Strawberry Fields Forever

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Strawberry Fields Forever
The Beatles
publication February 13, 1967
length 4 min 10 s
Genre (s) Psychedelic pop , psychedelic rock
Author (s) Lennon / McCartney
album Magical Mystery Tour

Strawberry Fields Forever ( English strawberry fields forever ) is a piece composed by John Lennon of the Beatles . It was released as the group's 14th single on February 13, 1967. The second title of the single was Penny Lane written by Paul McCartney . As usual, the authorship was given as Lennon / McCartney .

Numerous music critics have declared it one of the best and most influential pieces of the group in music history. The extensive use of studio technology, including backwards recorded instrumentation and the use of loops as well as the merging of two versions with different tempos and moods, was groundbreaking for the time of creation . The song was by many musicians gecovert .

History of origin

Entrance to the orphanage

Strawberry Field ( German :, Strawberry Field ') is the name of an orphanage of the Salvation Army in Liverpool near where John Lennon grew up and on its grounds as a child he often played or was simply for themselves. Today only the overgrown garden gate remains, which - like so many places of the Beatles - became a place of pilgrimage.

The lyrics of the song, recorded in 1966, are surreal and metaphorical . Due to the melancholy, dreamy mood, it is an example of psychedelic pop music par excellence.

Once again, the Beatles music producer George Martin did important work . He put Strawberry Fields Forever together at Abbey Road Studios to create one of the most complex and intricate songs ever released by the Beatles. From November 24, 1966 to January 2, 1967, 26 takes were made , of which two different takes were merged during the final mix. Take 26, however, was recorded faster and a semitone higher than the first and therefore had to be slowed down in speed afterwards - which also lowers the pitch - so that the interface between the two is as imperceptible as possible. This interface is in the piece after about a minute. Before that, five seconds were glued in from take 7, from which the beginning of the song was also taken. A total of 55 hours of studio time were required.

Sheet music sample: Introduction of Strawberry Fields Forever , played on a Mellotron ( audio sample ? / I )Audio file / audio sample

The intro played Paul McCartney on a Mellotron . You can also hear Ringo Starr's pool running backwards in places. Strings were added to the recording that was finally released, originally the song sounded much more aloof and strange, as can be discovered on previously unpublished recordings. At the end of the added instrumental disharmony, Lennon can be heard quietly saying “Cranberry Sauce”, which some fans have understood as “I buried Paul” and fueled rumors of Paul McCartney's alleged death . On Anthology 2 you can hear the original demo version , which Lennon only plays on guitar.

Musically, the single is a consistent continuation of their attempts to create new sounds in the studio (see: Revolver ) , which were only intended as studio products and could not be performed live with the possibilities at that time.

John Lennon said he only wrote two "real" songs: Help! and Strawberry Fields Forever , because they came from within.

publication

Single release

Originally, Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane were slated for release on Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . But it was customary back then not to put singles that had already been released on an LP. Capitol Records released the song on November 27, 1967 on the LP Magical Mystery Tour , which combined songs from the television film of the same name with other pieces.

The special thing about this single was that it was a double A-side single, meaning that the sales numbers were divided by two and both Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever were counted as separate single. As a result, it became the Beatles' first single since Love Me Do not topping the UK charts. In the USA, where the songs were rated separately, Penny Lane came in at number 1 on the charts, and Strawberry Fields Forever at number 8.

success

After its release in the United States on February 13, 1967, 1.1 million copies were ordered within three days, the highest sales figure for Capitol Records. In Great Britain, a total of 350,000 copies went over the counter in the first three days after its publication on February 17, 1967. A total of 1.5 million singles were sold in the USA and 500,000 in Great Britain.

Others

Strawberry Fields in Central Park with the Dakota Building in the background

occupation

literature

  • Rolf Berger: The compositional styles of John Lennon and Paul McCartney . EpOs-Music , Osnabrück 2006, ISBN 3-923486-81-2 .
  • Ian MacDonald: Strawberry Fields Forever. In this: The Beatles. The Song Lexicon [Revolution in the Head. The Beatles' Records and the Sixties]. Kassel 2000 (1994), pp. 230-238.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Top 100 best songs of all time
  2. ^ Mark Lewisohn, The Beatles Recording Sessions , 1985, pp. 87 ff.
  3. ^ Geoff Emerick : Here, There and Everywhere . New York. Gotham Books, 2006. p. 140.
  4. ^ Neville Stannard: The Long and Winding Road . Virgin Books, 1983. p. 144.
  5. ^ Joseph Murrells, Million Selling Records , 1985, pp. 234 f.