On Tuesday, newly remastered versions of John Lennon‘s solo output will be issued, commemorating what would have been the singer-songwriter’s 70th birthday on October 9.
In addition to Lennon’s eight studio albums, there’s a new hits collection (Power To The People, sold with and without a DVD of music videos); a 4-CD set that arranges 72 of his songs thematically (Gimme Some Truth); plus Double Fantasy Stripped Down, which pairs the last album the former Beatle released before he died with a new “stripped down” mix. For true Lennon lovers, the deluxe Signature Box compiles all of the digitally remastered albums plus two CDs of unreleased material, a 60-page hardbound book with essays and photos, plus a 70th birthday art print. (Check them all out via Amazon.)
On such a milestone occasion as this, it’s difficult not to wonder what Lennon would have been doing now at this stage of his life and think of all the music he might have made in the intervening years. But it’s also a totally futile exercise. What Lennon was able share with the world while he was alive is pretty stellar, and who knows, the iconoclast might have gone off and retired from music again, deciding to focus his time and talents elsewhere.
Though Lennon’s story was abbreviated by an assassin’s bullet almost 30 years ago, his music shines on, in his own recordings and through artists inspired to sing his songs.
In 2005, Antony Hegarty recorded “Happy Xmas (War Is Over)” with Boy George for a War Child benefit compilation, a version previously featured as the Sunday Cover Story. Now Hegarty has focused his unique interpretive skills on “Imagine,” arguably the most iconic of all Lennon’s solo tunes. The new cover appears on Thank You For Your Love, an EP that Antony and the Johnsons released in August.
If you’re thinking that the world could do without another version of “Imagine,” I’d say you’re not the only one. But Hegarty’s take is worth at least a listen, because of how he’s reimagined the song. Describing the recording’s genesis to Spinner, Hegarty is acutely aware of the baggage the song’s classic status carries:
“It’s audacious to do a cover of ‘Imagine’ to start off with, so I had to squirm my way through that,” Hegarty says bashfully. “I had to think about what could I bring to it. I thought ‘sing it from a first-person perspective and also a futuristic perspective,’ because it’s so much a time capsule from the past. It’s very much of a certain place and time and from a very singular perspective, which is John Lennon’s perspective. I though I’d re-contextualize it, almost as a song from the future.”
Hegarty’s first-person take on “Imagine,” a collaboration with avant-garde composer William Basinski, does indeed invoke the feeling of a message delivered from a distant planet (Gliese 581g, perhaps?). Further separating his cover from Lennon’s original, Hegarty says, “I suppose it’s not the most hopeful version of the song you can imagine.” But maybe every generation gets the “Imagine” it deserves. Hear here:
Antony and the Johnsons’ fourth studio album, Swanlights, is out October 12.
Purchase Antony & the Johnsons – “Imagine” via iTunes, Amazon MP3.
