Art by Tim Carroll

December 8, 1980.  10:50 PM.  John Lennon returns to his New York City home – The Dakota – when he is approached by a young man that had received Lennon’s autograph earlier in the day.  The man, Mark David Chapman, drops to one knee and fires 5 shots from a .38 revolver.  Four of the shots strike John Lennon, and he is pronounced dead minutes later. 

 

Arguably one of the top 3 musical influences of all-time, Lennon was also the consummate peacekeeper.  To be such an advocate of world peace, the irony looms large that he was gunned down so violently.  Imagine what the world would be like today if Lennon did not perish 30 years ago.  Imagine the Beatles actually getting back together, selling out countless stadiums and coliseums all over the globe.  Imagine all of the good Lennon could have continued to bring to mankind if he were not shot in 1980.

 

For this piece, I used the lyrics to John Lennon’s all-time hit, Imagine:

 

Imagine there's no Heaven
It's easy if you try
No hell below us
Above us only sky
Imagine all the people
Living for today

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will be as one

Imagine no possessions
I wonder if you can
No need for greed or hunger
A brotherhood of man
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world

You may say that I'm a dreamer
But I'm not the only one
I hope someday you'll join us
And the world will live as one

 

 

 

Completed March, 2010.  11”x14” Graphite on Strathmore Bristol Board.    

 

 

 

 

 

The word "Imagine" appears exactly 58 times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My daughter asked me how many times I could get the lyrics on the board.  I replied, "10 times, I imagine."  It was actually 9 complete - 1 partial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1,184 total words.  No matter how you imagine it, that is a lot of words!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Although I was only 2 years old when Lennon died, I imagine that the world would be a much better place if he were still alive:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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