How Well Do You Know The Lyrics To 'Imagine'?
John Lennon's 1971 call for world peace is arguably the best-known song of his solo career. Can you remember all of the words?
1. “Imagine there's no _________/It's easy if you_________.”
1. Tongues; Squint
2. Ringo; Hate Ringo
3. ...Uh?; (Sigh of boredom)
4. Bathrooms; Realize how tedious bathrooms are
Lennon was a staunch believer in the elimination of the bathroom, and unapologetically made that fact be known at the point in the song.
“No _______ below us/Above us only________.”
1. Carpeting; Carpeting
2. Frankensteins; A huge mitten where the moon should be
3. Things; (Sound of beer cracking open and being slurped)
4. Toilets; God nodding in approval as he witnesses the destruction of all bathrooms
Lennon frequently confused Frankenstein with Frankenstein's monster, and here expressed his severe fears that there are multiple 'Frankensteins' out to get him.
“Imagine all the _________/Living for__________.”
1. Hats and muffins; Disease
2. Earthworms; Getting smushed on the sidewalk
3. Stuff; Whatever, are we done yet?
4. Time you'd save; Going to the bathroom wherever you want
Lennon was a staunch believer in the elimination of the bathroom, and unapologetically made that fact be known at the point in the song.
“Imagine there's no_________/It isn't hard to__________.”
1. Circuit City; Considering it's 1971 and Circuit City doesn't exist yet
2. Winking; Wink
3. (Sound of a football game being turned on); Ah, fuck, the Jets?
4. Flushing; Shit anymore
Here Lennon apparently forgets he is recording what will go on to be one of his biggest hits and turns on a football game on the recording studio's TV.
“Nothing to__________/And no___________too.”
1. Make your pancreas itch; Hair growing from your spleen
2. Chase you around an abandoned castle; Frankensteins
3. (Faint sounds of Lennon calling his bookie and betting $50,000 on the Jets to lose); Shit, where were we? Uh, war?
4. Make shitting too complicated; Toilets taking up valuable space
In Imagine, John makes the case for a world where pancreases don't itch and spleens don't grow hair, two things which don't actually happen anyway, so he nailed this one.
“Imagine all the__________/Living life in____________.”
1. Frenchmen; France
2. Frankensteins; Nowhere
3. (Sound of another beer being cracked); Love me some Pabst, hell yeah
4. People no longer excusing themselves to go to the bathroom; The moment instead
This simple but effective lyric implores listeners to imagine every single last man in France living their normal lives in their home country.
“You may say I'm___________/But I'm not_______________.”
1. Going to be assassinated on December 8th, 1980; Going to believe you
2. A Frankenstein; A Frankenstein
3. John Lennon; Going to finish this song because I'm kind of hungry
4. Gross; Gross, I'm just saying you could save a lot of time and energy by just pissing and shitting on the floor
In this passage, John both eerily predicted his assassination and asserted that he refused to believe his own premonition. Pretty brilliant songwriting.
“I hope someday you'll__________/And the world will be__________.”
1. Start a war; Filled with awesome tanks and guns
2. Give birth; The baby
3. (Sound of chips being crunched); (Sound of steak sizzling on the grill)
4. Just shit wherever; Filthier, sure, but also much easier
Here Lennon shows off his knack for using words to paint breathtaking imagery by describing the listener giving birth to the entire world.
“Imagine __________/I wonder__________.”
1. Clouds; Who invented them
2. Nothing's different than it is; If I'm a hawk
3. Nooooooooo! Fuck you, Joe Namath!; I just lost 50 fucking grand. Fuck!
4. Plumbers starving to death and rotting in the streets; If this fantasy will ever come true
With this line, Lennon expresses his desire to see the entire plumbing industry put out of business and every plumber starve to death due to no one using toilets anymore, a theme which he repeatedly visited in every song he ever penned.
“No need for ______ or _______/A brotherhood of_________.”
1. Pens; Pencils; Blank paper
2. Frankenstein detectors; Frankenstein protectors; Frankenstein rejectors
3. Joe Namath; The Jets; (Loud snoring)
4. Toilet paper; Any of that bullshit; Haphazard, negligent shitting
In one of the most quoted lines from the tune, John curses the New York Jets and then falls asleep at the mic.
“Imagine all the__________/Sharing all the___________.”
1. Penguins in the zoo; Garlic in the world
2. Beatles besides Ringo; Credit for everything Ringo contributed to the band
3. (Sound of John Lennon collapsing onto his piano); (Sound of recording engineer rushing to John's aid)
4. Piss; Floor
