Editing Strawberry Fields Forever (section)

===Final edit===
After reviewing the acetates of the new remake and the previous version, Lennon told Martin that he liked both the "original, lighter" take 7 and "the intense, scored version",{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|p=90}} and wanted to combine the two.{{sfn|Cunningham|1998|pp=147–48}}{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 45, track 2}} Martin had to tell Lennon that the orchestral score was at a faster tempo and in a higher key than the earlier recording.{{sfn|Cunningham|1998|p=148}} Lennon assured him: "You can fix it, George."{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=382}}<ref name="KCRW">{{cite interview |last=Martin |first=George |subject-link=George_Martin |interviewer=Chris Douridas |title=In Conversation with George Martin |date=c. 1996 |at= Starting at ≈21:10|publisher=[[KCRW]] |location= Santa Monica |url=https://www.kcrw.com/music/shows/chris-douridas/in-conversation-with-george-martin |access-date=2021-06-04}}</ref>

On 22 December, Martin and Emerick carried out the difficult task of joining takes 7 and 26 together.{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=382}}{{sfn|Lewisohn|2005|pp=90–91}} With only a pair of editing scissors, two tape machines and a [[vari-speed]] control, Emerick compensated for the differences in key and speed by increasing the speed of the first version and decreasing the speed of the second.<ref name="makingof"/> He then spliced the versions,{{sfn|Gilliland|1969|loc=show 45, track 2}} starting the orchestral score in the middle of the second chorus.{{sfn|Gould|2007|p=382}} Since take 7 did not include a chorus after the first verse,<ref name="PuttingTogetherThePieces" /> he also spliced in the first seven words of the second chorus from that take.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=76}} The pitch-shifting in joining the versions gave Lennon's lead vocal an otherworldly, "swimming" quality.{{sfn|Everett|1999|p=79}}{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=218}}

During the editing process, the portion towards the end of take 26, before the arrival of the reversed Mellotron flutes and siren-like trumpet blasts, was faded out temporarily, creating a [[false ending]]. On the completed take from 15 December, however, the swarmandal and other sounds were interrupted by the abrupt entrance of the coda's heavy drum and percussion piece.{{sfn|Unterberger|2006|p=158}} Martin said that the premature fadeout was his idea, to hide some errors in the busy percussion track.{{sfn|Winn|2009|p=76}} Among the faintly audible comments over the coda, "Cranberry sauce" was taken to be Lennon intoning "I buried Paul" by proponents of the [[Paul is dead|"Paul is Dead"]] hoax,{{sfn|Womack|2014|p=875}} a theory that contended that McCartney had died in November 1966 and been replaced in the Beatles by a lookalike.{{sfn|Schaffner|1978|p=127}}{{sfn|MacDonald|2005|p=312fn}}

Shortly before [[Death of John Lennon|his death in 1980]], Lennon expressed dissatisfaction with the final version of the song, saying it was "badly recorded" and accusing McCartney of subconsciously sabotaging the recording.{{sfn|Sheff|2000|pp=191–92}}{{sfn|Everett|1999|pp=80, 83}} Martin remained proud of the track; he described it as "a complete tone poem – like a modern [[Debussy]]".{{sfn|Sullivan|2017|p=411}}