Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 24, 28-29 November; 8-9, 15, 21-22 December 1966
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Released: 17 February 1967 (UK), 13 February 1967 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, acoustic guitar, piano, bongos, Mellotron
Paul McCartney: Mellotron, bass, electric guitar, timpani, bongos
George Harrison: electric guitar, svarmandal, timpani, maracas
Ringo Starr: drums, percussion
Mal Evans: tambourine
Neil Aspinall: guiro
Terry Doran: maracas
Tony Fisher, Greg Bowen, Derek Watkins, Stanley Roderick: trumpets
John Hall, Derek Simpson, Norman Jones: cellos
Available on:
Magical Mystery Tour
Anthology 2
Love
One of The Beatles' undisputed masterpieces, Strawberry Fields Forever was written by John Lennon and first released on a single along with Penny Lane.
Strawberry Fields was psychoanalysis set to music.
Anthology
Lennon wrote the song in Almería, Spain in autumn 1966, while filming his role as Private Gripweed in the Richard Lester movie How I Won The War.
Dick Lester offered me the part in this movie, which gave me time to think without going home. We were in Almería, and it took me six weeks to write the song. I was writing it all the time I was making the film. And as anybody knows about film work, there's a lot of hanging around.
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
Like Penny Lane, Strawberry Fields Forever was a nostalgic look back at The Beatles' past in Liverpool. Strawberry Field was the name of a Salvation Army children's home near John Lennon's childhood home in Woolton.
I've seen Strawberry Field described as a dull, grimy place next door to him that John imagined to be a beautiful place, but in the summer it wasn't dull and grimy at all: it was a secret garden. John's memory of it wasn't to do with the fact that it was a Salvation Army home; that was up at the house. There was a wall you could bunk over and it was a rather wild garden, it wasn't manicured at all, so it was easy to hide in.
Many Years From Now, Barry Miles
With his childhood friends Pete Shotton and Ivan Vaughan, Lennon would roam the grounds of Strawberry Field. Additionally, each summer there would be a garden party held in the grounds, which he especially looked forward to.
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.'
The Beatles, Hunter Davies
Through the lens of LSD, however, the song song turned from simple nostalgia into inward reflection. Lennon's self doubt came to the fore, at times clouded by inarticulacy and hallucinogenic sensations.
He later described Strawberry Fields Forever, along with Help!, as "one of the few true songs I ever wrote... They were the ones I really wrote from experience and not projecting myself into a situation and writing a nice story about it."
The second line [sic] goes, 'No one I think is in my tree.' Well, what I was trying to say in that line is 'Nobody seems to be as hip as me, therefore I must be crazy or a genius.' It's the same problem as I had when I was five: 'There is something wrong with me because I seem to see things other people don't see. Am I crazy, or am I a genius?' ... What I'm saying, in my insecure way, is 'Nobody seems to understand where I'm coming from. I seem to see things in a different way from most people.'
All We Are Saying, David Sheff
The music
Freed from the constraints of touring, in the latter months of 1966 The Beatles began a series of open-ended sessions at Abbey Road, with little regard to time and budget.
Although it was to end up as a psychedelic masterpiece, Strawberry Fields Forever began relatively simply. John Lennon recorded a series of solo demos in mid-November 1966 at his home in Weybridge, Surrey.
A sequence from the recordings was included on Anthology 2. In it, Lennon begins by fingerpicking the individual notes of the chords, before breaking off and muttering, "I cannae do it." He begins again, strumming the guitar and singing.
Instead of opening with the chorus, the early versions of the song began with the first two verses back-to-back. This initial arrangement was also used on take one in the studio, also available on Anthology 2. This first take also has a rounded ending; a Mellotron and guitar instrumental passage, in stark contrast to the psychedelic spectacle of the final version.
The Mellotron was a fairly new keyboard instrument in 1966, which The Moody Blues' Mike Pinder had introduced The Beatles to in 1965.
I got to know John, Paul, George and Ringo over the years and I introduced them to the 'tron... Within a week all four of them had a Fab-Tron. I knew that I would be rewarded, and the first time I heard Strawberry Fields I was in bliss. It was the closest thing to recording with them, other than my visits to Abbey Road during their recording sessions.
The instrument had a bank of magnetic audio tapes inside, each lasting approximately eight seconds and containing a range of pre-recorded sounds. These tape loops could be used to mimic other instruments; The Beatles used the flute sound for Strawberry Fields Forever's introduction.
I remember when The Beatles first brought in the Mellotron. It was made mostly for producing sound effects but it also had flutes, brass and string sounds on it. The Beatles used it in a way nobody had ever thought of.
The Complete Beatles Recording Sessions, Mark Lewisohn
Related articles:
- Recording: Strawberry Fields Forever
- Recording, mixing: Strawberry Fields Forever
- Recording, mixing: Strawberry Fields Forever
- Recording, mixing: Strawberry Fields Forever
- Filming: Strawberry Fields Forever
'Strawberry Fields Forever', the song + music video were so cutting edge for it's time when I would play it for school mates, they thought that I was a little strange for liking such an avant- guard song, ( a Beatles song) mind you? In middle school an orphanage called 'Maryvale' was the perfect backdrop for this song. I befriended the girls there, loaning the 45rpm to them, + they thought I was hip! The moral of the story.... Lennon was 'far ahead' of his time, both musically + lyrically! His heart spoke to the 'real' people of life; the not so fortunate, the not so loved in society! After all these years I still miss his Genius! It felt like Christmas Day, as a child, whenever a new Beatles album was released!
If you'll watch the DVD "The Beatles in America" (may also be called something else), just as they are getting ready to go to the Ed Sullivan Show for the first time, John Lennon is sitting in a chair with a some sort of mouth organ (with keys), inventing the intro to Strawberry Fields Forever. It's a great DVD to watch.
Are you saying that john had the intro to strawberry fields in 1964? To my knowledge the intro musical phrase was composed and played by Paul. Just like the beautiful phrase that opens and defines Lucy in the Sky. If what you are saying is true, could you be more specific about exactly where to find the footage because I would love to see it.
Check on YouTube by searching for 'Strawberry Fields' and '1964' and you should find the clip. It does indeed sound like John was fiddling around with that particular phrase when he's playing the melodica.
My favorite song by The Beatles when I was 8 years old 1982. Started listening to them when I was 4, I will always be a big fan.
Would be nice to see a little mention of its inclusion on "Love" here.
I lived in strawberry fields orphanage, and I wish someone could post more pictures of inside... these are my memories, eating together, playing together the Queen the Beatles and Cilla Black
Great info. Now that I know about it, I can hear exactly when the edit took place. The slight change in tone and tempo, particularly noticeable on the vocals, contributes to the overall psychedelic quality of the song, I think.
Listening to it now, I can believe John said "cranberry sauce", but listening to it on vinyl as a kid, I was convinced he said "I buried Paul". It didn't sound anything like "cranberry sauce" to me at all. I'm not sure how much of that is the enhanced sound quality and how much of it is me.
In my mind, this may be the band's most complex and interesting song of all time. Amazing how well it holds up after I've heard it about a million times.
When this song came out, and before we became aware that Paul was dead, we were never really sure what was being said at the end of the song. We had our ears to the speaker and still couldn't quite get it. But it was a vinyl copy and the sharpness of sound is dulled. Much later, of course, we found out it was 'I buried Paul'. Naturally this caused us and a zillion other people to start digging for other clues. Oh, it's 'cranberry sauce'? The obvious reaction is, 'Why that?'
When you compare the Take 7 (mellotron flutes) version to the Take 26 (orchestral) version, you realize that George Martin performed a feat of sheer genius by editing the two together at the 60 second mark.
You also realize that Lennon was absolutely right to request it, because neither take really holds up on its own, but the two spliced together constitute a masterpiece that starts off soft and beautiful and builds up to riotous intensity.
And how about Ringo's performance on this track? He & Mitch Mitchell were the absolute best at interpreting psychedelia for drums...
How you can you put mitch mitchell and ringo in the same sentence? Ringo's fills are beautiful (strawberry fields, Day in the life etc.) Mitch Mitchell is just an example of overplaying. He and redding ruined hendrix's sound by trying to compete with him rather than to accept a more supportive role. All flash.
Not every drummer has that same style. Not every drummer needed to be supportive yet amazing (Ringo). Mitch Mitchell's style fit who he was drumming for. Was Keith Moon wrong for the Who? No Drummers need to adapt to the style of the rest of the band.
In other words, Mitch Mitchell was the perfect drummmer for Jimi Hendrix. (And many of Noel's bass parts were in fact played by Hendrix himself.)
But yeah, there's no point in comparisons, since Mitch and Ringo were both so excellent at their own things, which were totally different.
Well said. Now, can we keep this discussion about Strawberry Fields Forever? I don't want it to become a Drummer A vs Drummer B debate.
Agreed. You can't say enough about Ringo's work on SFF, especially the coda. That drum track is MASSIVE! (Or maybe that should be drum trackS - I believe Ringo took a couple of passes and overdubbed more drums on top at least once.)
Wonder if any hip-hoppers have ever gotten around to sampling those beats?
Actually, Ringo's drumming is pretty much typical of Ringo. I always found him to be a very solid and reliable drummer. This particular song has Ringo's drumming plied from different takes. It works great here but Ringo did not play this entire song as represented in one sitting like he could have with 'Hey Jude'. In addition, there was a lot of experimentation with drum miking going on here as well as attempts to distort the sound thus giving it that amazing thunder. Once again, I don't say that Ringo didn't do a great job, but this is really a good song to rave about his drumming. It's very much a producer's piece.
Ringo's opening drum fills are genius in their use of space. Much like his drumming on A Day In The Life.
Yes indeed, Ringo is the man!
I love Strawberry Fields Forever, I think it's a beautiful song. I love the line-- 'Living is easy with eyes closed... Misunderstanding all you see...' I think that's a wonderful line...
Great masterpiece, and in my opinion Ringo at his best. His drumming kicks ass. Listen to take 7 on anthology and go mad.
Has there ever been a better song than the Love version? It's John at his absolute best in his high, dreamlike voice that just engulfes you, mixed in the middle with some of the best piano bits including In My Life and my favorite, Piggies, then at the end they throw in the last part of Hello, Goodbye with Paul's screams of pure joy over the other two's harmony...it's just unbelievable!
I don't think George was playing slide at this time, he's just bending. It wasn't until the tour with Delany and Bonnie that he began the slide work. But I may be mistaken.
Listen to take 1 of the song on Anthology 2 - he was definitely playing slide in 1967.
"Run For Your Life" had slide too; presumably that was George as well.
Hello, Goodbye has slide (by George?) and Drive My Car has slide by Paul, but is not the slide on SFF by Paul using the Mellotron’s slide guitar setting? The abrupt stops in the sustained slide parts (particularly detectable in take 2) of SFF sound, to me, more like a Mellotron’s tape than a damped slide.
On the other hand, I was just watching “The Making of Sgt. Pepper” from 1992 wherein Sir George plays the first version of SFF with George’s slide part on the vocal track.
Easily my favorite Beatles song. Gloriously weird and psychedelic. John Lennon's zenith as a singer and songwriter.
This song is incredible, I remember when it came out, my cousin and I rode our bikes to music store and ask for “Strawberry Fields Forever” Although they had it, the man behind the counter, you could see it in his face: “What do you two little black boys know about The Beatles, never mind this song?” Well I am here to tell you, my friends and me may have been some of the few black kids that loved The Beatles, but you could not tell us nothing. The Beatles are the best most influential band, bar none in the history of modern music. I will argue that to the day I die.
Who in the name of God could think of lyrics like that?! The thing is, we got it! John Lennon was pure genius may God rest his soul.
To this day there has never been a song that has blown me away the way this one has. This is the peak for the Beatles: their greatest moment, in my opinion. Should be number one on all lists. Genius, extraordinary, flawless, amazing song. I can't ever tire of it.
This song changed my life, plain and simple. Music was never the same for me, and I began to experiment to figure out what John Lennon could possibly have been thinking and feeling when he wrote this song.
The greatest song ever written. Brian Wilson pulled over his car the first time he heard it, nearly in tears, to listen to the whole thing, and said something along the lines of "Oh my God the Beatles beat me to it..." referring to his work on Smile
I agree this is one of the greatest songs of all time, absolutely timeless! I every time I hear it I say to myself how could anyone think of the stuff in this song, it is pure genius!
I used to think there was slide guitar on it but I remember reading it was an effect done with the pitch control on the Mellotron. Anyone got any more info on this?
Joe - after the very first line ("Let me take you down 'cause I'm going to...")there is Morse code - the letters 'J' and 'L' I believe. I have never seen this referenced in any book on the Beatles recording sessions and would like to know if you happen to have any more information about its inclusion.
Thanks for a great website!
You can hear that the guitar parts for most of the song are based around the 'C' chord shape but the actual key of the song is A.
Given that Lennon's vocal also sounds a little sluggish, I believe that the tape was originally recorded so the song was in C, and then slowed down. The final guitar chords at the end are based around an A chord, so presumably dubbed on to the slowed tape afterwards.
Can anyone confirm this?
The tape was indeed slowed down - read the article!
This is my all time favourite and I purposefully only listen to it in "special moments". Pure genius and perfection. This song is like a little universe, there's so much going on. And yet it also holds up if only played with a guitar (I think John's basic solo demos are fantastic...the way he sings it, it's so honest - although it's such a weird song, you kind of FEEL what he means). This is not only John's finest hour but also (maybe even more so) George Martin's. John simply said to him he wanted "maybe some strings and a brass section" and THIS is what he came up with!? Unbelievable...musical genius. To translate John's psychedelic images into sound is like doing voodoo. George Martin wasn't into drugs AT ALL and nevertheless he could write this really trippy arrangement - creating a dreamy soundscape unmatched to this day. It's unbeatable in many ways and I don't think anybody will ever top this. Even the "screw ups" are great (meaning effects caused by technical limitations etc) - especially the change in pitch 1 minute into the song (these 2 parts don't match perfectly - but exactly that contributes to the frantic atmosphere of the song). Would be easier to mention what's NOT great about this song (I can't think of anything actually). If I were to save ONE SONG or had to pick one song to play to aliens to show them that man does have a soul - this would be the one.