John Lennon Compared ‘Imagine’ to The Beatles’ Songs
John Lennon‘s “Imagine” is just as famous as many of The Beatles’ songs. During an interview, John discussed whether “Imagine” was of a similar quality to the Fab Four’s tracks. In addition, he thought about how “Imagine” would be received in the future.
John Lennon didn’t expect audiences to react to ‘Imagine’ the way they did
The book Lennon on Lennon: Conversations with John Lennon includes an interview from 1971. In it, John discussed how fans reacted to the songs from his album Imagine. “I thought, of the album, which they’re plugging now, out now, we thought ‘Jealous Guy‘ and ‘Gimme Some Truth’ was gonna be the ones,” he said.
John was wrong. “But people seem to like ‘Imagine’ and ‘Oh Yoko’ the best,” he continued. “I did not think they’d like ‘Oh Yoko.’ They love it.”
John Lennon discussed how listeners would react to his songs as years went by
In the 1980 interview from the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John discussed The Beatles’ songs and his solo material. “So far as I am concerned, I am dissatisfied with every record [The Beatles] ever f****** made,” he said. “There ain’t one of them I wouldn’t remake, including all The Beatles’ and all my individual ones. So I cannot possibly give you an assessment of what The Beatles are.”
Subsequently, he said “Imagine” was on the level of a Beatles song. “I came up with ‘Imagine,’ ‘Love,’ and those Plastic Ono Band songs — they stand up to any songs that were written when I was a Beatle,” he opined. “Now, it may take you 20 or 30 years to appreciate that; but the fact is, these songs are as good as any f****** stuff that was ever done.”‘
How ‘Imagine’ performed on the pop charts in the United States and the United Kingdom
“Imagine” was a hit in the United States. The track reached No. 3 on the Billboard Hot 100, staying on the chart for nine weeks. The album Imagine did even better on the Billboard 200. It topped the Billboard 200 for one week, lasting a total of 47 weeks on the chart. It was John’s first post-Beatles album to reach No. 1 in the U.S.
The Official Charts Company reports “Imagine” topped the chart for four weeks in the United Kingdom, staying on the chart for 42 weeks in total. “Imagine” charted at No. 55 in 1988, lasting five weeks on the chart. Meanwhile, Imagine was No. 1 for two of its 101 weeks on the U.K. chart. It was John’s most popular solo album there.
“Imagine” was massive hit and John felt it lived up to The Beatles’ legacy.
