Editing Strawberry Fields Forever (section)

==Background and writing==
[[File:Strawberryfieldgate.jpg|thumb|upright=1.45|left|Entrance gates at Strawberry Field, near Lennon's childhood home in [[Woolton]], Liverpool]]
[[Strawberry Field]] was the name of a [[Salvation Army]] children's home close to [[John Lennon]]'s childhood home in [[Woolton]], a suburb of [[Liverpool]].{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=237}}{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=216}} Lennon and his friends [[Pete Shotton]], [[Nigel Walley]] and [[Ivan Vaughan]] used to play in the wooded garden behind the home.{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=642}}{{sfn|Ingham|2006|p=193}} One of Lennon's childhood treats was the [[garden party]] held each summer in [[Calderstones Park]], near the home, where a [[Salvation Army brass band]] played.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.merseybeat.co.uk/articles-details.php?cat=Classic+Songs&id=65 |title=Strawberry Fields Forever |work=Mersey Beat |year=2006 |access-date=19 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160306055056/http://merseybeat.co.uk/articles-details.php?cat=classic+songs&id=65 |archive-date=6 March 2016 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Lennon's aunt [[Mimi Smith]] recalled: "There was something about the place that always fascinated John. He could see it from his window … He used to hear the Salvation Army band [playing at the garden party], and he would pull me along, saying, 'Hurry up, Mimi – we're going to be late.'"{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=642}}

Lennon began writing "Strawberry Fields Forever" in [[Almería]], Spain, during the filming of [[Richard Lester]]'s ''[[How I Won the War]]'' in September–October 1966.{{sfn|Sheff|2000|p=153}}{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=231}} [[The Beatles]] had just retired from touring after one of their most difficult periods,<ref name="makingof">{{cite news |first=Robert |last=Webb |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/strawberry-fields-forever-the-making-of-a-masterpiece-426308.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/music/features/strawberry-fields-forever-the-making-of-a-masterpiece-426308.html |archive-date=25 May 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title='Strawberry Fields Forever': The making of a masterpiece |work=[[The Independent]] |date=29 November 2006 |access-date=24 July 2008}}</ref> which included the [[More popular than Jesus|"more popular than Jesus" controversy]] and being the target of mob violence in reaction to [[The Beatles' 1966 tour of Germany, Japan and the Philippines#Philippines|their unintentional snubbing]] of Philippines First Lady [[Imelda Marcos]].{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=237}}{{sfn|Rodriguez|2012|p=177}} Working on Lester's film without his bandmates left Lennon feeling vulnerable; according to his wife [[Cynthia Lennon|Cynthia]], he was also distraught to learn in late October that [[Alma Cogan]], the English singer whom "he'd earmarked to replace Aunt Mimi in his affections", had died in London at the age of 34.{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=504–05, 537–38}} In the first versions that Lennon committed to tape, in September, there was no reference to Strawberry Field. Author [[Steve Turner (writer)|Steve Turner]] says that at this stage, Lennon most likely drew inspiration from [[Nikos Kazantzakis]]'s autobiographical novel ''Report to Greco'', which he was reading in Almería and "tells of a writer searching for spiritual meaning".{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=506–07}}

{{quote box|quote= 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"&nbsp;...{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=75}}|source= – John Lennon, 1980|width=25%|align=right|style=padding:8px;}}
Like "[[Penny Lane]]", which [[Paul McCartney]] wrote in late 1966 in response to Lennon's new song,{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=84}} "Strawberry Fields Forever" conveys [[nostalgia]] for the Beatles' early years in Liverpool.{{sfn|Lewisohn|1992|p=235}} While both songs refer to actual locations, McCartney said that the two pieces also had strong surrealistic and psychedelic overtones.{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=237}} [[George Martin]], the Beatles' producer, recalled that when he first heard "Strawberry Fields Forever", he thought it conjured up a "hazy, [[Impressionism|impressionistic]] dreamworld".{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=641}}{{refn|group=nb|Martin described Lennon's initial performance of the song, on acoustic guitar, as "magic … absolutely lovely".{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=237}}}}

As with his ''[[Revolver (Beatles album)|Revolver]]'' compositions "[[Tomorrow Never Knows]]" and "[[She Said She Said]]", "Strawberry Fields Forever" was informed by Lennon's experiences with the hallucinogenic drug [[LSD]], which caused him to question his identity and seek to dissolve his [[Ego (Freudian)|ego]].{{sfn|Turner|1999|p=15}} In Turner's description, the song's opening line, "Let me take you down", establishes Lennon as a "spiritual leader" in keeping with his statements in "[[The Word (song)|The Word]]", "[[Rain (Beatles song)|Rain]]" and "Tomorrow Never Knows", while Lennon's contention that in Strawberry Field "Nothing is real" reflects the concept of [[Maya (religion)|maya]] (or "illusion") as conveyed in the [[Hinduism|Hindu]] teachings that Lennon was also reading during his weeks on the film set.{{sfn|Turner|2016|pp=237, 523}} Lennon said the song reflected how he had felt "different all my life";{{sfn|The Beatles|2000|p=231}}{{sfn|Spitz|2005|p=641}} he called it "psychoanalysis set to music" and one of his most honest songs.{{sfn|Sullivan|2017|pp=411–12}} In McCartney's view, the lyrics reflect Lennon's admiration of the nineteenth-century English writer [[Lewis Carroll]], particularly his poem "[[Jabberwocky]]".{{sfn|Miles|1997|p=45}}

The earliest demo of the song was recorded in Almería, and Lennon subsequently developed the melody and lyrics in England throughout November.{{sfn|Winn|2009|pp=68–69}} Demos taped at his home, [[Kenwood, St. George's Hill|Kenwood]], demonstrate his progress with the song and include parts played on a [[Mellotron]],{{sfn|Winn|2009|pp=68–69}}{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=76}} a tape-replay keyboard instrument he had purchased in August 1965.{{sfn|Babiuk|2002|pp=164–65}} On the first Almería recording, the song had no refrain and only one verse, beginning: "There's no one on my wavelength / I mean, it's either too high or too low". Lennon revised these words to make them more obscure, then wrote the melody and part of the lyrics to the chorus (which functioned as a [[bridge (music)|bridge]] and did not yet include a reference to Strawberry Fields). After returning to England in early November, he added another verse and the mention of Strawberry Fields.{{sfn|Kozinn|1995|p=148}} The first verse on the released version was the last to be written, close to the time of the song's recording.{{sfn|Turner|1999|pp=118–19}} For the chorus, 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 Lennon replied, "They can't hang you for it."<ref name="times2005-05-31">{{cite news |url=https://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/article411592.ece |title=Strawberry Fields is not forever |last=Freeman |first=Simon |access-date=14 December 2007 |date=31 May 2005 |work=Times Online}}{{dead link|date=September 2024|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> The first verse Lennon wrote became the second one in the released version of the song, and the second verse he wrote became the last.