Strawberry Fields Forever - The Beatles

Afternoon All ! I hope all is well with you on this fine day. I'm in New York for a few days which is always good news. Its a town full of fond memories and pervaded with an enthusiasm for life that is quite infectious - on top of that my brother now lives here so I always have an excuse to come and visit in the future! Travelling here from the UK also, inevitably, means a little bit of jet-lag. That meant that I found myself taking a stroll through Central Park in the early morning mist at 6am this morning. I was walking with a clear head, the morning chorus ringing in my ears when I found myself in Strawberry Fields.

So no prizes for guessing which song I was inspired to look at today ! Strawberry Fields Forever was released by The Beatles in 1967. Being a child of the '80s I've never been into The Beatles, and have never really understood why they were so HUGE. I originally liked this song because of this - taste is in the eye of the beholder when you're 13 yrs old ! But to be fair, the Candyflip cover does capture the psychedelic origins of the song. Lyrically, the song is quite trippy but the cosmic consciousness that John Lennon was experiencing through his use of LSD and practice of transcendental meditation is explicit:

Let me take you down
1. 'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
2. Nothing is real
3. And nothing to get hung about
4. Strawberry Fields forever

5. 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

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

6. No one I think is in my tree
I mean it must be high or low
That is you know you can't tune it
But it's all right
That is I think it's not too bad

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

7. Always know sometimes it's me
But you know I know when it's a dream
I think I know I mean a "Yes"
But it's all wrong
That is I think I disagree

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 Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever


1. Strawberry Fields in Central Park, NY is named after the song and is a two acre site in west central park adjacent to John Lennon's apartment building, where he was shot dead in 1980. The song was so named, in memory of the location of a Salvation Army children's home in Liverpool, England. As a child, John used to go and listen to the Salvation Army band there, as well as playing with his friends in the woods at the bottom of the garden.
2. Memories of these times are not real, our perceptions are not real and if all we experience is our perceptions then nothing is real (this video is a must-watch on the implications of optical illusions) but that does not undermine the importance of the events of our lives
3. So maintain a healthy perspective - its very difficult to know when something is actually good or bad
4. A wish to return to the playful happiness of childhood - Matthew ch. 18 v 3: Jesus said, “Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven"

5. Walking through life accepting the modern paradigm is the easy route. Taking the road less travelled is tougher but with the right attitude it all works out ok in the end.

6. To be "out of your tree" means to be crazy, deranged, intoxicated. John is concerned that nobody else sees the world the way he does. The overwhelming experience of cosmic consciousness makes it very difficult to dial back in to the "normal" world view. Once again however, this isn't something to get overly upset about "whatever will be, will be"

7. I'm struggling with this last verse. Maybe an update when I've figured it out !!
UPDATE!:
Feelings of universal love and interconnectedness naturally lead to a weakening of personal egocentric identity - but despite that John is asking to still be recognised as his own unique manifestation of spirit.
His ego believes it can tell the difference between a dream and reality.
Descartes' conclusion ("I think therefore I am") is the ground of this belief.
But John's higher self knows this is not a watertight proof - and ultimately John recognises he can never tell what is real or what is a dream.
"Once upon a time, I, Chuang Chou, dreamt I was a butterfly, fluttering hither and thither, to all intents and purposes a butterfly. I was conscious only of my happiness as a butterfly, unaware that I was Chou. Soon I awaked, and there I was, veritably myself again. Now I do not know whether I was then a man dreaming I was a butterfly, or whether I am now a butterfly, dreaming I am a man. Between a man and a butterfly there is necessarily a distinction. The transition is called the transformation of material things. " Chuang Tzu