Liverpool cathedral bells play 'anti-religion' song

Hundreds of people gathered to hear the bells of Liverpool's Anglican Cathedral ring out the tune of John Lennon's anti-religious anthem Imagine.

A team of seven volunteer bell ringers played the 1971 song, which begins "Imagine there's no Heaven", as part of an arts festival.

The cathedral said it had carefully considered the "sensitivities" surrounding the song's lyrical content. Lennon himself described the song as "anti-religious, anti-conventional".



Leading the recital was cathedral ringer Sam Austin, 23, a student at Manchester's Royal Northern College of Music. He said his team started rehearsals by playing the melody on hand bells before moving on to the cathedral's legendary church bells.

Mr Austin said: "It went very well. I'm pleased with it. There were quite a few people listening outside which was good. We practised for three months. It had to be right. There was no room for error."

The original idea to ring out Imagine on church bells came from artist Cleo Evans, who was commissioned by Futuresonic, a cultural festival, to develop the concept with the cathedral. The bells are the highest and heaviest ringing peal bells in the world.