Lennon and his wife Yoko Ono co-produced the song and album of the same name with Phil Spector, an American record producer and songwriter. Recording began in May 1971 and was ready for release in the September.
Reaching number three in the US on the Billboard Hot 100, the LP reached number one in the UK in the November and became the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed album of Lennon’s solo career. Although not originally released as a single in the UK, it was released in 11975 to promote a compilation LP and reached number six in the chart that year.
The song has since sold more than 1.6 million copies in the UK and reached number one following Lennon’s untimely death in December 1980. Named as one of the 100 most-performed songs of the twentieth century by BMI , since 2005 event organisers have played it just before the New Year’s Times Square Ball drops in New York City. Numerous artists have recorded or performed versions of the song, such as Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Elton John, Joan Baez and Diana Ross, amongst others. Most recently Emeli Sande recorded a cover of the song for the BBC to use during the end credits montage at the close of the 2012 Summer Olympics – as a result “Imagine” subsequently re-entered the charts, peaking at number 18 in the UK Top 40.
The lyrics themselves were inspired by several poems from Yoko Ono’s 1964 poetry book Grapefruit – in particular, one entitled “Cloud Pieces” which reads: “Imagine the clouds dripping, dig a hole in your garden to put them in.”
Imagine there's no heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today...
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
Living life in peace...
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 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
