Why Does Frank Turner Hate John Lennon's "Imagine"?
 

Frank Turner just flat out eviscerates John Lennon's "Imagine."

From the Interview

Yes, but that’s one of the things that’s so fucking annoying about it. Compared to, say, “The Times They Are A-Changin’,” or indeed anything by Crass or The Clash or Propagandhi, it’s so utterly vacuous. It’s a Hallmark card set to music. There’s a pretty high dose of hypocrisy in here as well. For a man who had a dedicated, refrigerated room in his New York penthouse apartment for storing his fur-coat collection to sing “Imagine no possessions” takes a fair amount of chutzpah. I mean, I have no problem with the man collecting fur coats. Whatever floats your boat. But there’s a certain strain of material disdain that can only result from being really fucking rich, which is intensely patronizing. Aside from that, well, the ’60s revolutionaries had some interesting things to say and valid criticisms to make, but it’s an insult, in my opinion, to boil it all down to this soupy mush. Listen to Phil Ochs instead.

well then...

Not really sure why he felt the need to express this.

Because it's part of the AVclubs "HateSong" ... it's the entire point of the interview. Haha.

lol did you even read the article?

i just really love the idea of this column.

as far as Frank's comment, I can totally see his point. honestly, I was never a solo Lennon fan and Harrison was my favorite Beatle and i'm already sick of this song at the age of 26.

soooo, I back you Frank!

Balls. I love this lol

who the fuck is Frank Turner?

Sums up my opinion of the song. I like Lennon's music and The Beatles but this song in particular and his general persona have always annoyed me.

I think that falls more under "song I hate that everyone else loves." If you pressed him, I'm sure he wouldn't say it's a bad song, just massively overrated.

hahahaha

the beatles are the most overrated band in history. come at me

I'm with you on this one, yet I still enjoy a large amount of their music.

10/10 Backed Hard.

Agree completely.


Also, i back this guy. I totally understand where he's going, and the song is fucking annoying.

you did not read the article.

Quick note to anyone who doesn't actually read the article: This isn't anti-Beatles or even anti-Lennon. He states he is otherwise a fan of them/him. Just not this song... and I can understand why.

Imagine no opinions...

you become a target when youre really fucking rich.

Haha, just read the excerpt and said WUT.
Kind of interesting feature.

Could be one of the most overrated songs of all time, the lyrics are dumb.

Boy... that escalated quickly.

If anyone knows about cheesy lyrics and insipid songs, it certainly is Frank Turner

Harrison is easily the best Beatle.

The Best of George Harrison is a back to front solid album. I don't have anything against the other ones, and honestly need to expand my Beatles knowledge, but I loved that album.

pretty sure in the song john doesn't say anywhere 'we should all have no possessions' - he just says imagine a world without it. lennons solo stuff is amazing, and the song mother always makes me well up.

as for frank turner, go back to million dead. i liked you then.

I wish Mitch was more consistent with putting out new material.

Already one or two people who don't seem to have read the quote in Jason's post, never mind the whole article. This is all set to make the average news thread read like Mark Twain, hah.

It is a cool idea for a column...I'm late to the party and didn't know about it before this. But yeah, I also agree with Frank. That song is fucking annoying and yeah, patronizing considering the source. However, the source is also why people chose to put it on a pedestal. A much beloved artist, killed well before his time, it's hard for fans not to have "blinders" on I guess.

I read this earlier today, had a good laugh as well. No harm no foul.

Yeah, what a phony.

love frank turner, but "imagine" is one of my favorite songs of all time. every succesful musician/artist is a hypocrite about their capitalistic tendencies. get over it

Important quote at the end just in case anyone gets carried away:


Anyway, he makes a decent (ish) point, but I wish he hadn't brought up Crass. There are much better punk examples he could have used.

Yep. But they are also one of the best bands to ever exist.

Nail on the head.

AP should do more stuff like this

I've always thought Lenon was a hypocrit, sure everyone is on some level, we're human, but it did seem like he was one on a larger public scale.....and honestly Imagine is a boring song, I'm not too fond of Happy Xmas(a very cynical song that ppl seem to misinterpret as sincere) and its miles better than Imagine, I still love the Beatles tho.

George Harrison all day every day. Had the best Beatle songs and the best solo material.

Wait, this many people hate The Beatles?

Man, what a shame.

That said I'll agree with the consensus here that Harrison was the best Beatle. 'What is Life' is in my top 10 songs of all time.

yes, listen to phil ochs instead. definitely.

yeah, this guy is a complete asshole.

I had this copied, ready to post haha.

not 50 Cent

I agree. This song really isn't that great.

You're such a dum dum appleby

Was this a b-side or something?

I honestly think lennon was poking fun at himself and was purposefully meaning to be hypocritical. It's no mystery that he struggled with who he was. He's merely making suggestions in the song. It's just a man going through ideas in his head. Take it as a look inside a mans head and not a way to live your life. It was never meant to be the huge anthem it has become.

:-d