of course
my only thing against thin ice is that it sticks around a little too long without introducing anything new to keep things interesting.

Karl Malone, Monday, 20 November 2017 21:42 (eight years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.

System, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 00:01 (eight years ago)

walking on ice is cool

watching the wheels is better than imagine

brimstead, Tuesday, 21 November 2017 02:20 (eight years ago)

Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.

System, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 00:01 (eight years ago)

damn

flappy bird, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 00:03 (eight years ago)

voted imagine, don't regret it

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 00:03 (eight years ago)

You did good ILM you did good

✖✖✖ (Moka), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 03:00 (eight years ago)

Ha! Take that, canon!

josh az (2011nostalgia), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 03:57 (eight years ago)

Ridiculous

Οὖτις, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 04:18 (eight years ago)

That's about right.

Mark G, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 06:27 (eight years ago)

Y'know, this has got me thinking... what if people "back in the day" started talking more about Yoko's tracks and praising them over Lennon's? How would that have affected Lennon? Sure, he'd be proud, but I suspect he also would have been jealous as fuck.

Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 07:43 (eight years ago)

I don't see this as contrary.

If I heard both tracks for the first time, like some 7"single, I would pick WOTI as the a.

Mark G, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 08:22 (eight years ago)

Oh look a site full of poseurs

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 08:45 (eight years ago)

Vogue.

Mark G, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 10:53 (eight years ago)

I KNOW THEY ARE EXPRESSING VERY DIFFERENT SENTIMENTS

brimstead, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 16:19 (eight years ago)

oops i wasn't finished..

imagine just gives me "what a wonderful world" vibes, just the saddest song ever. makes me feel bad.

brimstead, Wednesday, 22 November 2017 16:20 (eight years ago)

Y'know, this has got me thinking... what if people "back in the day" started talking more about Yoko's tracks and praising them over Lennon's? How would that have affected Lennon? Sure, he'd be proud, but I suspect he also would have been jealous as fuck.

― Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Wednesday, 22 November 2017 07:43 (four days ago) Permalink

i don't think so. Lennon was Yoko's biggest fan. at times he was her only fan. they were collaborating together on all of this stuff. i don't understand the desire to always turn it into a him vs. her thing. they collaborated together for dozens of records. fwiw im not entirely a fan of this thread premise tbh and these two songs kind of having nothing to do w one another. ironically "Imagine" has as much Yoko as "Thin Ice" has John they were always influencing one another and this type of endless rockist one upsmanship is real tired. plus we don't have to imagine something that makes us right, we can look back in time and see in interview time and time again him promoting her through his work, beginning even while he was in the Beatles. weird that people still want to make him out to be this horrible person when in reality he was the biggest public supporter of her work.

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 26 November 2017 17:47 (eight years ago)

people love to dog on "Imagine" it is going for a totally different thing than "Walking on Thin Ice". this is like Barney The Dinosaur vs. Jurassic Park

AdamVania (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 26 November 2017 17:49 (eight years ago)

"ironically "Imagine" has as much Yoko as "Thin Ice" has John"

true, in fact, doesn't she now have a writing credit on this song? I think many of the lyrics came from her.

akm, Sunday, 26 November 2017 18:03 (eight years ago)

it is interesting how polarizing this song is, especially here where I would suspect a lot of ilxors are sympathetic to its politics, but hate the messenger and the method of delivery


I like the messenger and method of delivery but cringe at its politics.

after the 13/11 attacks here my daughter was taught the song in school (thankfully almost everyone there knows little English so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been)

droit au butt (Euler), Sunday, 26 November 2017 19:16 (eight years ago)

What part of pacifist anti-capitalist monoculture do u object to

Οὖτις, Sunday, 26 November 2017 19:43 (eight years ago)

weird that people still want to make him out to be this horrible person when in reality he was the biggest public supporter of her work

Weird that you would put those things in opposition to one another. To some Lennon detractors, "he was the biggest public supporter of (Yoko's) work" is seen as one of his more heinous crimes against humanity.

here come the warm jorts (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 26 November 2017 19:44 (eight years ago)

None of the many Lennon haters on this thread hold his Yoko fandom against him

Οὖτις, Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:14 (eight years ago)

It was one of his better qualities.

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:16 (eight years ago)

plus we don't have to imagine something that makes us right

Another vote against Lennon

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:33 (eight years ago)

What part of pacifist anti-capitalist monoculture do u object to


I object to the alleged “easiness” of all its goals. lazy hippie dreck. If the words are Yoko’s then it’s better, maybe she’s pulling our legs. I don’t see 70s Lennon being in on the joke.

droit au butt (Euler), Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:38 (eight years ago)

Never had Ono down as much of a leg-puller tbh

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:42 (eight years ago)

None of the many Lennon haters on this thread hold his Yoko fandom against him

Sorry to inform you, Οὖτις, but that is incorrect. I'm sick of both of them at this point in their careers, frankly.

I can't imagine (so to speak) someone looking at late-period Lennon and saying, "You know what this guy needs? MORE YOKO."

here come the warm jorts (Ye Mad Puffin), Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:53 (eight years ago)

Of course you can imagine it -- he's staring right at you, scowling.

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 26 November 2017 20:57 (eight years ago)

tbh these poll results just read as "ppl who have heard both songs" to me

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Sunday, 26 November 2017 21:05 (eight years ago)

fair. Don't think either of them were anticapitalist tbrr

who says no to mentals? (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 26 November 2017 21:09 (eight years ago)

"Imagine free John Lennon singles
I wonder if you can.."

Mark G, Sunday, 26 November 2017 21:38 (eight years ago)

the alleged “easiness” of all its goals.

The song literally says it's easy to imagine them. Doesn't claim it's easy to achieve them.

lazy hippie dreck. If the words are Yoko’s then it’s better, maybe she’s pulling our leg.

This makes me think you arent entorely familiar w Yoko's work, which is jam packed with "lazy hippie dreck" and distinctly lacking in irony and sarcasm. She is always direct.


I don’t see 70s Lennon being in on the joke.

This is also weird tbh - of the two of them Lennon was by far the one more likely to resort to irony, sarcasm, cynicism - some degree of which can be found in "Imagine" (cf his comments about the "no posessions" line - he knew there was deep irony in a fantastically rich person delivering that line).

Οὖτις, Sunday, 26 November 2017 21:40 (eight years ago)

I do appreciate that Euler at least offers an actual critique, instead of the ad hominem bullshit that's predominated so far.

Οὖτις, Sunday, 26 November 2017 21:48 (eight years ago)

idk about ad hom so much as if you've heard both songs you might vote for the better

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Sunday, 26 November 2017 21:57 (eight years ago)

Quality analysis there

Οὖτις, Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:07 (eight years ago)

There's just a lot of lunkheaded "duh OF COURSE WoTI is better" posts, lazy nonsense

Οὖτις, Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:08 (eight years ago)

sorry I should expend more energy in preferring something better

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:20 (eight years ago)

always worry people are being unfair to John Lennon, when will he gain an audience?

who says no to mentals? (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:21 (eight years ago)

I do like Imagine Dick by the band My Dick but if you came from an adjacent universe you absolutely would not believe that the adenoidal pisstake voice of the parody is exactly the voice of the revered original, and yet here we are

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:27 (eight years ago)

Look I didn't make this poll but surely there's something more interesting to say about these two songs than the typical received wisdom of "Imagine is obnoxious boomer twaddle also John Lennon was a dick"

Οὖτις, Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:49 (eight years ago)

nah i think that covers it

Big Pred aka (Noodle Vague), Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:52 (eight years ago)

you forgot "John lennons voice is a bad thing to have to hear" and "walking on thin ice is a dope song"

I will cheerfully admit to having nothing earth-shattering to add

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Sunday, 26 November 2017 22:55 (eight years ago)

shakey otm

lennon seems to attract a LOT more hate these days than any of his peers, tho a lot of it apparently comes from millennials who probably don't actually hate the beatles but who appear to have gleaned their knowledge of lennon's personal life from shitty clickbait articles

(The Other) J.D. (J.D.), Sunday, 26 November 2017 23:28 (eight years ago)

I'm glad this thread has been as asinine as I expected.

morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Sunday, 26 November 2017 23:33 (eight years ago)

lennon seems to attract a LOT more hate these days than any of his peers

I hate McCartney even more, if that makes you happy.

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Sunday, 26 November 2017 23:35 (eight years ago)

^ yep

In a slipshod style (Ross), Sunday, 26 November 2017 23:35 (eight years ago)

Xpost of mine to alfred

In a slipshod style (Ross), Sunday, 26 November 2017 23:36 (eight years ago)

I always liked the sound of "Imagine," the way the piano sounds on it and the sparseness.

timellison, Monday, 27 November 2017 00:46 (eight years ago)

What I don’t hate Lennon... I mean I don’t like him much but there’s a couple of his songs which I love.

I just happen to have a strong distaste for Imagine ever since my 4th grade teacher made us practice it 10 times a day every day for 3 months for some public class bullshit thing, I feel sorry for the parents who had to cringe through our performance and fake being proud. To make things worse we also sang “Wind of Change” the whistling part was such a mess... now those two songs are joined in my mind as insufferable schlock. I can’t remember if I ever did like Imagine prior to this very forced overexposure.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 27 November 2017 07:03 (eight years ago)

it's true that Lennon has become the go-to "well didn't you know he was a wife beater/horrible person?" for some reason. said by the same people that just put a Lindsey Buckingham song on at the party. it's strange. I think "Imagine" has endured and outgrown whatever context it was written and released it. Lennon's precise perspective in 1971 does not matter. it's a secular humanist hymn that's been covered many thousands of times and is often instinctively played in the wake of great tragedy caused by humans. the laziness of the conversation itt bums me out

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 07:05 (eight years ago)

is often instinctively played in the wake of great tragedy caused by humans

0_o

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 09:30 (eight years ago)

Yeah, I thought that too.

Mark G, Monday, 27 November 2017 10:34 (eight years ago)

Most important wrongness itt is that anything could turn anyone against wind of change

Lennon's good to great I go up and down really but the received challops about Yoko that rushes to point out that shitlads blame her for the death of the Beatles as if that's actually a reason to be interested in Yoko is venal stuff

Don't care about her performance art or w/ever (or anybodys obv) but she sounds bad in my ears if I happen to be hearing her music.

That's ok so does a lot of Lennon (before and after he met Yoko)

Imagine is ok. Gladly never hear it again. Dunno about walking on thin ice. Gladly never hear it.

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 11:39 (eight years ago)

it's like, posted multiple times above in this thread

akm, Monday, 27 November 2017 15:12 (eight years ago)

you people love imagine but won't give richard ashcroft the time of day.. hmph

brimstead, Monday, 27 November 2017 15:40 (eight years ago)

I like Richard Ashcroft fine fwiw

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 16:12 (eight years ago)

otm otm

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 16:19 (eight years ago)

Grumble grumble can't even pick a proper fight on ilm these days

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 16:28 (eight years ago)

is often instinctively played in the wake of great tragedy caused by humans

0_o

― The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, November 27, 2017 4:30 AM (eight hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Yeah, I thought that too.

― Mark G, Monday, November 27, 2017 5:34 AM (seven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

?

i love yoko fwiw and yea the song is great but it's totally apples & oranges

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 17:51 (eight years ago)

Instinctive music is an interesting idea. Also I have visions of great tragedies caused by whales or geese or bats and wonder what music would instinctively be played on those occasions.

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 18:21 (eight years ago)

I think it speaks to the song's elemental, primal power. and how it reaches across cultures, language barriers. and Shakey is otm, people continue to misinterpret "Imagine" as hectoring when all Lennon is asking us to do is imagine. That's what makes the song so sad, and why I think it is so often automatically utilized in the face of horrible tragedy, especially after terrorist attacks & Lennon's own assassination. In those immediate moments and days after, people feel so helpless, all you can do is imagine. it's such a beautiful, clear-eyed, and achingly sad truth.

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 18:49 (eight years ago)

That's what makes the song so sad, and why I think it is so often automatically utilized in the face of horrible tragedy, especially after terrorist attacks

This is news to me tbh.

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 18:52 (eight years ago)

And I'm not trying to pick a fight or anything, but utilized by who?

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 18:55 (eight years ago)

people continue to misinterpret "Imagine" as hectoring when all Lennon is asking us to do is imagine.

it's john lennon who's singing this, not raffi. i can't wash out the patronizing stink

brimstead, Monday, 27 November 2017 18:55 (eight years ago)

as Euler said, there were performances in the streets of Paris after the November 2015 attacks, 7/7 in London, and it was omnipresent on radio in the immediate aftermath of 9/11 (until Clear Channel put it on their list of 'objectionable' songs or whatever). and obviously after Lennon's assassination

xp "utilized" people singing it spontaneously, radio stations playing it on repeat, performances in the streets

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 18:56 (eight years ago)

it's john lennon who's singing this, not raffi. i can't wash out the patronizing stink

literal ad hominem attack on the song

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 18:57 (eight years ago)

Some people sang it, good, they probably sang other songs too.

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 18:59 (eight years ago)

it's john lennon who's singing this, not raffi. i can't wash out the patronizing stink

― brimstead, Monday, November 27, 2017 1:55 PM (forty-three seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

understandable i suppose, maybe it's a generational thing, but the song has long since outgrown its writer, it's a song that belongs to the world, covered thousands of times. when I listen to Imagine and even POB i'm not thinking of context or extramusical details

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 18:59 (eight years ago)

Most people didn't sing anything.

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 18:59 (eight years ago)

You're really going miles over the top with this one, flappy.

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 19:00 (eight years ago)

it's john lennon who's singing this, not raffi. i can't wash out the patronizing stink

literal ad hominem attack on the song

― Οὖτις, Monday, November 27, 2017 10:57 AM (three minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

yeah well that's "songwriting" for you..it sounds terrible and naive when anybody else covers it, it sounds patronizing when the most patronizing rock star ever sings it,

brimstead, Monday, 27 November 2017 19:02 (eight years ago)

Some people sang it, good, they probably sang other songs too.

― The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, November 27, 2017 1:59 PM (fourteen seconds ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Don't know what you're trying to say. Some songs cross cultures and endure for years and years. You can't calculate or predict that kind of power.

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 19:02 (eight years ago)

Okay. "Walking on Thin Ice" is an interesting song. Probably her best? As I said, I prefer Costello's version, which keeps the bounce but loses some of the self-conscious weirdness and antimelodic stiffness.

I have a decent reservoir of respect for Yoko as a visual/conceptual artist, and as a theorist of aesthetics. She is also, as far as I can tell, a good person. She is as good a guardian of her late husband's interests as anyone could expect. I have absolutely no opinion of, or interest in, the soap-operatics of whether she Broke Up The Beatles or any of that.

That said: Nothing I have heard convinces me that she is a singer whose records I wish to hear more of. Sorry.

I guess it's fortunate for her, and for her fans, that circumstances allowed her a pretty easy path to vinyl. This music would probably not have the audience it does if not for the profile of her husband and their social circle.

All of which is fine - I doubt Natalie Cole, Sean Lennon, Julian Lennon, Jakob Dylan, or Nancy Sinatra had to struggle much to get record deals (playing in clubs, touring in a smelly van, etc.). Fine, fine, sometimes fate lines up that way. But it's still fair game to point it out.

My distaste for solo Lennon is nothing to do with whether he was beastly to women or rabbits or Paul McCartney whatever.

Primarily, the vocal delivery of late Lennon - on display to some extent in "Imagine" - just plain bugs me. It underlies what I think of as a disingenuous complex of attitudes. I don't have time to unpack it all right now but can I just say I find late Lennon cloying and annoying? The hippy-dippy "can't we all just hug" messaging is gravy.

I will just leave this here:

https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/7718176/pentatonix-imagine-video

here come the warm jorts (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 27 November 2017 19:02 (eight years ago)

Otm except Nancy Sinatra was a singer

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 19:29 (eight years ago)

I wouldnt even put WoTI in a Yoko top 10 tbh. It's good though.

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 19:30 (eight years ago)

I'm assuming you wouldn't put Imagine in a Lennon top 10.

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 19:33 (eight years ago)

I absolutely would, sorry

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 19:36 (eight years ago)

it's true that Lennon has become the go-to "well didn't you know he was a wife beater/horrible person?" for some reason. said by the same people that just put a Lindsey Buckingham song on at the party

tfw ur at a party in real life

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Monday, 27 November 2017 19:37 (eight years ago)

Hahaha it’s been years since I overheard Imagine in any setting. It seems earthquakes and narco executions aren’t tragic enough for people to grab hands and Imagine.

✖✖✖ (Moka), Monday, 27 November 2017 19:39 (eight years ago)

So when did you (over)hear it?

The buttermilk of Beelzebub (Tom D.), Monday, 27 November 2017 19:41 (eight years ago)

"Imagine" has nothing to do with natural disasters or tragedies. The song is a prayer for humanity to live as one, to stop hurting each other. not that hard to understand

tfw ur at a party in real life

― sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Monday, November 27, 2017 2:37 PM (four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

don't get what you're trying to say

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 19:43 (eight years ago)

darraghmac, Nancy was a singer, yes. However, it's fair to say that I doubt she had much trouble getting a record deal with a label founded by her father. No dis on Nancy, just a fact that is fair game in a discussion of how hard it must have been for Ms. Ono to find an outlet for her music.

Some time ago the radio program "My Word"* included a category of "unlikely book titles," and one of the unlikely book titles was "My Struggle, by Martin Amis."

(Old-fogey zing!)

here come the warm jorts (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 27 November 2017 19:46 (eight years ago)

don't get what you're trying to say

Just a joke cause your commonly encountered scenario of being at a party where ppl play Lindsay Buckingham then give you shit at the party about lennon's wife-beating cause you stuck on "imagine" at the party does not really match any party experience I've ever had

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:06 (eight years ago)

lol ,my dude that is not the scenario i was describing. i've had the "didja know he was a horrible person??" conversation with many people (that they initiated) who never bring up or don't know about the loads of awful shit most rockstars that they rep did as well. Fleetwood Mac being the most egregious example, if only because this decade The Beatles are out & Fmac are in, and the conversation is just so boring and again rendered meaningless

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 20:18 (eight years ago)

I've never put on "Imagine" at a party, i'm not that big of an asshole

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 20:18 (eight years ago)

again what parties are these where ppl are just opening with "john Lennon beat his wife"

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:23 (eight years ago)

casual Beatles v. Stones convo

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 20:24 (eight years ago)

YOU AND I HAVE VERY DIFFERENT EXPERIENCES OF WHAT A "PARTY" IS

is the essence of the quip

I can't help you any more dude

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:26 (eight years ago)

highly driven, attention-seeking global celebrities (and politicians) are often horrible people, film at eleven

here come the warm jorts (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:32 (eight years ago)

this "how could a person not like Imagine? only if they are misrepresenting it to themselves, the song itself is obviously beyond reproach" vibe kinda neatly encapsulates why every time I hear the fuckin beatles I break out in hives

she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:36 (eight years ago)

TESTIFY

Big Pred aka (Noodle Vague), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:40 (eight years ago)

lol JCLC did u even read this thread, if anyone's making unsupported claims to greatness it's the Yoko contingent

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 20:43 (eight years ago)

I tried to break down why I think it's a great song, the only person to go into any detail as to why they *don't* think it's a great song is Euler

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 20:44 (eight years ago)

nice feint there, I didn't say anything about unsupported claims, I said "people who act like it's literally impossible to understand 'Imagine' and dislike it are responsible for hives in this world"

she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:45 (eight years ago)

*imagines you some fresh hives*

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 21:00 (eight years ago)

I suspect why ppl don't like "Imagine", but I wasn't just gonna air my assumptions/resort to strawmen/argue in bad faith

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 21:01 (eight years ago)

this "how could a person not like Imagine? only if they are misrepresenting it to themselves, the song itself is obviously beyond reproach" vibe kinda neatly encapsulates why every time I hear the fuckin beatles I break out in hives

― she carries a torch. two torches, actually (Joan Crawford Loves Chachi), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:36 (twenty-four minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

TESTIFY

― Big Pred aka (Noodle Vague), Monday, 27 November 2017 20:40 (twenty minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Lads how long have ye been waiting for what wasn't ever said itt to have been said before ye just pretended it had been said itt anyway and posted what ye wanted to say itt

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 21:04 (eight years ago)

nice feint there, I didn't say anything about unsupported claims, I said "people who act like it's literally impossible to understand 'Imagine' and dislike it are responsible for hives in this world"


Fwiw I don’t believe this & said as much- that kind of Beatles as end all be all arrogance is v tired & grating

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 21:09 (eight years ago)

It is but conversely it's not as annoying as ppl who pretend they arent

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 21:10 (eight years ago)

COME @ ME

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 21:10 (eight years ago)

lol dmac

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 21:18 (eight years ago)

I like the song "Imagine." Though I'm on record as saying I find its sentiment a trifle dippy, that's not fatal. I love a whole fuckton of songs that are a lot dippier.

TBH, I believe it's well-written (though overexposed). My problems with it stem from the disingenuously lazy vocal style, the faux-naïve piano part, and the deliberately underbaked recording. This and "Watching the Wheels" and a lot of the Shaved Fish material have an air of contempt-for-one's-audience that I find offputting.

here come the warm jorts (Ye Mad Puffin), Monday, 27 November 2017 21:22 (eight years ago)

My problems with it stem from the disingenuously lazy vocal style, the faux-naïve piano part, and the deliberately underbaked recording.

I don't hear any of these things, but ok

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 21:23 (eight years ago)

/My problems with it stem from the disingenuously lazy vocal style, the faux-naïve piano part, and the deliberately underbaked recording./

I don't hear any of these things, but ok


yeah all three of those things are all aspects that I love about the recording, I don’t see them as disingenuous, lazy, or underbaked, quite the opposite. but that’s just my opinion, different strokes, etc

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 21:27 (eight years ago)

yeah idk the piano sound is p interesting to me, starts off kinda underwater-y and then snaps into focus with the panning shift when the vocal comes in

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 21:30 (eight years ago)

Just for yuks, here's my top 10 yoko jamz

1. What a Bastard the World Is
2. Mind Train
3. Listen the Snow is Falling
4. Don't Worry Kyoko (Mummy's Only Looking for Her Hand in the Snow)
5. Kiss Kiss Kiss
6. Mrs. Lennon
7. Why
8. Yang Yang
9. Sisters, O Sisters
10. I Felt Like Smashing My Face in a Clear Glass Window

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 22:24 (eight years ago)

I'm happy to 'imagine' you made all that up tbh

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 22:33 (eight years ago)

is it possible that I am the only person on this thread who is an actual fan of both Mr. and Mrs. Lennon cuz if so that is sad

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 22:38 (eight years ago)

shakey we stand side-by-side at long last

mark s, Monday, 27 November 2017 22:39 (eight years ago)

hail fellow, well met

Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 22:45 (eight years ago)

Mark s consider therefore the ground man

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Monday, 27 November 2017 22:48 (eight years ago)

yea i love them both

flappy bird, Monday, 27 November 2017 23:24 (eight years ago)

lord imagine this thread if there were no Mark David Chapman

fuck you, your hat is horrible (Neanderthal), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 06:34 (eight years ago)

It isn't hard to do

sonnet by a wite kid, "On Æolian Grief" (wins), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 06:59 (eight years ago)

Ah god why

fake pato is kind of racist, dude (darraghmac), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 07:38 (eight years ago)

is it possible that I am the only person on this thread who is an actual fan of both Mr. and Mrs. Lennon cuz if so that is sad

― Οὖτις, Monday, 27 November 2017 17:38 (yesterday)Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

shakey we stand side-by-side at long last

― mark s, Monday, 27 November 2017 17:39 (yesterday)Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Scape: Goat-fired like a dog! (Myonga Vön Bontee), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 08:10 (eight years ago)

All of which is fine - I doubt Natalie Cole, Sean Lennon, Julian Lennon, Jakob Dylan, or Nancy Sinatra had to struggle much to get record deals (playing in clubs, touring in a smelly van, etc.).

Sean toured in a smelly van as Cibo Matto's bassist tbf

shackling the masses with plastic-wrapped snack picks (sic), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 10:45 (eight years ago)

I'm a yoko fan. nice top 10 list, but I'd put death of samantha at the top.

akm, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 14:34 (eight years ago)

shakey otm itt

Montgomery Burns' Jazz (Tarfumes The Escape Goat), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 15:22 (eight years ago)

yeah Death of Samantha is v good. AIU is an underrated record imo, the point where she seems to start to "get" pop writing and arrangements

Οὖτις, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 17:33 (eight years ago)

'Sisters, O Sisters' rules - anyone who says that Yoko couldn't write hooky, catchy as fuck songs should hear it. Could have been a big hit if Yoko had a voice that was more palatable to the masses.

Gholdfish Killah (Turrican), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 18:32 (eight years ago)

that is a great yoko top ten

ToddBonzalez (BradNelson), Tuesday, 28 November 2017 18:34 (eight years ago)

Covered by Sultans of Ping!

Mark G, Tuesday, 28 November 2017 18:46 (eight years ago)


You must be logged in to post. Please either login here, or if you are not registered, you may register here.