Though it didn't make a big splash in the media generally, legal circles were buzzing about the fact that Associate Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito quoted a John Lennon song in a recent Supreme Court opinion. The song, predictably enough, was "Imagine."
Leaving aside for the moment the specific point that Justice Alito is demonstrably conservative and the song is about the wonders of national socialism, I've always been surprised about how popular "Imagine" has been given its lyrical content. Would most Americans, after all, want a world without religion? Without possessions? Without borders? I don't have any polling information in front of me, but I'm guessing the answer is no.
Maybe it doesn't matter--most Americans wouldn't want "Strawberry Fields Forever," either, or live on a "Yellow Submarine." Still, it's peculiar that the particular intent of a song can be so entirely forgotten...
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I think most people think of the song as symbollic of an ideal spiritual state, not physical utopia. Just as Christ asked followers to give up all their possessions and follow him--spiritual baggage as the church requires donations to survive.
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