Editing Strawberry Fields Forever (section)

==Composition==
{{Listen
| type = music
| filename = Strawberryfields.ogg
| title = "Strawberry Fields Forever" sample
}}
"Strawberry Fields Forever" was originally written on acoustic guitar in the [[key (music)|key]] of [[C major]]. The recorded version was not in standard pitch after the tape speed was manipulated and the key is approximately [[B-flat major|B{{music|b}} major]].<ref name="pollack" /> Among musicologists, [[Walter Everett (musicologist)|Walter Everett]] describes it as "midway between" A and B{{music|b}} over the opening minute and subsequently "closer to B{{music|b}}",{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=79}} while Dominic Pedler says that some consider it to be closer to A major.{{sfn|Pedler|2003|p=647}}

The song begins with a flute-like introduction played on Mellotron,<ref name="makingof" /> and involves a I–ii–I–{{music|flat}}VII–IV progression (in [[Roman numeral analysis]]).{{sfn|Pedler|2003|p=646}} The vocals enter with the chorus instead of a verse.<ref name="amg-sff" /> In Pedler's description, it has "non-diatonic chords and [[secondary dominant|secondary dominants]]" combining with "chromatic melodic tension intensified through outrageous harmonisation and root movement".{{sfn|Pedler|2003|p=648}} The phrase "to Strawberry" begins with a slightly dissonant G melody note against a prevailing F minor key, then uses the [[semitone]] dissonance B{{music|flat}} and B notes (the natural and sharpened 11th degrees against the Fm chord) until the consonant F note is reached on "Fields". The same series of mostly dissonant melody notes covers the phrase "nothing is real" against the prevailing G<sup>7</sup> chord (F{{music|#}}<sup>7</sup> in the key of A).{{sfn|Pedler|2003|p=648}}

A half-[[Bar (music)|bar]] complicates the metre of the choruses, as does the fact that the vocals begin in the middle of the first bar. The first verse follows the chorus and is eight bars long. The verse starts with an F major chord, which progresses to G minor, the [[submediant]], serving as a [[Surprise cadence|deceptive cadence]]. According to musicologist [[Alan W. Pollack|Alan Pollack]], the deceptive cadence is encountered in the verse, as the [[leading-tone]] never resolves into a I chord directly as expected.<ref name="pollack">{{cite web |last=Pollack|first=Alan|year=1995|url=https://www.icce.rug.nl/~soundscapes/DATABASES/AWP/sff.shtml |publisher=Soundscapes|access-date=10 January 2008 |title=Notes on 'Strawberry Fields Forever'}}</ref> Instead, the leading note, harmonised as part of the [[dominant (music)|dominant]] chord, resolves to the prevailing tonic (B{{music|flat}}) at the end of the verse, after [[Tonic (music)|tonicising]] the [[subdominant]] (IV) E{{music|flat}} chord, on "dis''agree''".{{sfn|Pedler|2003|p=647}} On the released recording, the second and third verses are introduced by a descending, [[raga]]-esque melody played on an Indian board-mounted [[zither]], known as a [[swarmandal]].{{sfn|Babiuk|2002|pp=193, 194}}

In the middle of the second chorus, brass is introduced, emphasising an ominous quality in the lyrics.<ref name="amg-sff" /> After three verses and four choruses, the line "Strawberry Fields Forever" is repeated three times, and the song fades out, with interplay between electric guitar, cello and swarmandal. The song fades back in after a few seconds for what Everett terms a "free-form [[Coda (music)|coda]]".{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=80}} This [[Avant-garde music|avant-garde]]-style section features the Mellotron playing in a haunting tone – one achieved by recording the instrument's "Swinging Flutes" setting in reverse{{sfn|Unterberger|2006|pp=155, 157}} – scattered drumming, discordant brass, and murmuring, after which the song fades for a second time.<ref name="amg-sff" /><ref name="pollack" />