美国国家公共电台 NPR Yoko Ono Joins John Lennon With Credit Line For Writing 'Imagine'

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MICHEL MARTIN, HOST:

And here's one more item for your gender¹ politics file. For nearly 50 years, credit for this song - "Imagine" - has gone to one writer - John Lennon. That changed this week. The National Music Publishers Association announced that Yoko Ono will be credited as a songwriter as well.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IMAGINE")

JOHN LENNON: (Singing) Imagine there's no heaven. It's easy if you try.

MARTIN: NPR's Neda Ulaby tells us why John Lennon believed credit to his wife and artistic² collaborator³ was long overdue⁴.

NEDA ULABY, BYLINE⁵: John Lennon explained it himself back in 1980 in a joint⁶ interview with Yoko Ono on BBC Radio 1. The interviewer brought up "Imagine" as one of Lennon's most beloved songs.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

LENNON: Actually, that should be credited as a Lennon-Ono song because a lot of the lyric⁷ and the concept came from Yoko. But those days I was a bit more selfish, bit more macho, and I sort of omitted to mention her contribution.

ULABY: Ono's 1964 book of conceptual poetry, "Grapefruit," contained verses like, imagine clouds dripping and imagine goldfish swimming across the sky. She also contributed to the song's theme of a world without borders or religion pulling people apart. Still, she backed away from taking credit in the interview.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

YOKO ONO: Everything we did together in those days. We just inspired each other.

LENNON: Yeah, but if it had been Bowie, I would have put Lennon-Bowie. See, if you had been male. You know, when we wrote "Fame" together. But when we did it, I just put Lennon because, you know, she's just the wife. And you don't put her name on, right?

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "IMAGINE")

LENNON: (Singing) Imagine all the people.

ULABY: Imagine a world without "Imagine." Former President Jimmy Carter said it was the one song he'd heard played in nearly every country he ever visited. It's an international anthem⁸. Professor Karen Tongson, who studies popular culture, says Ono getting credit is significant.

KAREN TONGSON: The story about her has always been that she was this sort of erotic, exotic interloper who busted⁹ up John Lennon's marriage...

ULABY: To his first wife and to the Beatles. But Tongson says Yoko Ono's artistic daring inspired Lennon to push the boundaries of mainstream¹⁰ music. And you can hear and see her influence today on such stars as Lady Gaga and Sia and their love of spectacle and experimentation¹¹. Neda Ulaby, NPR News.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "OH YOKO!")

LENNON: (Singing) Oh, Yoko. Oh, Yoko. My love will turn you on.