This blog is supposed to be mainly about songwriting, but I've found myself on a Beatles kick lately because I'm so excited about the remastered albums that are out. I have not bought them yet because I am waiting for the USB product which will give them to me in 24 bit FLAC audio format which is the audiophile quality that I deserve!
I wanted to write a quick appreciation for the song "Strawberry Fields Forever", as I was just listening to it. This song is one of those gems that is so great as a song but also has the benefit of being recorded in a particularly creative way. The Beatles made this tune as part of the sessions that led up to Sgt Pepper, and George Martin has said that his biggest regret was that they didn't put "Strawberry Fields" and "Penny Lane" on Sgt Pepper, which would have totally boosted the overall quality and theme of that album (maybe they would have kicked off "She's Leaving Home" and "Lovely Rita", two far inferior tunes, to make room).
The song has 3 things I like in a perfect pop song... 1) it's short, 2) it's catchy and 3) it has unusual elements to it, making it unique at the same time that it grabs you like a good piece of pop sugar should. Like many John songs, this one has sections that are in a slightly different rhythm... the verse ("let me take you down") is a regular beat, but the middle eight section has a more staccato feel enhanced by the organ on the record. And there is not really a chorus like there is in Penny Lane or some other Beatle tunes... this is something John did a lot, in terms of just ending the verse section with the song title as a short hook: he sings "strawberry fields for-evah...". This is similar to one of my other John favorites, "She Said She Said" where he ends the section with "and you're makin' me feel like I never been born". Just the hook, tagged on at the end of the section, not a full repeated chorus like in "Lucy in the Sky" for example, or "Penny Lane".
This is one of the ways the Beatles kept their songs so short, which I believe is a real lost art these days.
Anyway, give a listen to "Strawberry Fields Forever" when you get a chance, especially if you have the remasters. It's a perfectly written tune, short and sweet, and the lyrics are about childhood memories, mixed in with the surreal in a way that only the Beatles could accomplish.
And, if you do have the remasters, you'll notice that they can finally put to rest the "I Buried Paul" controversy at the end of this song. People used to think that John said that phrase at the end of this record, and used it as proof for the Paul Is Dead conspiracy. However on the new digital remasters you can clearly hear what he is saying on the coda, and it's "Cranberry Sauce". So now the mystery is, why the heck did he say that? I'm sure we'll never know.
So there you go... Cranberry Sauce, just in time for Thanksgiving!! Have a great one. And if you want to read more about the remasters, specifically the audiophile stuff, read here:
nice commentary
ReplyDelete