This morning, on my way to work, I caught a bit of the Edge music news on the Shredd & Ragan show. A Perfect Circle (a band that I have never listened to) has released a dark, slightly creepy cover of the song Imagine. My first reaction, of course, was WTF? It sounds…well…weird. Because, after all, the song is so pretty and nice.

But I’ve actually considered the lyrics in a different way before. I was rereading Lois Lowry’s novel The Giver, a novel set in a dystopic, futuristic world. At first, it would seem that the characters in the novel are living the perfect life of John Lennon’s imagination. They are peaceful. No one is hungry. There’s no such thing as war.

But as you read further, you realize that there is more missing from this society. They have no concept of emotion. The word “love” is arcane and meaningless. These people know no pain, but they also know no joy. If I ever teach this novel, I’m going to use this song to open and close the unit.

My point? Maybe A Perfect Circle is on to something. But it still sounds weird.

Imagine (John Lennon)

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,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace…

Imagine no possesions,
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 Im not the only one,
I hope some day you’ll join us,
And the world will live as one.