Beatles fans, and there were many, were crushed when they broke up. This album and song came out as the breakup occurred. When John added,, I don't believe in Beatles, he was saying to the fans, get over it. The dream is over. He started the Beatles. John was the dream weaver. When he mentioned Yesterday and Walrus,, he was referring to Beatles songs. Now, the fans have to get over the breakup and carry on with your lives. This song has 2 general themes, a statement of John's atheism and a statement that The Beatles are history. It's a brilliant song.
I think Lennon was undergoing primal scream therapy round this point(?) Either way, he's pouring his heart out here. Incredibly personal, and quite beautiful
The myth of the Beatles is over. No more Beatles albums -- the audience has to carry on. It's just John and Yoko from now on as far as he's concerned. I think that's what he meant here.
"I don't believe in Beatles", "the dream is over" was the part that shocked/crushed people. No one paid much attention to the God lines. FYI "I don't believe in Zimmerman" is Bob Dylan. His real name is Zimmerman.
This was right during the Beatles breakup. This song was a message to his fans that it’s now time to move on, past the Beatles. They were the dream, they in a way, were a god (as we’re all things in a way he listed). Oh yeah, Zimmerman was Dylan. Not sure if you caught that. The message love those close to yourself for that’s where reality lay, not some concept someone made up for you. Brilliant song
"The dream is over", "Yesterday", "I was the Walrus" etc... He was referring to The Beatles, a really big dream allover the world, an experience that neither he would believe came true, now he felt like alone with a wife (pretty aneffective) and he had to carry on, to wake up in a sort of solitude feeling... And he had to force himself to 'wake up' somehow...
This was shortly after thw Beatles split. I think thw "dream is over" is reflective of fans clamoring for them to get back together and John just wanted to move forward
IMO, the best Beatles' solo album. It's scary, it's profound, and it is decidedly unBeatlesque. After you get over the shock, it's genius. In the hands of a lesser talent it would have been a disaster. And it seems to predict punk rock by about 7 or 8 years. An artistic masterpiece.
Back in the post war conformity, it wasn’t stating the obvious, it was revolutionary, the people of the 60s were the first to preach this message and only now , decades later is it stating the obvious, that’s how I see it any how, he speaks to u because he’s culturally and philosophically the same as u, or me, great reactions pal🇬🇧👍🇺🇸
The dream IS the Beatles. At that moment there was an enormous amount of pressure for the Beatles to reunite and John was done with it. The song, as you correctly assess, is NOT about God even though that's the title. If I remember correctly God is the last track on the album. This is the peak of John's confessional songwriting period. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite is NOT confessional. Some of his songs with the Beatles have a bit of autobiography about them but don't make it into the confessional category but ALL of the songs on this album are confessional. John's Mummy is dead. He himself aspires to be a Working Class Hero. The freaks on the phone are bothering John. It's Johns Love for Yoko that's real. John is Holding On. John is leaving it all behind disappointed by the man - and he's not worried about it. There is nothing universal about any of the songs. It's John who is Isolated. We may be able to relate to these songs but unlike Johns earlier work this bunch is not about us. John is telling us the truth about himself as he sees it and he's willing to blow stuff up [11/5 is Guy Fawkes day] if necessary to live his life as he feels he must.
Lennon no longer believed in myth at this point. For example he mentions Zimmerman, which is Bob Dylan´s real (jewish) name. Bob Dylan is a construction, there´s an idea that is Bob Dylan, that is widely worshipped. The idea of Bob Dylan is not the same as Robert Zimmerman the human being. Same with The Beatles. Lennon understood that what people perceived was quite different from what The Beatles really were. As if he was saying "You saw us as these gods, but now I´m John. I´m just a regular human". So he´s naming all these worshipped people and ideas, basically saying it´s bullshit, all of it. The dream is over probably refers to the end of The Beatles and the end of the 60s and the flower power era and its ideas. The dream of the 60s didn´t work. Lennon at this point wanted to authenthic and honest. The Plastic Ono Band is probably the least pretentious album I´ve heard. It´s musically and lyrically raw, no bullshit whatsoever. Lennon of course kept changing over the years, like many very creative people, they re-invent themselves all the time. But when this was composed, right after The Beatles, he really wanted something different from the previous 7 years of Beatlemania.
Back then no one cared about the Jesus stuff. The dream as I saw it was the world would be healed with love, but the others are all the nonsense people invest in as idols . People back then were always searching for some answer , like there is such a thing ☮️
Take a comparative world religions course dude. John had a lot of experience with Advaita Vedanta, Sant Mat, Hinduism & Buddhism (the consciousness centered religions). Anglocentric idiots think yoga means exercise. Yoga means "discipline", and though there are many "yogas", in this context it's one way to refer to meditation (inducing one-pointedness), while the "exercise" of holding postures is called Hatha-Yoga (and definitely wasn't what John was referring to); "Mantra" is another way of referring to meditation, as the focus tool of meditation is usually called one's Mantra, referring to a sound one makes to be the pacer and object of focus during meditation. Some make a big deal about which "Mantra" one uses, treating Mantras like special or secret key spells, supposedly enabling one's meditation to yield special'er results, like the way christians or other Theists have special prayers. "Gita" was referring to the 3 thousand year old sacred text called the Bhagavad Gita, an epic poem about the teachings of Krishna, primarily valued by the Vedanta sects of Santana dharma (Hinduism). "Buddha" was referring to Sidhartha Gutama who taught attachment and aversion are suffering, that life/incarnation is entanglement in suffering, and that one can meditation and escape. Krishna and Buddha taught vary similar cosmologies and methodologies, but while Buddha taught that worship is worthless, Krishna said some people need and benefit form worship, and many/most Vadantins worship Krishna or his teachings in some way. While Krishna taught that Brahman/theUniverse is God (God w out form, mind, or personage), Buddha taught that there is no "God". Ironic that the "Great Vehicle"/Mahayana school of Buddhism (the version of Buddhism that spread to China) later embraced worshiping many mythological Buddhas. If all you know is Abrahamic Theism vs "agnosticism" you don't get the scope of John's use of the word "God" here.
No, he wasn't. He, like most people, was a plethora of contractions, and deeply flawed. He never said he was a saint, and his misdeeds in his personal life do not sully his sometimes overly idealistic worldview.
John was talking about "Myths". Beatles, Zimmerman (Bob Dylan's real name), Elvis. Etc.
Beatles fans, and there were many, were crushed when they broke up. This album and song came out as the breakup occurred. When John added,, I don't believe in Beatles, he was saying to the fans, get over it. The dream is over. He started the Beatles. John was the dream weaver. When he mentioned Yesterday and Walrus,, he was referring to Beatles songs. Now, the fans have to get over the breakup and carry on with your lives. This song has 2 general themes, a statement of John's atheism and a statement that The Beatles are history. It's a brilliant song.
GOD IS A CONCEPT BY WICH WE MEASURE OUR PAIN, the more pain we have in life the more God we look for
This entire album was GREAT. His BEST as far as l'm concerned. My favourite.
The dream is over I believe he's talking about the Beatles and their worldwide fame.
He’s asking people to accept this new reality of post Beatles independence 🇬🇧👍
These are all idols he's referring to and when he became some peoples idol he realised that there no different or greater than anyone else
I have to say also I loved the Hank Williams blues yodel at the beginning of this video!! Darn cool!!
These are things he checked out in his life...and felt abandoned at this time his lifeme....the dream is a reference to the beatles
I think Lennon was undergoing primal scream therapy round this point(?) Either way, he's pouring his heart out here. Incredibly personal, and quite beautiful
The myth of the Beatles is over. No more Beatles albums -- the audience has to carry on. It's just John and Yoko from now on as far as he's concerned. I think that's what he meant here.
Yes indeed
"I don't believe in Beatles", "the dream is over" was the part that shocked/crushed people. No one paid much attention to the God lines. FYI "I don't believe in Zimmerman" is Bob Dylan. His real name is Zimmerman.
This was right during the Beatles breakup. This song was a message to his fans that it’s now time to move on, past the Beatles. They were the dream, they in a way, were a god (as we’re all things in a way he listed).
Oh yeah, Zimmerman was Dylan. Not sure if you caught that.
The message love those close to yourself for that’s where reality lay, not some concept someone made up for you. Brilliant song
"The dream is over", "Yesterday", "I was the Walrus" etc... He was referring to The Beatles, a really big dream allover the world, an experience that neither he would believe came true, now he felt like alone with a wife (pretty aneffective) and he had to carry on, to wake up in a sort of solitude feeling... And he had to force himself to 'wake up' somehow...
He was being blunt with his fans. The dream (the Beatles) is over. "YOU'LL just have to carry on." Get used to it.
He was the Beatle! The dream is over
This was shortly after thw Beatles split. I think thw "dream is over" is reflective of fans clamoring for them to get back together and John just wanted to move forward
IMO, the best Beatles' solo album. It's scary, it's profound, and it is decidedly unBeatlesque. After you get over the shock, it's genius. In the hands of a lesser talent it would have been a disaster. And it seems to predict punk rock by about 7 or 8 years.
An artistic masterpiece.
Back in the post war conformity, it wasn’t stating the obvious, it was revolutionary, the people of the 60s were the first to preach this message and only now , decades later is it stating the obvious, that’s how I see it any how, he speaks to u because he’s culturally and philosophically the same as u, or me, great reactions pal🇬🇧👍🇺🇸
Here's where he got the piano line: ruclips.net/video/8-kiSd73mag/видео.html
The dream IS the Beatles. At that moment there was an enormous amount of pressure for the Beatles to reunite and John was done with it. The song, as you correctly assess, is NOT about God even though that's the title. If I remember correctly God is the last track on the album. This is the peak of John's confessional songwriting period. Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite is NOT confessional. Some of his songs with the Beatles have a bit of autobiography about them but don't make it into the confessional category but ALL of the songs on this album are confessional. John's Mummy is dead. He himself aspires to be a Working Class Hero. The freaks on the phone are bothering John. It's Johns Love for Yoko that's real. John is Holding On. John is leaving it all behind disappointed by the man - and he's not worried about it. There is nothing universal about any of the songs. It's John who is Isolated. We may be able to relate to these songs but unlike Johns earlier work this bunch is not about us. John is telling us the truth about himself as he sees it and he's willing to blow stuff up [11/5 is Guy Fawkes day] if necessary to live his life as he feels he must.
A decent enough final bookend to the 60s
So when John says Kings, that's a reference to MLK. when he says Zimmerman, that's Bob Dylans birth name (Robert Zimmerman).
Do the album
I dont agree with everything lennon said over the years but he was an interesting guy and a really talented artist
Zimmerman of course is bob Dylan
Lennon no longer believed in myth at this point. For example he mentions Zimmerman, which is Bob Dylan´s real (jewish) name. Bob Dylan is a construction, there´s an idea that is Bob Dylan, that is widely worshipped. The idea of Bob Dylan is not the same as Robert Zimmerman the human being. Same with The Beatles. Lennon understood that what people perceived was quite different from what The Beatles really were. As if he was saying "You saw us as these gods, but now I´m John. I´m just a regular human". So he´s naming all these worshipped people and ideas, basically saying it´s bullshit, all of it.
The dream is over probably refers to the end of The Beatles and the end of the 60s and the flower power era and its ideas. The dream of the 60s didn´t work.
Lennon at this point wanted to authenthic and honest. The Plastic Ono Band is probably the least pretentious album I´ve heard. It´s musically and lyrically raw, no bullshit whatsoever. Lennon of course kept changing over the years, like many very creative people, they re-invent themselves all the time. But when this was composed, right after The Beatles, he really wanted something different from the previous 7 years of Beatlemania.
Back then no one cared about the Jesus stuff. The dream as I saw it was the world would be healed with love, but the others are all the nonsense people invest in as idols . People back then were always searching for some answer , like there is such a thing ☮️
There is no God / deal
Take a comparative world religions course dude. John had a lot of experience with Advaita Vedanta, Sant Mat, Hinduism & Buddhism (the consciousness centered religions).
Anglocentric idiots think yoga means exercise.
Yoga means "discipline", and though there are many "yogas", in this context it's one way to refer to meditation (inducing one-pointedness), while the "exercise" of holding postures is called Hatha-Yoga (and definitely wasn't what John was referring to);
"Mantra" is another way of referring to meditation, as the focus tool of meditation is usually called one's Mantra, referring to a sound one makes to be the pacer and object of focus during meditation. Some make a big deal about which "Mantra" one uses, treating Mantras like special or secret key spells, supposedly enabling one's meditation to yield special'er results, like the way christians or other Theists have special prayers.
"Gita" was referring to the 3 thousand year old sacred text called the Bhagavad Gita, an epic poem about the teachings of Krishna, primarily valued by the Vedanta sects of Santana dharma (Hinduism).
"Buddha" was referring to Sidhartha Gutama who taught attachment and aversion are suffering, that life/incarnation is entanglement in suffering, and that one can meditation and escape. Krishna and Buddha taught vary similar cosmologies and methodologies, but while Buddha taught that worship is worthless, Krishna said some people need and benefit form worship, and many/most Vadantins worship Krishna or his teachings in some way. While Krishna taught that Brahman/theUniverse is God (God w out form, mind, or personage), Buddha taught that there is no "God". Ironic that the "Great Vehicle"/Mahayana school of Buddhism (the version of Buddhism that spread to China) later embraced worshiping many mythological Buddhas.
If all you know is Abrahamic Theism vs "agnosticism" you don't get the scope of John's use of the word "God" here.
John Lennon was full of himself and also full of shit most of the time…
No, he wasn't. He, like most people, was a plethora of contractions, and deeply flawed. He never said he was a saint, and his misdeeds in his personal life do not sully his sometimes overly idealistic worldview.