Most libs and progressives don't even get past "so you want a revolution". Their cries of agreement to that one statement drown out the rest of the song.
And Lennon's "Imagine" is frankly a blueprint for a dystopia. "Imagine there are no countries", I LIKE countries, most of the time they mark where one unique and interesting culture differs from another unique and interesting culture. No countries means no unique and individual cultures, instead, monoculture. And that's not cool. "Imagine there are no religions"....ok, so no more spiritually-lifting Hildegard von Bingen hymns, none of the awesomely complex Indian and Tibetan Buddhist mandalas that I love, no more Zen or Taoist philosophy I live by. That's going to make the meaning of life pretty damn empty for me. "Imagine no possessions"; imagine, people who enjoy this song, no more Beatles/John Lennon CDs, nothing to play them on. Your music collection is gone because it's a posession, your books are gone, your clothes are your posessions, your home is your posession, all gone because you imagine no posessions. Now you're either homeless "nothing above us, only sky", because you imagine no posessions. A soul-less, colorless, bland world is what I'm asked to imagine when I listen to that song.
John is my hero and this is one of my favorites...good call on this posting, Kevin, although I suspect we are looking at it from different perspectives:)
I don't want a revolution, I just want people to stop taking an ever increasing percentage of my labor value because they think they have a blueprint to an enlightened society based on theft.
"Most libs and progressives don't even get past "so you want a revolution". Their cries of agreement to that one statement drown out the rest of the song."
Exactly. If more people *on all sides* would actually RTWT and *think* about those words, our country would be a much better place.
Excellent post, Kevin.
**************************
Imagine
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No standards of behavior
No reason to wonder why
Imagine all the people
Assholes, every one
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
No feeling of belonging
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Each one all alone
You may say that I'm alarmist
But history bears me out
I hope someday you'll wake up
And pull your head out
Imagine no possessions
Of all our goods we're shorn
Working harder gets you nothing
Ambition dies stillborn
Imagine all the people
How lazy they would be
You may say that I'm alarmist
But history bears me out
I hope someday you'll wake up
And pull your head out
Note: I personally am agnostic. That does NOT imply that I believe religion serves no useful purpose. On the contrary, for the vast majority of us, I believe it serves a VITAL purpose. It is what keeps a lot of us striving to improve a world that is against us in thousands of little ways all our lives.
We're going to need another revolution for sure. But not the one John Lennon "Imagined". Rather one to take back our government from the "Kumbaya crowd" currently infecting it.
I'm hoping it's this one and not Won't Get Fooled Again.
We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the foe, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the next war
"Well I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
I even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hears 'em sayin'
There ain't no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day..."
(Frank Zappa)
~~~~~
"There's a feelin' in the sky tonight
Tough as nails and I feel the cold wind start to bite
Folks I meet seem so cold
Blown like leaves their faces hard and set in stone
I'd just like to know
Cold and tired, hope all gone
Just how far this road goes on
I'd just like to see
All or nothin', high or low
Just how far this game can go
Plant my feet on foreign soil
No return I crossed that mil some time ago
Cast my eyes on streets that shine
Reflect my image and I know I'm livin' on borrowed time
I'd sure like to feel
Dreams I chased so long ago
Weren't wasted miles on empty roads
I'd just like to believe
All these desperate cries I hear
Are falling on a sympathetic ear
A song I've heard since I was young
Sounds so sweet on this lonely street, makes me cry
Askin' myself why oh why
I'm such a fool to listen to this deadly kind of lullaby
I'd just like to know
Cold and tired, hope all gone
Just how far this road goes on
I'd just like to see
All or nothin', high or low
Just how far this game can go"
I'm starting to wonder if anyone *actually read the words* to the version of "Imagine" I posted. I had expected Mark to have expressed outrage by now.
But I forgot, since Sen. Hussein is now President-elect Hussein, Mark's world is now perfect. I presume that means that most of us here don't actually exist anymore.
Here's a British one about piano movers (hence the reference to tea). Sounds like a typical left wing approach to things, doing things because they FEEL it's the right thing to do, never thinking things through and if it all gi#oes wrong, well they tried and it COULD have worked ....
Right Said Fred (Cup of Tea)
(Myles Rudge, lyrics & Ted Dicks, music)
"Right," said Fred, "Both of us together
One on each end and steady as we go."
Tried to shift it, couldn't even lift it
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and
"Right," said Fred, "Give a shout for Charlie."
Up comes Charlie from the floor below.
After strainin', heavin' and complainin'
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.
And Charlie had a think, and he thought we ought to take off all the handles
And the things wot held the candles.
But it did no good, well I never thought it would
"All right," said Fred, "Have to take the feet off
To get them feet off wouldn't take a mo."
Took its feet off, even took the seat off
Should have got us somewhere but no!
So Fred said, "Let's have a cuppa tea."
And we said, "right-o."
"Right," said Fred, "Have to take the door off
Need more space to shift the so-and-so."
Had bad twinges taking off the hinges
And it got us nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and
"Right," said Fred, " Have to take the wall down,
That there wall is gonna have to go."
Took the wall down, even with it all down
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.
And Charlie had a think, and he said, "Look, Fred,
I get a sort of feelin'
If we remove the ceilin'
With a rope or two we could drop the blighter through."
"All right," said Fred, climbing up a ladder
With his crowbar gave a mighty blow.
Was he in trouble, half a ton of rubble landed on the top of his dome.
So Charlie and me had another cuppa tea
And then we went home.
(I said to Charlie, "We'll just have to leave it
Standing on the landing, that's all
Trouble with Fred is, he's too hasty
Never get nowhere if you're too hasty.")
>};¬)
Note:
All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost;
references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>
JS-Kit/Echo comments for article at http://smallestminority.blogspot.com/2008/11/in-honor-of-election-day.html (19 comments)
Tentative mapping of comments to original article, corrections solicited.
Lennon and his ilk had their revolution.
It's how we have reached the current state in which we find ourselves.
The guy for the Marxist/socialist team is poised to win today.
Now, it's Restoration time.
Up the Republic.
Game On.
I was always more of a Stones fan myself...Lol
:::hock, spit:::: Damned dirty hippies!
Most libs and progressives don't even get past "so you want a revolution". Their cries of agreement to that one statement drown out the rest of the song.
And Lennon's "Imagine" is frankly a blueprint for a dystopia. "Imagine there are no countries", I LIKE countries, most of the time they mark where one unique and interesting culture differs from another unique and interesting culture. No countries means no unique and individual cultures, instead, monoculture. And that's not cool. "Imagine there are no religions"....ok, so no more spiritually-lifting Hildegard von Bingen hymns, none of the awesomely complex Indian and Tibetan Buddhist mandalas that I love, no more Zen or Taoist philosophy I live by. That's going to make the meaning of life pretty damn empty for me. "Imagine no possessions"; imagine, people who enjoy this song, no more Beatles/John Lennon CDs, nothing to play them on. Your music collection is gone because it's a posession, your books are gone, your clothes are your posessions, your home is your posession, all gone because you imagine no posessions. Now you're either homeless "nothing above us, only sky", because you imagine no posessions. A soul-less, colorless, bland world is what I'm asked to imagine when I listen to that song.
John is my hero and this is one of my favorites...good call on this posting, Kevin, although I suspect we are looking at it from different perspectives:)
I don't want a revolution, I just want people to stop taking an ever increasing percentage of my labor value because they think they have a blueprint to an enlightened society based on theft.
"Most libs and progressives don't even get past "so you want a revolution". Their cries of agreement to that one statement drown out the rest of the song."
Exactly. If more people *on all sides* would actually RTWT and *think* about those words, our country would be a much better place.
Excellent post, Kevin.
**************************
Imagine
Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No standards of behavior
No reason to wonder why
Imagine all the people
Assholes, every one
Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
No feeling of belonging
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Each one all alone
You may say that I'm alarmist
But history bears me out
I hope someday you'll wake up
And pull your head out
Imagine no possessions
Of all our goods we're shorn
Working harder gets you nothing
Ambition dies stillborn
Imagine all the people
How lazy they would be
You may say that I'm alarmist
But history bears me out
I hope someday you'll wake up
And pull your head out
Note: I personally am agnostic. That does NOT imply that I believe religion serves no useful purpose. On the contrary, for the vast majority of us, I believe it serves a VITAL purpose. It is what keeps a lot of us striving to improve a world that is against us in thousands of little ways all our lives.
We're going to need another revolution for sure. But not the one John Lennon "Imagined". Rather one to take back our government from the "Kumbaya crowd" currently infecting it.
John is my hero...
Surprise, surprise.
I'm hoping it's this one and not Won't Get Fooled Again.
We'll be fighting in the streets
With our children at our feet
And the morals that they worship will be gone
And the men who spurred us on
Sit in judgement of all wrong
They decide and the shotgun sings the song
I'll tip my hat to the new constitution
Take a bow for the new revolution
Smile and grin at the change all around me
Pick up my guitar and play
Just like yesterday
Then I'll get on my knees and pray
We don't get fooled again
The change, it had to come
We knew it all along
We were liberated from the foe, that's all
And the world looks just the same
And history ain't changed
'Cause the banners, they all flown in the next war
Phelps, you missed the last lyric!
Meet the new boss.
Same as the old boss.
[markadelphia-mode]
No, no Kevin, the new boss is DIFFERENT, and BETTER, and this time, with just a little more effort, IT WILL WORK!
[/markadelphia-mode]
OK, I'm going to have a stiff drink and maybe a shower.
Use (ahem) lye soap.
"Well I'm watchin' and I'm waitin'
Hopin' for the best
I even think I'll go to prayin'
Every time I hears 'em sayin'
There ain't no way to delay
That trouble comin' every day..."
(Frank Zappa)
~~~~~
"There's a feelin' in the sky tonight
Tough as nails and I feel the cold wind start to bite
Folks I meet seem so cold
Blown like leaves their faces hard and set in stone
I'd just like to know
Cold and tired, hope all gone
Just how far this road goes on
I'd just like to see
All or nothin', high or low
Just how far this game can go
Plant my feet on foreign soil
No return I crossed that mil some time ago
Cast my eyes on streets that shine
Reflect my image and I know I'm livin' on borrowed time
I'd sure like to feel
Dreams I chased so long ago
Weren't wasted miles on empty roads
I'd just like to believe
All these desperate cries I hear
Are falling on a sympathetic ear
A song I've heard since I was young
Sounds so sweet on this lonely street, makes me cry
Askin' myself why oh why
I'm such a fool to listen to this deadly kind of lullaby
I'd just like to know
Cold and tired, hope all gone
Just how far this road goes on
I'd just like to see
All or nothin', high or low
Just how far this game can go"
(Little Feat -- "Changin' Luck")
These is an organisation called Civitas ("the institute for the study of civil society") which published a book called "The need for nations".
It was available as a free download (which I did) but I can't find it since thay have reorganised their website.
It is a 74 page document but if anyone wants a copy in PDF format. let me know and I'll send it out.
lennon was the poet laureate of his day (and it was my day too)...
but it is a different day now, and a different world. there will be no revolution, merely evolution...and change...and that is the stated goal, right?
and you know the good thing about evolution and change? they apply to the future no matter what present circumstances may be.
"for every season...turn, turn, turn...there is a reason..."
this too shall pass.
jtc
I'm starting to wonder if anyone *actually read the words* to the version of "Imagine" I posted. I had expected Mark to have expressed outrage by now.
But I forgot, since Sen. Hussein is now President-elect Hussein, Mark's world is now perfect. I presume that means that most of us here don't actually exist anymore.
Here's a British one about piano movers (hence the reference to tea). Sounds like a typical left wing approach to things, doing things because they FEEL it's the right thing to do, never thinking things through and if it all gi#oes wrong, well they tried and it COULD have worked ....
Right Said Fred (Cup of Tea)
(Myles Rudge, lyrics & Ted Dicks, music)
"Right," said Fred, "Both of us together
One on each end and steady as we go."
Tried to shift it, couldn't even lift it
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and
"Right," said Fred, "Give a shout for Charlie."
Up comes Charlie from the floor below.
After strainin', heavin' and complainin'
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.
And Charlie had a think, and he thought we ought to take off all the handles
And the things wot held the candles.
But it did no good, well I never thought it would
"All right," said Fred, "Have to take the feet off
To get them feet off wouldn't take a mo."
Took its feet off, even took the seat off
Should have got us somewhere but no!
So Fred said, "Let's have a cuppa tea."
And we said, "right-o."
"Right," said Fred, "Have to take the door off
Need more space to shift the so-and-so."
Had bad twinges taking off the hinges
And it got us nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and
"Right," said Fred, " Have to take the wall down,
That there wall is gonna have to go."
Took the wall down, even with it all down
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.
And Charlie had a think, and he said, "Look, Fred,
I get a sort of feelin'
If we remove the ceilin'
With a rope or two we could drop the blighter through."
"All right," said Fred, climbing up a ladder
With his crowbar gave a mighty blow.
Was he in trouble, half a ton of rubble landed on the top of his dome.
So Charlie and me had another cuppa tea
And then we went home.
(I said to Charlie, "We'll just have to leave it
Standing on the landing, that's all
Trouble with Fred is, he's too hasty
Never get nowhere if you're too hasty.")
>};¬)
Note: All avatars and any images or other media embedded in comments were hosted on the JS-Kit website and have been lost; references to haloscan comments have been partially automatically remapped, but accuracy is not guaranteed and corrections are solicited.
If you notice any problems with this page or wish to have your home page link updated, please contact John Hardin <jhardin@impsec.org>