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

 

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.

1 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。

2 artistic   

adj.艺术(家)的，美术(家)的；善于艺术创作的

参考例句：

• The picture on this screen is a good artistic work.这屏风上的画是件很好的艺术品。
• These artistic handicrafts are very popular with foreign friends.外国朋友很喜欢这些美术工艺品。

3 collaborator   

n.合作者，协作者

参考例句：

• I need a collaborator to help me. 我需要个人跟我合作，帮我的忙。
• His collaborator, Hooke, was of a different opinion. 他的合作者霍克持有不同的看法。

4 overdue   

adj.过期的，到期未付的；早该有的，迟到的

参考例句：

• The plane is overdue and has been delayed by the bad weather.飞机晚点了，被坏天气耽搁了。
• The landlady is angry because the rent is overdue.女房东生气了，因为房租过期未付。

5 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

6 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

7 lyric   

n.抒情诗，歌词；adj.抒情的

参考例句：

• This is a good example of Shelley's lyric poetry.这首诗是雪莱抒情诗的范例。
• His earlier work announced a lyric talent of the first order.他的早期作品显露了一流的抒情才华。

8 anthem   

n.圣歌，赞美诗，颂歌

参考例句：

• All those present were standing solemnly when the national anthem was played.奏国歌时全场肃立。
• As he stood on the winner's rostrum,he sang the words of the national anthem.他站在冠军领奖台上，唱起了国歌。

9 busted   

adj. 破产了的，失败了的，被降级的，被逮捕的，被抓到的 动词bust的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• You are so busted! 你被当场逮住了！
• It was money troubles that busted up their marriage. 是金钱纠纷使他们的婚姻破裂了。

10 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

11 experimentation   

n.实验，试验，实验法

参考例句：

• Many people object to experimentation on animals.许多人反对用动物做实验。
• Study and analysis are likely to be far cheaper than experimentation.研究和分析的费用可能要比实验少得多。