and no religion too

Our friend Naval Gazer was just at a karaoke bar Virginia Beach and noticed something interesting — they left the “And no religion too” line out of John Lennon’s “Imagine.” Here’s a clip:

…Our other early experience in Virginia Beach was a hail and farewell party we were invited to at a karaoke bar. Somehow I had made it through life without knowing “Brandy (You’re A Fine Girl)” by Looking Glass. It plays here all the time. So much so that I don’t think it was a coincidence that our midwife, a Navy brat, was named Brandy.

Someone also sang Imagine and I was surprised to see that the streaming lyrics omitted “And no religion too”. Maybe not surprising given that Christian Broadcasting Network and the 700 Club are headquartered here.

When you fly into Norfolk Airport you are greeted with a giant mural of a warship firing its guns… and then there is a life-size poster of Pat Robertson’s Regent University with a giant picture of John Ashcroft giving the commencement address…

I don’t know if I’ve ever mentioned it here before, but I met the Naval Gazer a few years ago through this site. He, like me, has an almost four year old daughter named Clementine. (He calls her “Citrus” on his site.) A few years ago, at Halloween time, I posted something on my site about wanting to take my Clementine door-to-door dressed up as Avian Bird Flu. Where I just talked about it, though, the Naval Gazer actually did it. He and his wife, an officer in the U.S. Navy, dressed their daughter as a sick bird. And, after the fact, I guess he googled “Clementine + bird flu,” to see if anyone in the press had written about it. And, that’s how he found me hiding here in Ypsilanti.

The internet is great.

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6 Comments

  1. gus
    Posted June 23, 2008 at 11:47 pm | Permalink

    One of the conservative bloggers I habitually harass (also former Navy, now an Arab translator contractor– formerly in Gitmo, soon in Iraq) recently did a dumbass post on that song. His thesis: “john lennon was a communist”. Please heap further abuse here:
    http://www.mlah.us/2008/06/02/imagine/#more-799

  2. Bob Dylan
    Posted June 24, 2008 at 12:31 am | Permalink

    Imaging is fun. Sometimes I like to imagine there was no John Lennon. I would’ve gotten laid at least a couple thousand more times.

    Imagining is fun.

  3. mark
    Posted June 24, 2008 at 7:04 am | Permalink

    I’m curious as to whether it’s common for karaoke companies to edit “controversial” songs. It seems to me that the folks holding the publishing rights to those songs would have some legal recourse. Of course, I suppose it’s possible that Yoko allowed it. Seems unlikely, though. Maybe all karaoke is black market.

  4. Paw
    Posted June 27, 2008 at 10:07 am | Permalink

    This thread requires a link to “I Like Big Bibles”.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tI-xlbDzVbQ

  5. Robert
    Posted July 7, 2008 at 5:34 pm | Permalink

    The bizarre thing is that anybody who dislikes the lyrics would otherwise like the song so much that they would just have to include it in their selections. Those karaoke selections are always so lame and limited anyway. It’s not like anyone would notice or care.

  6. Robert
    Posted July 7, 2008 at 5:39 pm | Permalink

    …if Imagine weren’t there.

    What kind of a goofball wants to sing Imagine karaoke anyway?

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