Dare to Dream

Because I have nothing better to do, while on the bus, I listen to a random assortment of music from my Itouch. The travel time from home to wherever it is I go, is usually somewhat lengthy and the Itouch acts as a bit of a distraction for me. Just the other day, I started thinking about the particular lyrics of one song, and tried to, in some sense, apply it, or understand why it is we even listen to music as human beings.

In general, I assume many of us listen to music for shear entertainment value, some because it provides some type of emotional effect. I started thinking of even why music is created, or produced (hence, I blog), and similar to the very reasons I write, a musician may sing for entertainment, as a release, to share views and so on.

As this dawned on me, I started diving into a song that was currently playing. And I found that it transcended the simple purpose of entertainment, and that it carried some meaning. I found it inspirational, somewhat touching. And I'm sure that is exactly what John Lennon intended.

This is the legendary John Lennon's "Imagine." For those of you that are unfamiliar with John Lennon, he used to be a member of the Beatles, but also produced his own music, like above. I urge you all to listen to the song above, and I believe it really has some significant merit. And for those of you that did not know, shortly after Lennon produced this song, he was shot and killed.

You may ask, or wonder, why is this guy writing this post? Or you may wonder, why is this song so special when their are probably many more songs carrying a similar tone. And you are probably absolutely right, their are plenty of other songs like this. However my point is, it echoes (in my humble opinion) the right message. It's also a song written in the early 70's. In fact it is based on an even earlier short poem.

When Lennon wrote the song, he knew that finding peace, or freedom is not a new cause. Instead, he is only trying to continue advocating it. With this song he's only asking us to 'imagine'. Imagine a world where we are without today's norms, or perhaps even a utopia. It really strikes me, as he hits many notes, asking us to imagine a world without possessions, superficiality, and even hatred.

Overall you can't really argue or go against this message, and if you do, I would love to hear why. What really strikes me however, is the chorus. I only keyed in on these particular lyrics, words, when I jokingly sent the lines to a friend via text to throw them off. Instead I began thinking deeply.

Imagine all the people

Living life in peace

You may say I'm a dreamer

But I'm not the only one

I hope some day you'll join us

And the world will be as one

The first two lines are quite self-explanatory, some may even say its fantastical. But think about it for a second, a world where we are all living life in peace, a happy world, free of bombardment of trauma or stress; it would be remarkable wouldn't it? It would be absolutely unbelievable, to live to see such a day. And many would agree and discount this thought. 

This is where the the next line comes in. "You may say I'm a dreamer." This is Lennon, speaking to you, speaking to me. He believes in it. He thinks that their is the potential for such a world, and call me crazy, but I want to- and will believe it too. This potential for a peaceful world, a world where people can co-exist, accept each other, embrace each other and really appreciate the world as it exists. 

Thing is, if I am, if Lennon is, or if you are being called nothing but a dreamer for thinking like this, it will never happen. When Lennon says "I'm not the only one", he's showing us, that we can all believe in this, take part in such a drastic idea as well. He's inviting us to believe in a peaceful and embracing world. And this is seen through the next lines as well. Until people start believing in such words, and until people act upon their yearning for a safe and yes, happy world/life, then we all have to think like this. Only then will the world live as one. 

I really love this Lennon song. It's inspiring to me, and I hope it is for you too. These thoughts are echoed in music today too. Today we see that we do have issues and problems, that we, as a human populous must overcome. I've seen this in many other songs, such as Lupe Fiasco's "Words I Never Said". (You can click on the link to listen to the song) Fiasco is another remarkable individual who I believe is trying to convey a similar message. In his song, he only highlights the seeming animosity we live in today. I don't want to dive too far into his words or the song in general, however I do think they are important, and that you should give it a listen. Do you see where I'm going? I hope so. Comment if you do, on my Facebook wall, in this very post, anywhere! "If you don't become an actor, you'll never be a factor."

Another song I really appreciate and feel falls in line here is Changes by Tupac. These songs in style and genre are very different from Lennon, but I feel that the beauty of the message of peace is shining even more due to this. These differences, within mere music, striving for the same thing, peace, can embody us as humans itself. We are all different, we all want the same thing, so lets do it, right? Lets see some changes! A similar song, Runnin, by Tupac and Biggie, composed by, I'm not sure who, looks at this delicate issue as well. I want you to pay attention to the last few words in the song (along with the chorus), but more particularly, the consequences we all can potentially face. How do we treat each other?

One final song I want to bring up is the following:

This song is called "Dear God" by The Roots. It again highlights the natural and unnatural issues we face today. Why am I showing these songs as well? Well, I'm hoping that everyone sees, that this is far from a perfect world. It is imperfect, and I believe it is unacceptable for it to deteriorate. The Roots want to "do away with these anomalies" and we should too. All these artists, all these musicians, want to find a way to reach peace. They all want to reach out to us as well, and get us thinking about acting in such a manner. 

Music in general may not all be about this one single thing, however every artist, whether they write, sing, paint, crunch numbers, we all are trying to do something. Some songs may be about hardships, love, or whatever. They all strive for resolution though. They all want to help in some way. They want to achieve some type of, well, peace of mind.

So I ask you all, what is it we look for? What do we want for ourselves? What about our parents, our brothers, sisters etc. We would want the well being of these people, our friends. And the stranger across the street also has parents, siblings, friends that he or she may want to look out for. My point here? We should all look out for each other. 

Looking at the very idea of unity, of solidarity. Countries strive for this, all of humanity should as well, as one big nation. Because really, we are all humans, we all have similarities, and we are also all different in some ways. That is the beauty of each individual. We should appreciate and magnify these strengths. I know it's really easy to say, but we really should all strive to be one, just like John Lennon said. And it won't happen if just a few people believe this, but everyone should.

 I've probably said and bitten off more than I can chew. The idea that we are living with imperfections, should be unacceptable. To accept these imperfections here, would simply be arrogant, because as long as their is suffering, not everyone is happy. 

I hope these words in some way, have motivated you to strive for greatness, in a way that strengthens and helps others. I believe that this can happen, and that small kind, everyday actions can work miracles. A simple smile can work wonders. I will continue to dream of this, and hope for such a world and day to come, where people are not afraid to be who they are, feel what they feel, and we can embrace each others difference. Don't be afraid, don't let negativity prevent you. Every single voice counts and a simple thing such as believing and acting, can tip scales. Every, single, one, matters. 

 I dare everyone to know this; I dare everyone to dream this. 

Then again, you may call me a dreamer...but I can assure you, I'm not the only one.

I hope some day you'll join us; and the world will be as one.