STRAWBERRY FIELDS FOREVER
THE BEATLES (1967)

By the end of 1966 rock music was moving like an express train through popular culture. The Beatles' 'Rubber Soul' had been answered by the Beach Boys' 'Pet Sounds' which was in turn countered by the Fab Four's 'Revolver.' The gauntlet had been thrown down to any self-respecting group to produce ever more elaborate and unexpected compositions.
'Strawberry Fields Forever' is possibly the apex of that kitchen sink philosophy. A technical marvel, it incorporates tape loops and overdubs as well as mellotron and the Indian swarmandel. It sounds warped and dislocated yet poignant and warm. It is, in short, one of the greatest tracks ever recorded.
Strawberry Field was the Salvation Army Children's Home in Lennon's boyhood home of Woolton and the strong element of nostalgia that courses through the song lays down the tenet of dreamy wistfulness that separates British psychedelia from it's American counterpart. It is also an exploration of what made Lennon Lennon: 'no-one I think is in my tree' being a reference to his unique creative ability and worldview.
As well as being a meditation on youth and genius it is also, of course, saturated in drugs. LSD had begun to infiltrate the Fab Four's camp and the results established a new artistic high for the rapidly developing world of rock. Despite the record's lofty status 'Strawberry Fields...' (backed as a double A-side with McCartney's 'Penny Lane') did the unthinkable and only reached number 2 in the charts, behind Englebert Humperdinck's grandiose ballad 'Release Me'. Posterity has decided which is the real winner.