The Name of Love
Far Right Nutjob
The spat of critiques of John Lennon's "Imagine" surfacing in light of the ultra-cringy video released by a bunch of celebrities is something that I'd like to contribute to with my own take. I'd like to take the song "Imagine" and compare it to another song "Lullaby."
"Lullaby" was written by the emo/alternative rock singer Thrice. He's known for his use of heavy, distorted-sounding guitars and experimental style. But within the lyrics of his song, one finds much deeper and more spiritually meaningful attack on the song than either Sargon of Akkad or Ben Shapiro makes that I think is worth addressing in full.
So take a look at "Imagine."
Then take a look at "Lullaby."
What becomes apparent is that the lyrics of the latter are very clearly referencing the former. To Lennon's beckoning us to imagine a world where there's "Nothing to kill or die for," Thrice replies "What are we all living for/If nothing's worth dying for tonight?" Where Lennon asks us to "Imagine all the people living life in peace," Thrice replies that such dreams are "not enough" because he needs "comes in so much more." Both Lennon and Thrice call themselves "dreamers," but Thrice says Lennon's dream is "neither good nor true." Ouch.
The core of Thrice's critique of Lennon, I think, comes from his description of Lennon's song as a "lullaby" and a "pallid lie" ("pallid" meaning "dull"). Thrice argues that the world "Imagine" asks us to think of would be "A world where there's no more need to cry/But no joy or passion./It seems like the price is much too high." Eliminating the evils of the world the way Lennon asks would eliminate the good life too, leaving everything becoming lifeless and without purpose. Lennon's "Imagine" is something soothing and "well-intentioned," but that's not good enough for Thrice. What he desires is "love that's worth dying for."
This easily comports with the Thomist critique of modernity in general. The modernist only wants to "live for today," that is to say, only live for the material world, with no reference to transcendent reality. Even modern religious people like Ben Shapiro reject the notion of living for the transcendent; his argument for religion boils down to the idea that living the virtuous life leads to happiness. However, said short-sightedness isn't enough. The transcendent love of God, the "love that's worth dying for," is what moved the great civilizations of the past, and it is the fundamental purpose of man. The Modern West has lost its way. It has conflated reason with physical science, freedom with the satisfaction of desire, and what's true with what's fashionable. It's high time we returned to that and wake up from John Lennon's little nightmare.
"Lullaby" was written by the emo/alternative rock singer Thrice. He's known for his use of heavy, distorted-sounding guitars and experimental style. But within the lyrics of his song, one finds much deeper and more spiritually meaningful attack on the song than either Sargon of Akkad or Ben Shapiro makes that I think is worth addressing in full.
So take a look at "Imagine."
Then take a look at "Lullaby."
What becomes apparent is that the lyrics of the latter are very clearly referencing the former. To Lennon's beckoning us to imagine a world where there's "Nothing to kill or die for," Thrice replies "What are we all living for/If nothing's worth dying for tonight?" Where Lennon asks us to "Imagine all the people living life in peace," Thrice replies that such dreams are "not enough" because he needs "comes in so much more." Both Lennon and Thrice call themselves "dreamers," but Thrice says Lennon's dream is "neither good nor true." Ouch.
The core of Thrice's critique of Lennon, I think, comes from his description of Lennon's song as a "lullaby" and a "pallid lie" ("pallid" meaning "dull"). Thrice argues that the world "Imagine" asks us to think of would be "A world where there's no more need to cry/But no joy or passion./It seems like the price is much too high." Eliminating the evils of the world the way Lennon asks would eliminate the good life too, leaving everything becoming lifeless and without purpose. Lennon's "Imagine" is something soothing and "well-intentioned," but that's not good enough for Thrice. What he desires is "love that's worth dying for."
This easily comports with the Thomist critique of modernity in general. The modernist only wants to "live for today," that is to say, only live for the material world, with no reference to transcendent reality. Even modern religious people like Ben Shapiro reject the notion of living for the transcendent; his argument for religion boils down to the idea that living the virtuous life leads to happiness. However, said short-sightedness isn't enough. The transcendent love of God, the "love that's worth dying for," is what moved the great civilizations of the past, and it is the fundamental purpose of man. The Modern West has lost its way. It has conflated reason with physical science, freedom with the satisfaction of desire, and what's true with what's fashionable. It's high time we returned to that and wake up from John Lennon's little nightmare.