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"'''Strawberry Fields Forever'''" is a song by the [[England|English]] [[Rock music|rock]] band [[The Beatles]]. Although formally attributed to [[John Lennon]] and [[Paul McCartney]], the song is acknowledged as having been composed predominantly by Lennon. It was inspired by a [[Salvation Army]] house near Lennon's childhood home.
"'''Strawberry Fields Forever'''" is a song by the [[England|English]] [[Rock music|rock]] band [[The Beatles]]. Although formally attributed to [[John Lennon]] and [[Paul McCartney]], the song was composed by Lennon. It was inspired by a [[Salvation Army]] house near Lennon's childhood home.


"Strawberry Fields Forever" was originally intended for the album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' (1967), but was instead released in February 1967 as a double A-side single with Paul McCartney's "[[Penny Lane]]". "Strawberry Fields Forever" reached number eight in the US, with numerous critics describing it as one of the group's best recordings.<ref name="amg-sff"/><ref name="rs500s"/> It is one of the defining works of the [[psychedelic rock]] genre and has been [[Cover version|covered]] by many other artists. The song was later included on the U.S. ''[[Magical Mystery Tour]]'' LP (though not on the British double [[Extended play|EP]] package of the same name). The [[Strawberry Fields (memorial)|Strawberry Fields memorial]] in [[New York City]]'s [[Central Park]] was named after the song.<ref name="centralpark">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=virtualpark_southend_strawberryfields |title=Strawberry Fields |work=Central Park Conservancy |accessdate=2007-12-16}}</ref><ref name="nycdpr">{{cite web |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=12890 |title=Strawberry Fields |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |accessdate=2007-12-16}}</ref>
"Strawberry Fields Forever" was originally intended for the album ''[[Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band]]'' (1967), but was instead released in February 1967 as a double A-side single with Paul McCartney's "[[Penny Lane]]". "Strawberry Fields Forever" reached number eight in the US, with numerous critics describing it as one of the group's best recordings.<ref name="amg-sff"/><ref name="rs500s"/> It is one of the defining works of the [[psychedelic rock]] genre and has been [[Cover version|covered]] by many other artists. The song was later included on the U.S. ''[[Magical Mystery Tour]]'' LP (though not on the British double [[Extended play|EP]] package of the same name). The [[Strawberry Fields (memorial)|Strawberry Fields memorial]] in [[New York City]]'s [[Central Park]] was named after the song.<ref name="centralpark">{{cite web |url=http://www.centralparknyc.org/site/PageServer?pagename=virtualpark_southend_strawberryfields |title=Strawberry Fields |work=Central Park Conservancy |accessdate=2007-12-16}}</ref><ref name="nycdpr">{{cite web |url=http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=12890 |title=Strawberry Fields |publisher=New York City Department of Parks & Recreation |accessdate=2007-12-16}}</ref>

Revision as of 01:02, 20 July 2010

"Strawberry Fields Forever"
Song
A-side"Penny Lane"

"Strawberry Fields Forever" is a song by the English rock band The Beatles. Although formally attributed to John Lennon and Paul McCartney, the song was composed by Lennon. It was inspired by a Salvation Army house near Lennon's childhood home.

"Strawberry Fields Forever" was originally intended for the album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), but was instead released in February 1967 as a double A-side single with Paul McCartney's "Penny Lane". "Strawberry Fields Forever" reached number eight in the US, with numerous critics describing it as one of the group's best recordings.[1][2] It is one of the defining works of the psychedelic rock genre and has been covered by many other artists. The song was later included on the U.S. Magical Mystery Tour LP (though not on the British double EP package of the same name). The Strawberry Fields memorial in New York City's Central Park was named after the song.[3][4]

Background and composition

The gatepost to Strawberry Field, which is now a popular tourist attraction in Liverpool

Strawberry Field (not "Fields") was the name of a Salvation Army Children's Home just around the corner from Lennon's childhood home in Woolton, a suburb of Liverpool.[5] Lennon and his childhood friends Pete Shotton, Nigel Whalley, and Ivan Vaughan used to play in the wooded garden behind the home.[6][7] One of Lennon's childhood treats was the garden party held each summer in Calderstones Park near the Salvation Army Home every year, where a Salvation Army band played.[8] Lennon's aunt Mimi Smith recalled: "As soon as we could hear the Salvation Army band starting, John would jump up and down shouting, 'Mimi, come on. We're going to be late.'"[7][9]

Lennon's "Strawberry Fields Forever" and McCartney's "Penny Lane" shared the theme of nostalgia for their early years in Liverpool. Although both referred to actual locations, the two songs also had strong surrealistic and psychedelic overtones.[10] Producer George Martin said that when he first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever" he thought it conjured up a "hazy, impressionistic dreamworld".[11]

The period of the song's composition was one of change and dislocation for Lennon. The Beatles had just retired from touring after one of the most difficult periods of their career,[12] including the "more popular than Jesus" controversy and the band's unintentional snubbing of Philippines First Lady Imelda Marcos.[13][14] Lennon's marriage with Cynthia Powell was failing, and he was using increasing quantities of drugs, especially the powerful psychedelic LSD, as well as cannabis, which he had smoked during his time in Spain.[11][15] Lennon talked about the song in 1980: "I was different all my life. The second verse goes, 'No one I think is in my tree.' Well, I was too shy and self-doubting. Nobody seems to be as hip as me is what I was saying. Therefore, I must be crazy or a genius—'I mean it must be high or low'",[16] and explaining that the song was "psycho-analysis set to music".[11]

Lennon began writing the song in Almería, Spain, during the filming of Richard Lester's How I Won the War in September–October 1966.[17][18] The earliest demo of the song, recorded in Almería, had no refrain and only one verse: "There's no one on my wavelength / I mean, it's either too high or too low / That is you can't you know tune in but it's all right / I mean it's not too bad". He revised the words to this verse to make them more obscure, then wrote the melody and part of the lyrics to the refrain (which then functioned as a bridge and did not yet include a reference to Strawberry Fields). He then added another verse and the mention of Strawberry Fields.[19] The first verse on the released version was the last to be written, close to the time of the song's recording. For this verse, Lennon was again inspired by his childhood memories: the words "nothing to get hung about" were inspired by Aunt Mimi's strict order not to play in the grounds of Strawberry Field, to which the young Lennon once replied, "They can't hang you for it."[20] The first verse Lennon wrote became the second in the released version, and the second verse Lennon wrote became the last in the release. The song was complete.

Musical structure

The song was originally written in the key of C major. The recorded version is approximately in B-flat major; owing to the manipulation of recording speed the finished version is not in standard pitch. The introduction was played by McCartney on a mellotron,[12] and the vocals begin with the refrain instead of a verse.[1] A half-measure complicates the meter of the verses, as well as the fact that the vocals begin in the middle of the first measure. The first verse comes after the refrain, and is eight measures long. The verse starts with an F major chord (V), which progresses to G minor (vi) in a deceptive cadence. According to Alan Pollack, the "approach-avoidance tactic" is encountered in the verse, as the V chord never resolves into a I chord directly as expected.[21] Instead, at the end of the verse, the V chord turns into a I chord after passing through the E-flat major (IV) chord. In the middle of the second chorus, the "funereal brass" is introduced, stressing the ominous lyrics.[1] After three verses and four refrains, the line "Strawberry Fields Forever" is repeated three times, and the song fades out with a guitar, cello, and swarmandal. After a few seconds, the song fades back in to the "nightmarish" mellotron playing dissonant notes, scattered drumming, and Lennon saying, "cranberry sauce".[1][21]

Recording

The working title was "It's Not Too Bad",[22] and Geoff Emerick, the sound engineer, remembered it being "just a great, great song, that was apparent from the first time John sang it for all of us, playing an acoustic guitar."[12] Recording began on 24 November 1966, in Abbey Road's Studio Two on a 4-track machine [23]. It took 45 hours to record, spread over five weeks.[24][25][26] The song was meant to be on the band's 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but was released as a single instead.[27]

The band recorded three distinct versions of the song. After Lennon played the song for the other Beatles on his acoustic guitar, the band recorded the first take. Lennon played an Epiphone Casino; McCartney played a mellotron, a new instrument introduced to The Beatles by Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues;[28] Starr played drums; and Harrison played electric guitar.[29] The first recorded take began with the verse, "Living is easy...", instead of the chorus, "Let me take you down", which starts the released version. The first verse also led directly to the second, with no chorus between. Lennon's vocals were automatically double-tracked from the words "Strawberry Fields Forever" through the end of the last verse. The last verse, "Always, no sometimes...", has three-part harmonies, with McCartney and Harrison singing "dreamy background vocals".[19][30] This version was soon abandoned and went unreleased until the Anthology series in 1996.

Four days later the band reassembled to try a different arrangement. The second version of the song featured McCartney's mellotron introduction followed by the refrain. They recorded five takes of the basic tracks for this arrangement (two of which were false starts) with the last being chosen as best and subjected to further overdubs. Lennon's final vocal was recorded with the tape running fast so that when played back at normal speed the tonality would be altered, giving his voice a slurred sound. This version was used for the first minute of the released recording.

After recording the second version of the song, Lennon wanted to do something different with it, as Martin remembered: "He'd wanted it as a gentle dreaming song, but he said it had come out too raucous. He said could I write him a new line-up with the strings. So I wrote a new score[31] [with four trumpets and three cellos] and we recorded that, but he didn't like it".[23] Meanwhile, on 8 and 9 December, another basic track was recorded, using a mellotron, electric guitar, piano, backwards-recorded cymbals, and the swarmandel (or swordmandel), an Indian version of the zither.[32][33] After reviewing the tapes of Martin's version and the original, Lennon told Martin that he liked both versions, although Martin had to tell Lennon that the orchestral score was at a faster tempo and in a higher key (B major) than the first version (A major).[21] Lennon said, "You can fix it, George", giving Martin and Emerick the difficult task of joining the two takes together.[34][35] With only a pair of editing scissors, two tape machines, and a vari-speed control, Emerick compensated for the differences in key and speed by increasing the speed of the first version and decreasing the speed of the second.[12] He then spliced the versions together, starting the orchestral score in the middle of the second chorus.[34] (Since the first version did not include a chorus after the first verse, he also spliced in the first seven words of the chorus from elsewhere in the first version.) The pitch-shifting in joining the versions gave Lennon's lead vocal a slightly other-worldly "swimming" quality.[36]

Some vocalizing by Lennon is faintly audible at the end of the song, picked up as leakage onto one of the drum microphones (close listening shows Lennon making other comments to Ringo). In the "Paul is Dead" hoax these were taken to be Lennon saying "I buried Paul."[37] In 1974, McCartney said, "That wasn't 'I buried Paul' at all—that was John saying 'cranberry sauce'. It was the end of Strawberry Fields. That's John's humour. John would say something totally out of sync, like cranberry sauce. If you don't realize that John's apt to say cranberry sauce when he feels like it, then you start to hear a funny little word there, and you think, 'Aha!'".[38]

Release

When manager Brian Epstein pressed Martin for a new Beatles' single, Martin told Epstein that the group had recorded "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Penny Lane", which in Martin's opinion were their two finest songs to date.[39] Epstein said they would issue the songs as a double A-side single, as they had done with their previous single, "Yellow Submarine"/"Eleanor Rigby". The single was released in the US on 13 February 1967, and in the UK on 17 February 1967.[39] Following The Beatles' philosophy that songs released on a single should not appear on new albums, both songs were ultimately left off Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, but Martin later admitted that this was a "dreadful mistake".[40]

For the first time since "Love Me Do" in 1962, a single by The Beatles failed to reach number one in the UK charts. It was held at number two by Engelbert Humperdinck's "Release Me", because the BBC counted the two songs as two individual singles; discounting the fact that The Beatles’ single outsold Humperdinck's by almost two to one.[39] In a radio interview at the time, McCartney said he was not upset because Humperdinck's song was a "completely different type of thing".[41] Starr said later that it was "a relief" because "it took the pressure off".[42] "Penny Lane" reached number one in the US, while "Strawberry Fields Forever" peaked at number eight. In the US, both songs were included on the Magical Mystery Tour LP.

The song was the opening track of the compilation album 1967–1970, released in 1973,[43] and also appears on the Imagine soundtrack issued in 1988.[44] In 1996, three previously unreleased versions of the song were included on the Anthology 2 album: Lennon's original home demo, an altered version of the first studio take, and the complete take seven, of which only the first minute was heard in the master version.[45] In 2006, a newly mixed version of the song was included on the album Love.[12] This version builds from an acoustic demo (which was run at the actual recorded speed) and incorporates elements of "Hello, Goodbye", "Baby, You're a Rich Man", "In My Life", "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band", "Penny Lane", and "Piggies".[46]

Promotion and reception

The Beatles (McCartney, Starr, Harrison, and Lennon) pouring paint over a piano in the video for the song

The promotional film for "Strawberry Fields Forever" was filmed on 30 and 31 January 1967, in Knole Park in Sevenoaks. It was directed by Swedish television director Peter Goldman. Goldman was a friend of Klaus Voormann, who had recommended Peter to the group.[47] The film featured reverse film effects, stop motion animation, jump-cuts from daytime to night-time, and The Beatles playing and later pouring paint over an upright piano.[48] The video for "Strawberry Fields Forever", along with that of "Penny Lane", was selected by New York's MoMA as two of the most influential music videos in the late 1960s.[49] Both were originally broadcast in the US on 25 February 1967, on the variety show The Hollywood Palace, with actor Van Johnson as host.[50] A cartoon based on the song was the final episode produced for The Beatles animated television series.[51]

"Strawberry Fields Forever" was well-received by critics, and is still considered a classic. Three weeks after its release, Time magazine hailed the song as "the latest sample of The Beatles' astonishing inventiveness".[52] Richie Unterberger of Allmusic hailed the song as "one of The Beatles' peak achievements and one of the finest Lennon-McCartney songs".[1] Ian MacDonald wrote in Revolution In The Head that it "shows expression of a high order... few if any [contemporary composers] are capable of displaying feeling and fantasy so direct, spontaneous, and original."[53] In 2004, this song was ranked number 76 on Rolling Stone's list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time".[2] The song was ranked as the second-best Beatles’ song by Mojo, after "A Day in the Life".[54]

Brian Wilson of The Beach Boys said that "Strawberry Fields Forever" was partially responsible for the shelving of his group's legendary unfinished album, Smile.[55] Wilson first heard the song on his car radio whilst driving, and was so affected that he had to stop and listen to it all the way through. He then remarked to his passenger that The Beatles had already reached the sound The Beach Boys had wanted to achieve.[55] Paul Revere & The Raiders were among the most successful US groups during 1966 and 1967, having their own Dick Clark-produced television show, Where the Action Is. Mark Lindsay (singer/saxophonist) heard the song on the radio, bought it, and then listened to it at home with his producer at the time, Terry Melcher. When the song ended Lindsay said, "Now what the fuck are we gonna do?" later saying, "With that single, The Beatles raised the ante as to what a pop record should be".[56]

The song returned to popularity 23 years later when British dance group Candy Flip released an electronic version of the song. The song was generally well-received, Allmusic describing it as "funkier and more club-happy than the Beatles' original"[57] and was a commercial success on both sides of the Atlantic, reaching number three in the UK pop charts[58] and number eleven on the U.S. Modern Rock Tracks chart.[59]

Personnel

Personnel per Ian MacDonald[60]

Cover versions

The song has been covered a number of times, most notably by Peter Gabriel in 1976 on the musical documentary All This and World War II,[61] and by Ben Harper for the soundtrack of the film I Am Sam.[62] Vanilla Fudge, the debut album by Vanilla Fudge, also contains a cover of "Strawberry Fields Forever" titled "ELDS".[63] Todd Rundgren's version of the song was released on his 1976 album Faithful. The song was also covered by Jim Sturgess and Joe Anderson for the 2007 movie Across the Universe.

In 1990, an electronic dance version by Candy Flip reached number three on the UK charts, and this version is now seen as a rave classic.

"Strawberry Fields Forever" has also been covered by Noel Gallagher, The Runaways, Gwen Stefani, The Bee Gees, The Bobs, Los Fabulosos Cadillacs (featuring Debbie Harry), Richie Havens, David Lanz, Cyndi Lauper, Eugene Chadbourne, Campfire Girls, Laurence Juber, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, R. Stevie Moore, Mother's Finest, Odetta, Andy Partridge, The Residents, The Shadows, The Ventures, Cassandra Wilson, XTC, and Ultraviolet Sound.[64]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e Unterberger, Richie. "Strawberry Fields Forever". Allmusic. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  2. ^ a b "The Rolling Stone 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2007-12-17.
  3. ^ "Strawberry Fields". Central Park Conservancy. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  4. ^ "Strawberry Fields". New York City Department of Parks & Recreation. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
  5. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:32:32) McCartney talking about Strawberry Field.
  6. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:32:36) McCartney talking about Lennon’s "Magic garden" (Strawberry Field).
  7. ^ a b Spitz (2005), p. 642
  8. ^ "Strawberry Fields Forever". Mersey Beat. 2006. Retrieved 2008-08-19.
  9. ^ Davies (2002) p. 57
  10. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:36:32) McCartney talking about Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane being more surreal.
  11. ^ a b c Spitz (2005) p. 641
  12. ^ a b c d e Webb, Robert (2006-11-29). "'Strawberry Fields Forever': The making of a masterpiece". The Independent. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  13. ^ Spitz (2005) pp619-625
  14. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:32:04) McCartney talking about not performing, and starting Strawberry Fields Forever.
  15. ^ Lennon (2006) pp244–248
  16. ^ Everett (1999) p75
  17. ^ Sheff (2000) p153
  18. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:26:28) Lennon talking about filming in Spain.
  19. ^ a b Kozinn (1995) p148
  20. ^ Freeman, Simon (2005-05-31). "Strawberry Fields is not forever". Times Online. Retrieved 2007-12-14.
  21. ^ a b c Pollack, Alan. "Notes on "Strawberry Fields Forever"". Notes On ... Series. Retrieved 2008-01-10.
  22. ^ Fontenot, Robert. "The history of this classic Beatles song". About.com. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  23. ^ a b Brennan, Joseph. "Strawberry Fields Forever: Putting Together the Pieces". Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  24. ^ Spitz (2005) p654
  25. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:32:25) Martin talking about recording songs that "could not be performed live".
  26. ^ Spitz (2005) p655
  27. ^ Miles (1997) p306
  28. ^ Mike, Pinder. "History of the Mellotron". Retrieved 2008-08-06.
  29. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:33:02) McCartney talking about the mellotron.
  30. ^ Everett (1999) p79
  31. ^ "'Strawberry Fields Forever' The Beatles". BBC. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  32. ^ Emerick (2006) pp135–136
  33. ^ Kozinn (1995) p149
  34. ^ a b Gould (2007) p382
  35. ^ Lewisohn (1988) pp90–91
  36. ^ MacDonald (2005) p218
  37. ^ Toropov (2002) p37
  38. ^ Gambaccini (1989) p305
  39. ^ a b c Spitz (2005) p656
  40. ^ The Beatles (2000) p239
  41. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:40:50) McCartney talking about the songs not reaching number one in the UK.
  42. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:41:17) Starr saying the songs not reaching number one was "a relief", because "it took the pressure off".
  43. ^ Eder, Bruce. "Overview of 1967–1970". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  44. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Overview of 1967–1970". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-12-08.
  45. ^ Lewisohn, Mark (1994). Anthology 2 (Media notes). London: Apple Records. {{cite AV media notes}}: |format= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |albumlink= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |bandname= ignored (help); Unknown parameter |publisherid= ignored (help)
  46. ^ Watson, Greig (2006-11-17). "Love unveils new angle on Beatles". BBC News. Retrieved 2006-11-17.
  47. ^ Lewisohn (1992) p242
  48. ^ The Beatles Anthology DVD (2003) (Episode 6 - 0:36:23) The Beatles pouring paint over the piano in the video.
  49. ^ "Golden Oldies of Music Video". Museum of Modern Art. 2003. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  50. ^ "The Hollywood Palace, Season 4, Episode 22". TV.com. Retrieved 2008-07-24.
  51. ^ Beck, Jerry (2000). "Beatletoons, The Real Story Behind The Cartoon Beatles". Animation World Network. Retrieved 2008-09-29. {{cite web}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  52. ^ "Other noises, Other notes". Time. 1967-03-03. Retrieved 2008-07-20.
  53. ^ MacDonald (2005) p220
  54. ^ "Beatles - 101 Greatest Songs". Mojo. 2006. {{cite journal}}: |access-date= requires |url= (help); Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
  55. ^ a b Richardson, Derk (2004-10-28). "Brian Wilson finally finishes his 'teenage symphony to God'". SFGate. Hearst Communications Inc. Retrieved 2008-07-08.
  56. ^ Babuik et al. (2002) p201
  57. ^ "Biography". Retrieved 2008-11-30.
  58. ^ Rice at al. (1997) p57
  59. ^ "Strawberry Fields Forever — Candy Flip". Retrieved 2008-11-30..
  60. ^ MacDonald (2005), pp212-220
  61. ^ "Songs covered by Peter Gabriel". Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  62. ^ "I Am Sam: Music From & Inspired by the Motion Picture". Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  63. ^ "Vanilla Fudge Songs". Allmusic. Retrieved 31 December 2009.
  64. ^ "The Beatles-Strawberry Fields Forever". About.com.

References

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