Imagine John Lennon really was a born-again conservative

Was John Lennon, who would have turned 71 on Sunday, a closet conservative?

Earlier this year, the musician’s former personal assistant, Fred Seaman, made a surprising claim: that the former Beatle and renowned peacenik had shed the radical politics of his youth and metamorphosed into a supporter of Ronald Reagan.

“John, basically, made it very clear that if he were an American he would vote for Reagan because he was really sour on Jimmy Carter,” Mr. Seaman told filmmaker Seth Swirsky for the documentary “Beatle Stories.”

“[Lennon] was a very different person back in 1979 and ’80 than he’d been when he wrote ’Imagine,’ ” Mr. Seaman said. “By 1979 he looked back on that guy and was embarrassed by that guy’s naivete.”

Even if you believe Mr. Seaman’s account, there’s not a lot to go on there: It’s a stretch to conclude from a few stray remarks that the rock legend had become a born-again Reaganite.

But suppose the singer-songwriter had become a secret convert and had lived through the 1980s Reagan Revolution. His musical oeuvre would have sounded a bit different.

Imagine …  

“Reaganomics” (To the tune of “Instant Karma”)
Reaganomics is gonna get you
Trickle down into your brains
Better slash the top marginal rates
And the tax on capital gains

How is growth gonna spike?
With an air traffic strike?
Labor unions are so tired
You’re all fired, yeah, all fired

Reaganomics is gonna get you
Shrink Washington down to size
If you notice my defense spending
Just avert your eyes

How can business get on track?
With regulations on its back?
You say I’ve got a lot of nerve?
Well, check this out: the Laffer Curve!

And we all shine on
You can deal with the debt when I’m gone
Well we all shine on
Everyone, c’mon!

“Give (Cold) War a Chance” (To the tune of “Give Peace a Chance”)
Everybody’s worrying about
Leninism, Stalinism, Communism, Socialism
Grenada, Ortega, Russian troops in Afghanistan
Nuclear war and “Rocky IV”

All we are saying is give (cold) war a chance
All we are saying is give (cold) war a chance

Everybody’s talking about
Berlin Wall, Beirut’s fall, Khomeini and Gaddafi
Commie blocs and summit talks
Trust, but verify
Say ’Hi” to SDI

All we are saying is give (cold) war a chance
All we are saying is give (cold) war a chance

Let me tell you now
Everybody’s talking about
CIA, B1-B, policies, fallacies
Human rights and World Court fights
To summarize my views:
We win, they lose

All we are saying is give (cold) war a chance
All we are saying is give (cold) war a chance

“Imagine” (To the tune of “Imagine”)
Imagine there’s no welfare state
It’s easy if you try
No handouts for the lazy
Above us only sky
Imagine all the freedom
Here in the USA

Imagine no estate tax
It isn’t hard to do
Nothing to punish success
And no regulations too
Imagine all the freedom
A shining city on a hill

You may say I’m just Teflon
But I’m on the winning team
I hope some day you’ll join us
And cast aside your liberal dreams

Imagine there’s no bureaucrats
I wonder if you can
No EPA or Education Department
Self-reliance across the land
Imagine all the freedom
And way, way less red tape

You may say I’m just Teflon
But I’m on the winning team
I hope some day you’ll join us
And cast aside your liberal dreams

(All songs by Lennon/McHruby)