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[Mairi]

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I know most (if not all) of you hate Avril, but I thought I would post this as a point of interest. Speaking as a fan, I am biased, but I think it is pretty good. She's never been known for changing songs that she covers, so this is pretty true to the original, except that it's sung in her voice. Her singing is quite sweet on this- very mellifluous, which is how I always thought Imagine should be, and not like that awful cover by A Perfect Circle. The strings are pretty, too.

I don't hate Avril. I just don't think she gets it. I'd still give it to her though.

Why do people want to ruin things? Maybe it's nicely ruined but that don't make a difference.

[nousha]

Well, I don't like this cover.
On the album "Instant Karma" (I wrote about it in the John Lennon forum) there's another cover of Imagine, done by Jack Johnson. I think it's better:

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[Kevin]

I don't particularly care for the song at the best of times. I wish they'd given it to Marilyn Manson. Now that would be a cover.
But Avril does a good enough job. Good on her.

[BlueMeanie]

She sounds like a 12 year old. Feeble voice, I never much cared for the song either.

I don't particularly care for the song at the best of times. I wish they'd given it to Marilyn Manson. Now that would be a cover.
But Avril does a good enough job. Good on her.

What do you dislke about the song?

[Kevin]

What do you dislke about the song?

I find the melody dreary, the lyric dull and the sentiment naive.
Some songs grab ya, some don't. This doesn't.
I had my first close dance (and with a girl!) to this song when I was 13. Julie Alexander. Her mum was our drama teacher. She smelt very good.
But even that can't save this junkie dirge for me.
And of course I'm not a fan of the diefication of St John and this song is the soundtrack to that.

[Kevin]

Just for the record it doesn't make me run screaming from the room.
Nor do I dislike it as much as "Whatever Gets You Through The Night" "Power to the People"  "Woman is the N*gger of the World" or "Son of Imagine" - I mean "Mindgames"

[Mairi]

Has anyone heard the Joan Baez version? I think it's also quite good. She changes it just enough so that it's unique to her, but she doesn't oversing it. I hate it when artists change the song too much. It's a simple song and it should be sung that way so the musical elements don't overpower the message.

But yes, I agree that Imagine is overrated and John has better songs. I think one of the reasons so many fans hate it is because we hear it ALLLLL the time.

[maninthequeue]

It's OK, but not much better. However it is still a million times better than the version Madonna recorded of that song.

Has anyone heard the Joan Baez version? I think it's also quite good. She changes it just enough so that it's unique to her, but she doesn't oversing it. I hate it when artists change the song too much. It's a simple song and it should be sung that way so the musical elements don't overpower the message.

But yes, I agree that Imagine is overrated and John has better songs. I think one of the reasons so many fans hate it is because we hear it ALLLLL the time.

I disagree with the changing things bit. If you are going to do a cover it has to be for a good reason like a different arrangement or take on the lyric, whats the point in recording a cover and having it sound like a rip of the original?

People say that some covers are better than the orignals, well in some cases they may be, like if it wasn't written by the singer or group for a particular artist then the writer kinda sends it out to different interpretations (in some cases). But if the original is written by the artist then their soul is entrenched in the lyric, they sing it knowing exactly what it is they are singing and where it has come from, the sentiment etc... no cover artist can replicate that in any way.

Fiona Apple my backside.

Imagine, for most people, is some soft liberal tune about some hopeful hippy, dope smoking utopia, all politics and religion, very naive and obvious. Just a hopeful and hopeless wish for World Peace. Well on a very naive and obvious level that may be the case. I know how I feel about that song but I cannot put it into words. I'd like to know what others feel the song is about.

[Mairi]

I'm all for artists changing songs, just not in the way that some people change Imagine.

Yeah I agree with that. We all have our preferences. My last post wasn't directed at you I just used your quote to make mine.

[DarkSweetLady]

Avril has no singing ability... she probably has no clue who john lennon was b/c she's so "punk" ... i have heard a little of her cover and it is pitiful...

and since imagine was such a big song dislike it or love it... someone better should have sang it... someone who truly is influenced by john or the beatles...

people covering beatle songs gets me so irritated... i'm just like stop... b/c i can't stand it... idk why... it's just like there GREAT songs there fine don't touch them go cover another song....

(no offense mairi, just staing my honest oppionion)

[Mairi]

I don't really care what other people think of my favorite artists. Well, not Avril anyway. But she is influenced by the Beatles, you know. In Ellegirl August 2004 she said that they were her favorite band.

[somedude210]

i just thought that if you were going to make a cover album of all john lennon songs, you could do a collective version of all the singers singing it. that way we dont have to deal with some artist that we never wanted to see do a cover of one of the most famous lennon songs, and instead have it mean more by having all sing it

[BlueMeanie]

i just thought that if you were going to make a cover album of all john lennon songs, you could do a collective version of all the singers singing it. that way we dont have to deal with some artist that we never wanted to see do a cover of one of the most famous lennon songs, and instead have it mean more by having all sing it

Sorry SD, I don't particularly love the song, and I think the lyrics are very naive (as were a few of John's), but the thought of Imagine done in a 'We Are The World' stylee has me running for the bathroom!!

[Kevin]

I had a think about my dislike for Imagine last night, wondering if this was due more to my utter distaste for post- Beatle peace-loving John (and especialy all the hype surrounding him.). I acknowledge, as Masterofgoingfaster said, that it is about a hippy utopia and not a statement of fact. I also accept that Lennon was very much into being direct at that time - that he did not wish to hide his message in poetry or ambiguity (shame - because that was one of things that made his -and Paul's - Beatle work so exciting.)
And maybe in the days of Vietnam, assassinations, Watergate, El Salvadore, Kent State and The Cold War the world needed a little naivety.
Do I dislike it because it so disagrees with my right wing views (I like my country and possessions), or because it gets played so much?
Do I hate it because Julie Alexander dumped me after a week and tore my little heart into bits and pieces?
Or just because it's so damn boring - if ever a song needed a BIG middle eight it's Imagine.
Buggered if I know. But I wanted you to know that I do think about these things.
Thank you.

[Mairi]

Actually, the melody is what I like about the song. I think it needs to be sung simply, and not 'overblown' like some artists do it. The lyrics match the melody.

Also, I hate it when females do Beatles covers, but I prefer females over males doing solo John. Weird, huh?