 Blaney considered the song to be " riddled with contradictions . Its hymn @-@ like setting sits <unk> alongside its author 's plea for us to <unk> a world without religion . " Urish and Bielen described Lennon 's " dream world " without a heaven or hell as a call to " make the best world we can here and now , since this is all this is or will be " . In their opinion , " because we are asked merely to imagine — to play a ' what if ' game , Lennon can escape the <unk> criticisms " . Former <unk> <unk> Starr defended the song 's lyrics during a 1981 interview with Barbara Walters , stating : " [ Lennon ] said ' imagine ' , that 's all . Just imagine it . " 
