The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us, only sky
Imagine all the people
Livin' for today
Ah
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion, too
Imagine all the people
Livin' life in peace
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one
Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world
You
You may say I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
More Featured Meanings
Light Up The Sky
Van Halen
Van Halen
Mental Istid
Ebba Grön
Ebba Grön
This is one of my favorite songs. https://fnfgo.io
Cajun Girl
Little Feat
Little Feat
Overall about difficult moments of disappointment and vulnerability. Having hope and longing, while remaining optimistic for the future. Encourages the belief that with each new morning there is a chance for things to improve.
The chorus offers a glimmer of optimism and a chance at a resolution and redemption in the future.
Captures the rollercoaster of emotions of feeling lost while loving someone who is not there for you, feeling let down and abandoned while waiting for a lover. Lost with no direction, "Now I'm up in the air with the rain in my hair, Nowhere to go, I can go anywhere"
The bridge shows signs of longing and a plea for companionship. The Lyrics express a desire for authentic connection and the importance of Loving someone just as they are. "Just in passing, I'm not asking. That you be anyone but you”
American Town
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran shares a short story of reconnecting with an old flame on “American Town.” The track is about a holiday Ed Sheeran spends with his countrywoman who resides in America. The two are back together after a long period apart, and get around to enjoying a bunch of fun activities while rekindling the flames of their romance.
Page
Ed Sheeran
Ed Sheeran
There aren’t many things that’ll hurt more than giving love a chance against your better judgement only to have your heart crushed yet again. Ed Sheeran tells such a story on “Page.” On this track, he is devastated to have lost his lover and even more saddened by the feeling that he may never move on from this.
Take a look at yourselves.......
Read the nonsense above.......
Read the song......
That's what John was getting at, Imagine if we could get over ourselves and live for what's important.
@Joycey equally starving. this is a commie song, all you dickheads do is think you're so deep and smart and loving while you attack human beings of what makes them human, our flaws are a part of us, and your stupid hippie shit supports social engineering to force people to conform to your beliefs. how fucking authoritarian "for the greater good" yeah tell that to the dead of the Jim Jones cult
@Joycey equally starving. this is a commie song, all you dickheads do is think you're so deep and smart and loving while you attack human beings of what makes them human, our flaws are a part of us, and your stupid hippie shit supports social engineering to force people to conform to your beliefs. how fucking authoritarian "for the greater good" yeah tell that to the dead of the Jim Jones cult
@Joycey equally starving. this is a commie song, all you dickheads do is think you're so deep and smart and loving while you attack human beings of what makes them human, our flaws are a part of us, and your stupid hippie shit supports social engineering to force people to conform to your beliefs. how fucking authoritarian "for the greater good" yeah tell that to the dead of the Jim Jones cult
@Joycey equally starving. this is a commie song, all you dickheads do is think you're so deep and smart and loving while you attack human beings of what makes them human, our flaws are a part of us, and your stupid hippie shit supports social engineering to force people to conform to your beliefs. how fucking authoritarian "for the greater good" yeah tell that to the dead of the Jim Jones cult
@Joycey equally starving. this is a commie song, all you dickheads do is think you're so deep and smart and loving while you attack human beings of what makes them human, our flaws are a part of us, and your stupid hippie shit supports social engineering to force people to conform to your beliefs. how fucking authoritarian "for the greater good" yeah tell that to the dead of the Jim Jones cult
@Joycey equally starving. this is a commie song, all you dickheads do is think you're so deep and smart and loving while you attack human beings of what makes them human, our flaws are a part of us, and your stupid hippie shit supports social engineering to force people to conform to your beliefs. how fucking authoritarian "for the greater good" yeah tell that to the dead of the Jim Jones cult
@Joycey equally starving. this is a commie song, all you dickheads do is think you're so deep and smart and loving while you attack human beings of what makes them human, our flaws are a part of us, and your stupid hippie shit supports social engineering to force people to conform to your beliefs. how fucking authoritarian "for the greater good" yeah tell that to the dead of the Jim Jones cult
I love this song because I relate to it totally. I have a very similar world view to John and even though some people say I'm crazy to believe it ("I'm a dreamer..."), but based on the popularity of this song I'm definitely not the only one. Instead of just agreeing with the message in the song though, people have to start implementing the message in this song. Things like religion, countries, and money are the reasons for war and fighting, and if there was none of this then there'd be no war. And by religion I think John is saying that organized religion is the problem and not just believe in God because I don't see how that would adversely affect world peace. I think he's talking about how theres so much fighting in places like the middle east because of religion, even though the religions are very similar like all religions are.
@MrMojoRisin5552 THANK YOU! When people see religion tgey always incorrectly infer he means believing in god. Obviously he means organized religion. I just dont understand how people could so easily miss that.
@MrMojoRisin5552 it goes deeper than that. Without any religion, there would not of be the organised one.<br /> This song doesn't have to be taken literally. It's all metaphor for being able to detach yourself from the world around you...<br /> In other words: you took a nice shit today, and you're happy. You don't need anybody to tell you this, or why this happened. And no need for your shit to appear on television news, or in a newspaper. And imagine if all things were that simple... well, people just never look on things the way they really are. <br /> Now go watch your television and stay blinded
@MrMojoRisin5552 In my opinion on the religion part: I think he wanted to state "imagine if there's no religions" i.e. No book or person telling you what to think, believe, or what you can and can't do. <br /> Everyone should be religious in their own way, and believe how and what their soul or spirit wants to believe and practice.
Despite the hymnal-parlor arrangement, what Johnny Rebel wrote about in Imagine is a complete refusal of rules and restriction that the world system gives us and takes away. Imagine is all about liberation and something we must all believe in if we want to make a better place for humanity. Lennon understood this better than anyone an this why Imagine will always be the best song associated with the Beatles because it chrystalizes and encapsulates what the Beatles stood for. However, the brilliant idea behind Imagine is that it's an essential Rock Anthem! Even though John is gone, he'll always live in my heart because of Imagine. What Johnny Rebel is saying is this: We are dreamers but we're not the only ones. Rock in Peace, Johnny Rebel! Imagine is brilliant because there's still hope in the world! Rock
This is not a Beatles song. This came out in 1971, which is one year after the Beatles broke up.
@rabbitbunny it is a communist circle jerk song
@rabbitbunny <br /> Ha ha Martina told it like it is.<br /> <br /> Nothing against Lennon or the Beatles, but . . . <br /> <br /> this is a lame-ass overplayed anthem for Lexus-lib progressives who fancy themselves to be globally enlightened when, apart from the sovereign intervention of Almighty God, they are actually going to hell for rejecting Christ's gracious offer of forgiveness and eternal life through faith. <br /> This song shows a sterile and naive vision of an antichrist world, humanity united against God, as they were at Babel. <br /> <br /> To hell with One World Globohomo culture!<br /> <br /> To hell with Commie-ism in all it's varied permutations and disguises.<br /> <br />
It's about world peace.
@CompleteNirvana wrong it is about globalism and marxism, slavery, this song is just exactly how these crooks in power do it, they send a double meaning message, so while we take it as a good thing it is a 'trojan horse' to allow them to enslave us and theyre almost accomplished it
@CompleteNirvana if you think world peace is about the people of the world starving and dying, this song is about communism, it is hippie pipe dream and the "dreamers" are too stupid to understand it is not achievable, but you idiots keep trying no matter how many die in the process
I don’t know if this song is really about peace. The way I know John’s character, he wrote his songs in a very simple- not so simple way and he would be laughing either way we interpret it (direct reference to I am the Walrus). To me: This song is really about non-conformity. We usually are so used to believing that imagining is to construct something but here he challenges us to imagine by destructing in the sense- imagine there’s NO heaven. He’s also quite sarcastic, John Lennon hated conformity (“A couple of teachers would notice me, encourage me to be something or other, to draw or to paint– express myself. But most of the time they were trying to beat me into being a fuckin’ dentist or a teacher. And then the fuckin’ fans tried to beat me into being a fuckin’ Beatle or an Engelbert Humperdinck, and the critics tried to beat me into being Paul McCartney. “) and here is literally mocking conformity (which i hate too, hence this interpretation). People are so used to believe that heaven,religion,countries, are necessary for man to exist (Go and tell someone to think of a world without any countries or borders, 99% you get a flat out refusal that “it’s not possible”). “You may say I’m a dreamer”...was a bit harder to interpret (did it on acid though). It seems like he’s rallying for peace, but he’s not. What John is basically saying is how people are so ready to label the different and uniques ones in the world as “crazy” and is saying he’s not the only dreamer, the only who’s calling him a dreamer is also a dreamer. Sorry If I couldn’t explain properly but those were my thoughts. Ah, the genius of John....
thank you so much
Good interpretation. Also see Lennon's "God".
is it simple? i find it cynical... "Imagine no possessions I wonder if you can..." while i like this song regardless of its meaning, i sometimes wonder if, while sounding so simple and hopeful, he's really pointing out that we DON'T live as one, and so on... and that we never really can. all of this is just a fantasy... not realized, and never will be. but maybe that's just me.
It's very hard to "Imagine" that we all live as one.. Certain things he's pointing out to mankind that tears us apart.. No Possession, no Religion, no countries, no greed or hunger.. Everyday somebody will try to make a buck for themselves, instead of helping others in need.. But there's hope, we are growing, learning, watching, listening, and helping strangers in time of need.. Very Powerful song when it was written..
Imagine no possessions<br /> <br /> Doesn't anyone notice that this looks like a world wide communist country?!!!!
Scheisse, everybody who says that us not being able to get over ourselves is exactly what they said to John about world peace. They called him a dreamer, but God knows he's not the only one. Everybody who has been touched by this song knows that even if they are just a dreamer, they're not the only one, and that gives me hope.
So what if his ideas are communistic. If we could live in a communist world without people being selfish, it would be great. People just look down on communism because of its misuse in other countries. Are you saying that his idea to live as "A brotherhood of man" is something that we should not strive for? Lennon sings of peace, and having a God has NOTHING to do with peace. You can not prove the existance of God, and even if you could, you could definitly not prove that he plays any role in our world. Obviously, if God was omniscient, omnibenevolent, and omnipotent, as most religions claim he is, then there would be no suffering in the world for good people; but suffering does happen to many people that are good, just look at Princess Diana, so this kind of God does not exist and possibly none does, at least not one that does anything but perhaps observe us.
It is people like you, obviously needing your possessions and God for support, that make his ideal unrealized.
@Moulingalette Would you be OK with ridding yourself of all of your possessions, including clothing, your computer or smartphone you used to write this post, or any other thing you own? Also, nobody can prove that God doesn't exist, either. There is suffering in this world because there is free will; there will invariably be some people who choose to make life miserable for others, either inadvertently or purposefully for some underlying reason. We can't all be the same because we are human beings, not robots. There has always been a driving force in mankind, and that's to have as much as possible to support their society, which leads to resource and land conflicts with other groups of people who, for some reason or another, decide to not share what's theirs. Besides all that, Karl Marx (you should be acquainted with his writings if you support true communism) supported the gradual replacement of private property, which he referred to as means of production, such as businesses, farms, factories, etc. Anything that produces value should have control of ALL surplus value (such as profits) passed on to a centralised government which will then redistribute that as needed in the community, hence the term "communism". He made a sharp distinction between that and a person's personal property, such as keyboards, computers, books, clothing, food, etc. Nowhere did he advocate the idiocy of having "no possessions". Even Buddhist Monks have possessions; they just don't let their possessions possess them, if that makes any sense. Read, study, learn and grow in knowledge. We already are a brotherhood of mankind, and sisterhood, whatever the case may be we are all part of the human race. Anybody who has had siblings understand that they don't always get along, and sometimes beat the crap out of each other, similarly that happens in the greater scheme of things too. That's life.
@Moulingalette communism is part of marxism and that work out so WELL for Soviet Russia didnt it? you want to live under a globalist dictatorship? hoe about you commie lovers move to North Korea or China and leave the rest of the world alone, this song is propaganda pipe dream that leads to more brainwashed idiots wanting us to give up our individual rights and freedoms for an ideal
@Moulingalette wow how ignorant. you dont care about it being communistic? then you must no fck all about the horrors people suffered and died in the millions under the tyranny of communism, people like you are why the world will be in a bad place and will never get better because you cling to sh!tty unrealistic ideals that cause starving and genocide
I love how you believe in imagining things
Moulingalette: it was a joke. Read both my posts--if you took that seriously, you really need to wake up.
And so you're saying that everyone should be like JL? An egotistical, drug-addicted, lazy/uncreative (he didn't write a single original song for Sgt.Pepper) ex-hippie?
Zamzara:
Wrong, wrong, wrong. Have you done any actual research?
Surprisingly, many people DID wat to waste their lives slaving away for the common good of humanity. People can be like that--during the Early Middle Ages, people tried to spend their entire lives slaving away for the common good of Christianity--and if that means slaughtering a few heathens here and there, so be it :p
People want to do what they are trained to want to do. You see, there is NO reason why Communism could not work theoretically. If a country has an equal amount of wealth, and the wealth is evenly distributed, on the whole everyone should be happier but the top 5%. In practice, although nobody technically "owns" anything, that doesn't stop people from actually owning things. PROPERTY is what one cannot own. Property should be evenly distributed.
No, Communism failed because Communism never existed. True Communism is enlightened anarchy--a perfect system, if it could be put in place. The world of Imagine.
What we ACTUALLY had was Totalitarian Socialism--the entire country and every aspect of it in the hands of the government, and the government entirely in the hands of a few. In paper, this is needed to condition the people to live together without class rivalry (yes, people, class rivalry does exist today--90% of all crimes committed by blacks are against whites. It's not racism, it's true.). However, in practice, the admirable goal of decreasing rivalry instead merely gets warped into a full-blown tyranny. Shows of power are the only way such a government can support itself, and it doesn't help that you are invariably threatened by a very unhappy Western Hemisphere. So you militarize, while still keeping the economy stagnant as a byproduct of opression. Uh-oh! You can't afford that! Better just keep building and let the standard of living plummet--can't show the world weakness or you'll get invaded, right?
We didn't win the Cold War through ideology or through flaws in communism. We outspent them. Gov't spending tripled during the Reagan years, the Soviets tried to match us--after Kennedy, they were pretty much doomed, but Reagan managed to expediate the process.
Have you been to China? I spent 9 months there last year--and amazingly, they're just as happy as we are here...some more, some less. As long as you're above the poverty line and as long as people around you have comparable wealth, income has very little impact on happiness.
Dui le, Dui le, wo hui jiang hanyu. Bu hui shuo Zhongguo hua, Zenme ke yi qu Zhongguo?
Now, see, people WERE unhappy during the Great Leap Forward. Indirectly, Mao ended up killing more people than Hitler did (discounting WWII). But that wasn't communism, that was the result of a foolish attempt to westernize a nation overnight. And that wasn't an ideology giving the orders, that was a power-mad dictator.
Finally...most of the reason people like this song is because of its innocence. The world has never been changed by people who say it can't be, and on some level we all inherantly know that. Innocence and purity are beautiful, and as such this song is beautiful. Very few people would like the following song:
"The world is miserable Nobody likes me at all Nobody ever will We'll all go to hell
Pain and suffering forever All that will ever come And I know this song doesn't rhyme Because I'm a failure at this too"
...oh, right. Sorry. I forgot about much of rap, heavy metal, popular music...never mind.
I'm going to go cry :)