Asking people to imagine a world without God, country, or possessions is a dangerous thing to do. Sugar-coating that pill with beautiful piano playing made John Lennon's Imagine even more dangerous - it was perfectly crafted for radio play.
Paul McCartney, in an interview with Melody Maker, said:
I like 'Imagine' which is what John is really like, but there was too much political stuff on the other albums.
Lennon replied in an open letter, writing:
So you think 'Imagine' ain't political, it's 'Working Class Hero' with sugar on it for conservatives like yourself! Join the Rock Liberation Front before it gets you.
Imagine means a lot of things to a lot of people. It's a call to imagine utopia. It's a sign that rock and roll is the devil's work. It's a funeral hymn for a society repressed by an authoritarian culture. It's a song about how far we have yet to go.
