In their book "The Words and Music of John Lennon", Ben Urish and Kenneth Bielen write that in the first verse of "Instant Karma!", Lennon employs sarcasm as he urges the listener to "Get yourself together / Pretty soon you're gonna be dead" and emphasises "It's up to you – yeah, you!" Norman comments on the "hippie catchphrase of the moment" contained in this instruction to "Get yourself together", and he says that the warning of imminent death is "obviously not to be taken literally". Author Mark Hertsgaard cites the lines "Why in the world are we here / Surely not to live in pain and fear?" as a further example of Lennon "asking what purpose his life on earth was to serve", after his 1966 composition "Strawberry Fields Forever". According to Urish and Bielen, "Instant Karma!" conveys the need to recognise and act upon a shared responsibility for the wellbeing of humankind; the karmic rewards of this mindset are available to all, as implied in Lennon's exhortation to "Come and get your share". The same authors pair the song with Lennon and Ono's "Happy Xmas (War Is Over)" single from 1971, in terms of how the singer "both prods and challenges listeners before providing reassurance".