Let’s Imagine

Recently admiring the sheer genius of the Beatles with a friend, the innate awesomeness of their lyrics triggered a debate. Well, certainly we weren’t debating the brilliance of the Beatles, (like that’s even debatable) but the inspiration behind it. The song in question – Lucy in The Sky with Diamonds. The initials of the song might, or probably do refer to LSD. However, what made me go out on a foot was the denial of the other possibility. While , unconcerned about the Beatles substance habit and not ignorant of it either , what irks me is the follow up argument of this eternal debate – evocative imagery of the song which according to some is an automatic implication and consequence of a drug induced high. In the words of my favorite little girl in wonderland – ‘Let’s pretend’, nay imagine, imagine the sheer strength of imagination that naturally lets you “Picture yourself on a boat on a river, with tangerine trees, and marmalade skies.” Drug induced escapism, you say. Drug induced? Maybe, but that is not the point of my argument .Escapism, definitely. Let fantasy set you free, after all don’t we really all live in our own bubbles. It’s simply a question of what bubble you chose to live in, so why not grant the Beatles a chance to imagine inhabiting a place where rocking out people eat marshmallow pies. With the approaching close of the session, attendance issues, submissions and deadlines, are sure to trigger the escapist in us, make a plunge down that rabbit hole. If you don’t know what I am talking about, for heaven’s sake, catch the recently released Alice in Wonderland movie, without me having to entice you with Johnny Depp! Consider the increasing popularity of social networking sites, which not only awakens the escapist, but perhaps the exhibitionist in us. Think Fahrenheit 451, or Through the looking glass, maybe even Karthik calling Karthik. Think Farmville! What more obvious case of escapism can you find than people procrastinating over imaginary crops going bad or troubling over imaginary bovine invasions. The common weal is not an LSD induced dream but the desire to escape the repetitiveness of every day life. Why should this alternate reality automatically be equated with a divorce from reality; imagination with hallucinations; reality as the death of all possibility?
I conclude with the words of John Lennon
‘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’