On the road: Imagining Peace

‘𝑊ℎ𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑓 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑐𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑠 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑜𝑤𝑒𝑟, 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑙𝑑 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑘𝑛𝑜𝑤 𝑝𝑒𝑎𝑐𝑒.’ (Jimi Hendrix)

As the long road stretches ahead, the blue sky smiles above and the wide country hurtles past, the odometer hungrily swallowing the kilometres, my brain tunes into a journey frequency where there is time for dreams and reflection.

“Imagine all the people, living Life in peace… yuhoohooo …,” John Lennon croons from the audio system more than forty years after his assassination. The musician-songwriter, ex-Beatle and anti-war activist, famous for songs ‘Give peace a chance’ and ‘Imagine’, was shot by a deranged fan on December 8 1980 near his New York apartment. A 2.5-acre area of Central Park called ‘Strawberry Fields’ and designated a quiet zone, was dedicated to him and his vision for peace. In the centre of the area, a mosaic plaque inscribed with the title of his signature song ‘Imagine’ is strewn with flowers from loving fans.

Listening to the album aptly called ‘More than words’, I am back in the past, a lively university student driving my old Volkswagen Beetle down the dusty roads. The windows are open, my long hair is streaming into the heat of the day, and I am singing along happily with the tape: “Yuhoohooo … Imagine all the people, sharing all the world.” The tape jams in the player, as it routinely does, and I release it expertly, catching the shiny ribbon escaping the plastic casing with a life of its own and winding it back with my BIC pen. I reinsert it and the song continues, slightly slower than before: “You may sayyy I’m a dreamer, but I’m not the onlyyy one …” The music of peace, love and harmony floods through the car and my young life.

Yoko Ono, John Lennon’s widow, still keeps John’s dream alive. When asked about the well-known song, she replies, “It is more than just a soundtrack to our generation. It is inspiration and hope for the world.”

Instead of my shorts and ‘plakkies’, I am now soberly attired; my windows are closed and the air-conditioner blows cool air onto my face as I drive along the tarred road. The years are etched on my skin and the frosting of age colours my hair. The timeless song plays on, just as relevant today as it was then with all the wars continuing across the globe.

Who could have imagined forty years ago when my national service papers lay menacingly next to me in my old Volksie that it was possible for the bush war to end and be replaced by freedom for all and peaceful democracy in Namibia. Who could have imagined that the Cold War would end? Yet they did. Imagine that. Let us imagine that the wars in the Ukraine, Sudan and Gaza will also end. Let us give peace a chance. “And the world will live as one.”

Lennon’s legacy and words of hope live on.