There were two sets of Beatles. My brother's Beatles: the Fab Four mop tops from Liverpool with the girls chasing them through the streets of London (Watch A Hard Days Night, Roger Ebert's favorite film. Maybe he'll send me another email!); and my Beatles, the All You Need Peace/Love, let's meditate on the Ashram (there's that word again), Long and Winding Get Back Hey Jude Beatles. And so this past week we celebrated the 40th anniversary of the Beatles coming to America, but I didn't experience those Beatles. My Beatles were the ones you see here. I post this because that's our film's star (Gatsby), Mia Farrow in the middle. Next to her, in yellow, is Donovan, John and Paul surround them, George is in the back (and one of the Manson family), and that's Mike Love of the Beach Boys in the hat. The little raisin of a man is the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi, who began the Transcendental Meditation movement and who invited the Beatles to India. Mike Love suggested that the Beatles do a kinda surfin' thing, and Paul went off to write "Back in the USSR."

Prompt: The Following are the Lyrics to John's "Imagine." Why has this song remained so controversial over the years? Unlike George, John was not terribly impressed with India or TM, but maintained a staid interest in eastern philosophy. The utopia he suggests is met with great disdain by many and for others is seen as a message of great hope. Your turn:

Imagine

Imagine there's no heaven,
It's easy if you try,
No hell below us,
Above us only sky,
Imagine all the people
living for today...

Imagine there's no countries,
It isnt hard to do,
Nothing to kill or die for,
No religion too,
Imagine all the people
living life in peace...

Imagine no possesions,
I wonder if you can,
No need for greed or hunger,
A brotherhood of man,
Imagine all the people
Sharing all the world...

You may say I'm a dreamer,
but Im not the only one,
I hope some day you'll join us,
And the world will live as one.