GOD
“God” is a song from John Lennon’s first post-Beatles solo album, John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band. The album was released on 11 December 1970 in the United States and the United Kingdom. The song was considered controversial upon release, dealing with anti-religious themes. (More from Wikipedia)
“Imagine”, perhaps John Lennon’s best known song – certainly among his solo recordings – opens with: “Imagine there’s no Heaven” – but I actually heard an evangelist once attempt to recast “Imagine” as a Christian song. In another of his songs, “God”, John Lennon recites a long list of disbeliefs, beginning with “I don’t believe in magic” and ending with “I don’t believe in Beatles”, with Jesus (along with other religious leaders) appearing about halfway through.
Mark David Chapman, the man who assassinated John Lennon in 1980, became a born-again Christian in 1970 and had been incensed by the “more popular than Jesus” remark, as well as the sentiments in “God” and “Imagine”.
(September 2014)
