I've spent parts of yesterday and today watching the documentary "The U.S. v. John Lennon." If you haven't seen it, it tells the story of Lennon as he metamorphosed from pop star into anti-war activist. As it turns out, the Nixon administration so feared his influence on the youth of this country that they considered him a radical and kept him under surveillance. They even spent years in court trying to deport him for a trumped up marijuana possession charge that had happened in England years before. It's an interesting film, especially if you're fascinated with Lennon and that period in American history. And I have to say, watching it gave me new respect for Yoko Ono, who was interviewed for the piece. I've often quipped, "She broke up the band, man!" and "If Mark David Chapman had shot a foot to the left, he would have been a hero." However, listening to her being interviewed, and seeing the archival footage of the two of them together, really makes it more obvious why John, being the man he was at that time, could have been so taken with her.

The song of the day is "Imagine" by John Lennon off his 1971 album of the same name. This is quite possibly one of my favorite songs of all time, and it never fails to move me. It's hard not to hear Lennon sing these words and not think he had some pretty good ideas:

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