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're 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 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
~ John Lennon
Part of my daily post-run morning routine is spending way too much time on my Facebook newsfeed. Even before I read the paper. My justification for this is that the newsfeed is often more current than what was put to press in the wee hours of the morning. So this morning, I was subject to several articles and commentary on the death of Chris Cornell, former "grunge" musician, at age 52. Cornell was a founding member of Soundgarden in 1984. I have to admit that I am only marginally knowledgable about the grunge movement, primarily because I was birthin' babies in the years that the Seattle Sound was popular. (This is a true story: to this day, I wake up every morning to the theme song from Sesame Street in my head. That should tell you something about my music experience for those years.) I do feel like I missed an important era in rock music. Nonetheless, I am saddened by the untimely death (possibly suicide?) of Chris Cornell.
My newsfeed this morning also offered me several links to video of the brawl between supporters and opponents of Turkey's President Erdogan in Washington DC on Tuesday. To say that the video is disturbing is an understatement. So I scrolled through endless posts about Chris Cornell interspersed between video and stories about the DC violence. The two events intertwined in my head in some unexplainable, compelling way. And then my radio station (WFUV), in tribute to Cornell, played his cover of John Lennon's "Imagine," and the connection was clear.
Cornell's "Imagine" cover is from his 2011 live collection, Songbook. He is credited with an astonishing four-octave vocal range. For a good example of this talent, listen to this cut from his 2015 solo effort, Higher Ground: Nearly Forgot My Broken Heart.
Imagine all the people living life in peace. Why does that possibility seem further and further away? Where are we headed? Samantha Power, former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations (and commencement speaker at my son's 2014 UVM graduation), tweeted this: "Clearly Erdogan's guards feel complete impunity, drawing on tools of repression they use at home & knowing he has their back, no matter what." Why our current administration champions brutal dictators while insulting our allies demands investigation. Speaking of which, we may finally get some answers regarding his ties to Putin. Wait for it.
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