alanjjohnstone
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You may say that I’m a dreamerBut I’m not the only oneJohn Lennon It is a dream, you may say, of what has never been and will never be; true it has never been, and therefore, since the world is alive and moving yet, my hope is the greater that it one day will be: true it is a dream; but dreams have before now come about of things so good and necessary to us that we scarcely think of them more than of the daylight, though once people had to live without them, without even the hope of them.William Morris http://socialiststandardmyspace.blogspot.com/search/label/World%20Socialist%20Number%203
Anne Jaclard right at the end of the video discusses factory occupations and by coincidence i posted what i thought would be a contentious blog on the same subject on Socialist Courier http://socialist-courier.blogspot.com/2013/12/revolution-without-revolutionaries-or.html
Any chance HO can order a number of the Kliman pamphlet that was being referred to in the video. A short insert can be inserted explaining where we have a difference with him, such as on labour-time vouchers.
Perhaps we are talking at cross purposes a little, JCIt is about making a short video to explain the socialist case and a sound track invariably is involved in any film. The first objection i raised to Imagine was copyright. Second, if you look back, i also raised the issue of too close an association with Lennon's other ideas. But we will never find a perfect song, neither red flag or internationale can be considered 100% perfect., but they do come close but a bit sterotyped and both use by our political enemiesI think we do have to ask for members and non-members suggestions for music, because as you say the choice is almost limitless. ..who can ever forget the impact of the Ride of the Valkrie in Apocalypse Now depicting the brutality of war now but who cares if Wagner was an anti-semitic and was promoted by nazis when it comes to music in movies http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V92OBNsQgxU
Or how about this anti-war song, only fault being it is time and event linked rather than generalised (no pun intended) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntLsElbW9Xo Our world is our oyster when it comes to the selection of a suitable anti-war song to accompany a anti-war video/photos
No not a socialist but expresses anti-war ideas effectively for any video of ourshttp://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/neilyoung/livingwithwar.htmlIf that isn't enough to convince you , listen to Flags of Freedomhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Mrr3tkNPPo And to gladden the heart of any NE member , Eric Burden and the Animals – even if geordie rather than mackem http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lroU7apzma8 In the year of 2014 when slaughter in the trenches will be commemorated by the capitalist vultures of war, surely we can create our own anti-war video.
Okay, another half-assed hippiehttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uf5nVk5MU70"The Restless Consumer"The people have heard the news The people have spoken You may not like what they said But they weren't jokin' Way out on the desert sands Lies a desperate lover They call her the "Queen of Oil" So much to discover Don't need no ad machine Telling me what I need Don't need no Madison Avenue War Don't need no more boxes I can see Covered in flags but I can't see them on TV Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies The restless consumer flies Around the world each day With such an appetite for taste and grace People from around the world Need someone to listen We're starving and dying from our disease We need your medicine How do you pay for war And leave us dyin' ? When you could do so much more You're not even tryin' Don't need no TV ad Tellin' me how sick I am Don't want to know how many people are like me Don't need no dizziness Don't need no nausea Don't need no side effects like diarrhea or sexual death Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies The restless consumer lies Asleep in her hotel With such an appetite For anything that sells A hundred voices from a hundred lands Need someone to listen People are dying here and there They don't see the world the way you do There's no mission accomplished here Just death to thousands A hundred voices from a hundred lands Cry out in unison Don't need no terror squad Don't want no damned Jihad Blowin' themselves away in my hood But we don't talk to them So we don't learn from them Hate don't negotiate with Good Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies Don't need no more lies The restless comsumer flies Around the world each day With such an appetite for efficiency And pace…Don't need no more lies.
Lennon and leaders in his own wordshttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoC83orA4ysLennon on revolution in his own words and endorsing peacefully if possible , violently if necessary ideahttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sRq1mp4VArA
Another factoid In 1972 , about a year after writing Imagine "Flanked by Yoko and an indulgent Leon Wildes (his lawyer), John announced the creation of a 'conceptual' country called Nutopia with 'no land, no boundaries, no passports, only people.' Its national flag was a Kleenex, and anyone who heard of its existence automatically became both a citizen and an ambassador. As ambassadors-in-chief, he and Yoko claimed diplomatic immunity from normal immigration procedure and legal process, and the prerogative to stay in America for as long as Nutopia's national interests should warrant. On the service door of their Dakota apartment kitchen appeared a plaque reading NUTOPIAN EMBASSY."
I just read this. "plays a role in the movie Forrest Gump. Gump (played by Tom Hanks) appears on a talk show with Lennon, talking about a place where there are "no possessions" and "no religion." It's implied that Gump gave Lennon the idea for this song."
We are now in the realm of speculation and fantasy. There is no evidence whatsoever to claim Lennon was inspired by an SPGB pamphlet or even if he knew about the Party. Why on earth would he need to make up a story about being inspired by Yoko Ono's poem for copyright reasons. There is no legal issue involved by admitting you read the Communist Manifesto, Questions of the Day or whatever and got an idea for a song. Indeed why shouldn't he admit, "well the idea came to me as i was strolling through Hyde Park"…He could even have added "and i heard this guy at Speakers Corner from the SPGB and what he said struck a chord" But he didn't !!!I know some comrades who believe that Billy Connolly got his best material from listening to the humour of Dick and Vic on the speakers platform but i put that down to wishful thinking too.Once more i still think Working Class Hero lyrics are much better "Keep you doped with religion and sex and TVAnd you think you're so clever and classless and free"
Just to remind people of the lyrics to Imagine ……….”Imagine there’s no heavenIt’s easy if you tryNo hell below usAbove us only skyImagine all the people living for today Imagine there’s no countriesIt isn’t hard to doNothing to kill or die forAnd no religion tooImagine all the people living life in peace You, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only oneI hope some day you’ll join usAnd the world will be as one Imagine no possessionsI wonder if you canNo need for greed or hungerA brotherhood of manImagine all the people sharing all the world You, you may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the only oneI hope some day you’ll join usAnd the world will live as one”………
i would say these verses put together express the socialist idea. No religion. No Private Property. No Nations. All described as the cause of war and discord. Just what exactly is anti-socialist about it? i am curious to know.In his own way and style JL expresses the same socialistic message as Burns has.
…..”It’s comin yet for a’ that, That man to man, the world, o’er Shall brithers be for a’ that.”……
But i make no claim for Burns being a socialist (we’ve been through Lennons leftist political pedigree on another thread) , just that Burns too put our aspiration into fine words for us to quote as an aid in our propaganda.///I sincerely hope you never took my response to JC and yourself personally, SC. I for one at my first conference to the confusion of who later became a member of Socialist Studies described myself as Marxist-Lennonist. (and to the dismay of many i often call myself an Anarcho-Marxist) Jonathan Chambers does raise a point that he objects to and what you seem to disagree with…motives.Should we declare the Pope a "socialist" as the other thread is discussing because of his "socialistic" sentiments? The soymb blog agrees with you that we will take advantage of every opportunity to explain the socialist case and it sympathetically quoted in length the latest Papal Bull…http://socialismoryourmoneyback.blogspot.com/2013/11/its-not-all-papal-bull.html We did however added important qualifying caveats to it.JL or his music likewise should not have unconditional support, not that i am accusing you of offering such. But some members are entitled to question the worth of Imagine and by associating too closely with one of his songs we may risk being associated with all of JL's views.I still believe Working Class Hero is a better and more socialist song but it hasn't got the sugar – coating to make it palatable to everybody.
Perhaps a related comment to the above to add to the discussion by Seymour Lenin's Tomb couching his Unity politics in a bit of personal observation and opinion. http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/26/can-you-be-too-leftwing
