In 1971, John Lennon wrote the best song he ever made. Decades later, it’s still never made it to number one in America

After The Beatles split, John Lennon shifted towards more personal and experimental music, but wanted to express his hopes for a better world in a way listeners could share. He wrote “Imagine” in 1971, later calling it his best song and describing it as “almost like a prayer”; despite its lasting reputation, it never reached number one in the United States.

The article places the song against the backdrop of the Vietnam War and Lennon’s move to New York the following year. It contrasts “Imagine” with the harsher, politically direct work that followed, including the poorly received *Some Time in New York City*, and argues that the song’s influence is not measured by its chart position.