Imagine

This song also has to be on my list, because it’s another anthem of the 1970s. It was to the sounds of “Imagine” that we wiped away our tears after the artist’s death (at least those of us who experienced it firsthand), and this song became arguably Lennon’s most famous track from his post-Beatles era.

John Lennon wrote and recorded this song at his Tittenhurst Park estate in the English countryside, where he moved in with Yoko in the summer of 1969. When they moved to Tittenhurst, The Beatles hadn’t officially broken up, but they were in conflict and never recorded together again (the Beatles’ last photo shoot took place right there in August 1969).

“This song should be credited to Lennon and Ono, because much of the lyrics and concept came from Yoko. But that day I was a little more selfish, a little more macho, and I didn’t mention her contribution. But it was straight out of her book *Grapefruit*, Lennon said on December 6, 1980, two days before his death, during a radio interview with the BBC.

Released as a single in the U.S., “Imagine” climbed to No. 3 on the charts in November 1971. In the U.K., John and Yoko decided not to release it as a single in order to focus on their Christmas peace anthem “Happy Xmas (War Is Over).” In 1975, “Imagine” was released as a single in the UK for the first time, reaching number 6. Shortly after Lennon’s death in 1980, it was re-released in the UK and reached number 1 on January 10, 1981, where it remained for four weeks.