Whanganui Chronicle
  • Whanganui Chronicle home
  • Latest news
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Sport
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology

Locations

  • Taranaki
  • National Park
  • Whakapapa
  • Ohakune
  • Raetihi
  • Taihape
  • Marton
  • Feilding
  • Palmerston North

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • New Plymouth
  • Whanganui
  • Palmertson North
  • Levin

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Whanganui Chronicle

Re-imagining of Lennon's visionary music a dream

Shirley-Joy Barrow
Wanganui Midweek·
21 Feb, 2018 09:06 PM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article

"The visionary starts with a clean sheet of paper, and re-imagines the world." — Malcolm Gladwell
I was brought to tears by the Korean rendition of John Lennon's Imagine while watching the opening of the Winter Olympics. This song seemed more relevant than it was in the 1970s when he wrote
it.

John was truly a visionary of his time, he turned his face to the future and began to put to music what dreamers imagined — "a place with no heaven, no hell" — it may take a little effort, yet in history, religion brought so much chaos, much more than is justifiable under any faith. Would the world be a better place without religions? Imagine "the sky above us" and "living day to day" — living in the present and facing the consequences of our actions today.

Imagine no countries — how many wars have been fought in the name of sovereignty, imperialism, land, oil etc? What if there was nothing to kill or die for? Imagine people living in peace — real peace, not just a shield to cover the dirty hands of powerful wealthy nations. John Lennon wanted us to keep dreaming for world peace and it will take all of us for that to happen.

Imagine no possessions. We all have to leave it all here once we are gone, so why not let go a little of it now? There are those with so much less than we have. Imagine what would have happened if we shared our excess food with the less fortunate? World hunger would probably end overnight. "And the world would live as one".

My Angels touch my shoulder and remind me of the times when people turned their backs on visionaries who cannot hold back from sharing their dreams, for they know if we want to survive we must learn to share our dreams, share the light. There is no other way.
In this week ahead remember these words and have the courage to share if you have a dream or vision and if a visionary shares their vision with you — together, imagine that happening. Arohanui.
Shirley-Joy.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Save
    Share this article

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

Whanganui Chronicle

'Absolutely gutted': Billy Webb Challenge scrapped

24 Oct 05:00 PM
Premium
OpinionNicky Rennie

Nicky Rennie: Silver Ferns coaching debacle won’t inspire young netballers

24 Oct 04:00 PM
Premium
OpinionGareth Carter

Gareth Carter: Labour weekend gardening guide

24 Oct 03:00 PM

Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Whanganui Chronicle

'Absolutely gutted': Billy Webb Challenge scrapped
Whanganui Chronicle

'Absolutely gutted': Billy Webb Challenge scrapped

Organisers say the weather and river conditions are too dangerous to go ahead.

24 Oct 05:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Nicky Rennie: Silver Ferns coaching debacle won’t inspire young netballers
OpinionNicky Rennie

Nicky Rennie: Silver Ferns coaching debacle won’t inspire young netballers

24 Oct 04:00 PM
Premium
Premium
Gareth Carter: Labour weekend gardening guide
OpinionGareth Carter

Gareth Carter: Labour weekend gardening guide

24 Oct 03:00 PM


Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable
Sponsored

Poor sight leaving kids vulnerable

22 Sep 01:23 AM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Whanganui Chronicle e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Whanganui Chronicle
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • NZME Events
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP