Yoko Ono co-wrote John Lennon‘s “Imagine,” one of the most popular anti-religious songs ever written. Despite this, she still spoke of The Beatles in supernatural terms, saying they were like mystics who could conjure ghosts. She also explained why the Fab Four had such chemistry during their peak years. Her comments are interesting, considering that each of The Beatles had different things to say about their spiritual lives.
Yoko Ono said The Beatles had ‘a kind of chemical’
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The book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono features an interview from 1980. In it, John was asked about numerous things, but he was asked about The Beatles more than any other topic, including his solo music, his family, and his political activism. After a certain point, he said that talking about the Fab Four was boring him “to death.”
Yoko chimed in. “I am sure there are people whose lives are affected because they heard Indian music or Mozart or Bach,” he said. “More than anything, it was the time and the place when The Beatles came up. Something did happen there. It was a kind of chemical. It was as if several people gathered around a table, and a ghost appeared. It was that kind of communication. So they were like mediums in a way.”
Yoko Ono explained the Fab Four’s magic
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Yoko continued, discussing the dynamics between the Fab Four. “It was more than four people,” she said. “They had something going, a strong attachment to each other, a feeling of being together. Now it’s different. It’s not something you can force.” Yoko’s words can be interpreted as a response to the Fab Four fans who had wanted the band to reunite.
The “Walking on Thin Ice” singer explained why the group worked so well together at one point. “It was the people, the time, their youth and enthusiasm,” she said. “As I said, they were like mediums. They weren’t conscious of all they were saying, but it was coming through them.”
What The Beatles thought of religion
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Yoko’s words are interesting in light of some of The Beatles’ attitudes toward religion. Judging from songs such as “Imagine,” “God,” and “Working Class Hero,” one would assume John was anti-religious. In All We Are Saying, John distances himself from some mainstream faiths, such as Christianity and Buddhism. However, he said he felt magic was simply science that was not understood yet, an idea similar to the philosophical concept of the “God of the gaps.”
Paul isn’t religious. During a 2012 interview with The Independent, he said he disliked organized religion. He said he had faith in something “greater” than himself, but he didn’t explain what that was. The “Jet” singer said he viewed Jesus Christ as a historical figure rather than a deity. Meanwhile, George Harrison was a devout Hindu and regularly incorporated his beliefs into his music. During a 2010 interview with the Los Angeles Times, Ringo Starr said he believed in God and that he’d been searching for God since the 1960s — but he didn’t name any specific faith.
Regardless of The Beatles’ spiritual leanings, they were mediums of a sort.
