Strawberry Fields Forever .... Ok, Well, maybe just sometimes

It was October of 1966 when a controversial quote by John Lennon appeared in Datebook magazine. The quote said:

Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue about that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We're more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first - rock 'n' roll or Christianity. Jesus was all right but his disciples were thick and ordinary. It's them twisting it that ruins it for me.

John Lennon

This quote spawned widespread protest, especially in the southern USA. There were Beatle bans on the radio. There were Beatle album burnings. Although the Beatles would not break up until May 12^th 1970, this quote began the bands slow decline to their ultimate end and would also serve as the catalyst for the assassination of Lennon by Mark David Chapman.

The quote led the band into a self-imposed exile. There were concerns for their safety. Not having an outlet for adoring fans, the band amped up their creativity and released some of the most revolutionary albums of their time and some would argue of ALL time.

The song Strawberry Fields Forever was written in 1967 about 6 months after the band had decided to retire from touring. The lyrics intrigued me, especially in considering when they were written in conjunction with all that was going on at that time in their career. It starts:

Let me take you down cause I’m going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

Strawberry Field was a Salvation Army orphanage that was located near where John lived as a boy. It was reported that John would love to go a park near the home to hear the Salvation Army band play. It brought him great joy as a child and one might speculate inspired him on a musical path.

Calderstone Park - Liverpool England

In the aftermath of the controversy it is easy to see why someone would want to retreat in thought to happier times. After all, like the song says, “nothing to hung about”. Who wouldn’t want to live in a place where there is nothing to be upset over?

Strawberry Fields Forever was one of the first psychedelic rock songs that the Beatles released and it was hailed by critics for its creativity. It was released as a double A-side single with “Penny Lane” and was later included on the Beatles “Magical Mystery Tour” album. This song seemed to represent the Beatles desire to escape the pressures of stardom and the responsibilities that came with it.

Many people have their own Strawberry Field to retreat to. For me it is sitting by the fire pit in my back yard burning the wood that has fallen on my property. Yet as much as I love to sit there and get lost in the fire, I can’t imagine staying there all the time. To quote Ecclesiastes Chapter 3 : “To everything there is a season”. Despite what the song says, I can’t imagine John staying in his dream world forever. Had John decided to stay in his Strawberry Field forever, the world would have never heard “Imagine” Or “Woman” or “Give Peace a Chance.” 

I appreciate all the Strawberry Fields in my life and the renewal they can give me, and listening to his body of work, I’m sure John did as well.