In 1966, John Lennon said, “We’re more popular than Jesus now.” Christians were outraged. There were scenes on the news of people burning Beatles albums. I guess I had a reputation for being the village atheist because the other kids in the neighborhood where I lived came over to my house, offering to sell their Beatles albums for pennies on the dollar. I bought.
In 1971, that same John Lennon released “Imagine,” an album with the eponymous song on it. He sang the praises of atheism and communism, which I should have thought would precipitate even more outrage than the remark about being more popular than Jesus. Instead, nothing happened. People loved that song. I even remember getting on the elevator at a shopping mall and hearing Perry Como singing it.
Previously, I was somewhat aware of the fact that people don’t really listen to lyrics. In 1978, for example, Barry Manilow released “Copacabana.” It is a song about a woman named Lola, a showgirl. And that was about all anybody I knew seemed to know about it, however much they might have liked that song. When I commented about the fight that breaks out, about the blood that is spilt, how Tony is shot, and how years later Lola has lost her mind, no one seemed to know what I was talking about.
Mel Tillis was a country singer known for having stutter when he spoke, but not when he sang. Presumably, the stuttering was a left-brain problem, while singing is guided by the right brain. The words of a song are merely vehicles for music and poetry, not actually for the communication of thoughts. The expression “rhyme or reason” also captures this dichotomy.
A friend of mine, who was familiar with my puzzlement over the warm reception by the public to the song “Imagine,” called me yesterday to tell me how this song had been sung at Jimmy Carter’s funeral, right there in front of God and everybody. Unlike in 1971, I was able to check for public reaction on the internet and found that there was indeed some outrage over this, especially since Carter was probably the most religious president in my lifetime. I can remember when the Russians invaded Afghanistan, Carter’s saying that it was only right for us to be on the side of the Afghan people because they believed in God whereas the Russians were atheists.
And yet, further research revealed that “Imagine” was Carter’s favorite song, and that he had “Imagine” played during the wake for Rosalynn. I can only conclude that he never really heard the lyrics.
