Dick Cavett: Here he is, Forrest Gump, right here. Mr. Gump, have a seat. Forrest Gump, John Lennon.
John Lennon: Welcome home.
Dick Cavett: You had quite a trip. Can you, uh, tell us, uh, what was China like?
Forrest Gump: In the land of China, people hardly got nothing at all.
John Lennon: No possessions?
Forrest Gump: And in China, they never go to church.
John Lennon: No religion too?
Dick Cavett: Hard to imagine.
John Lennon: Well, it’s easy if you try, Dick.
Forrest Gump: [narrating] Some years later, that nice young man from England was on his way home to see his little boy and was signing some autographs. For no particular reason at all, somebody shot him.
“In 1969, Forrest joined the Army Special Services, where he entertained wounded military veterans with his Ping-Pong skills. His exceptional skills earned him a place in the All-American Ping Pong team, with whom he traveled to China during the Ping Pong Diplomacy period of the early 1970s. Upon his return, Forrest was a national celebrity, “famous-er even than Captain Kangaroo”, and was invited to New York City by Dick Cavett to appear on The Dick Cavett Show, where John Lennon was also a guest at the time. Hearing Forrest talking about the Chinese having “no possessions” and “no religion” during his interview with Dick would eventually inspire John Lennon to write the song “Imagine”.” – Wikipedia