Een van John Lennon’s meest persoonlijke songs, “psychoanalysis set to music” in Lennon’s eigen woorden. Net als de flipside, het al even fraaie ‘Penny Lane’, is ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’ een nostalgische song over de jeugd van The Beatles in Liverpool. Strawberry Field was de naam van een kindertehuis van het Leger des Heils in Lennon’s geboortestad. Lennon bracht ’s zomers veel tijd door in de prachtige, verwilderde tuin van het complex.
De song krijgt een extra dimensie door de combinatie van nostalgie en Lennon’s karakteristieke onzekerheid en zelftwijfel: No one I think is in my tree/I mean it must be high or low/That is you can’t, you know, tune in but it’s all right/That is I think it’s not too bad
[Chorus]
Let me take you down, ‘cause I’m going to
Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
[Verse 1]
Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see
It’s getting hard to be someone but it all works out
It doesn’t matter much to me
[Chorus]
Let me take you down, ‘cause I’m going to
Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
[Verse 2]
No one I think is in my tree
I mean it must be high or low
That is you can’t, you know, tune in but it’s all right
That is I think it’s not too bad
[Chorus]
Let me take you down, ‘cause I’m going to
Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
[Verse 3]
Always, no, sometimes think it’s me
But you know I know when it’s a dream
I think a “no” will mean a “yes” but it’s all wrong
That is I think I disagree
[Chorus]
Let me take you down, ‘cause I’m going to
Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
[Outro]
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
Cranberry sauce
