The Beatles
Strawberry Fields Forever / Penny Lane

THE REVIEW

Until the first half of 1965, the Beatles were essentially a pop culture group, a boy band for teenage girls that ingeniously composed hit after hit, never showing the slightest sign of fatigue. Unlike many other groups, the Fab Four didn't just compose a handful of number ones and then call it a day; they proved to be one of the greatest bands in history (I'd like to say the greatest, but it's best to leave it at that - the Velvet Underground might take offense).

Very often, the Beatles were considered a bunch of incompetents due to the simplicity of their songs and were continually compared to the Velvets, Soft Machine, and others, but few understood how such a characteristic was not a flaw but a virtue. We're not talking about simple catchiness like U2 or the early Beach Boys; we're talking about "universality": Beatles' music is "universal" like no other: it makes you cry, it makes you laugh, it makes you dream... and okay, sometimes it also makes you kind of go to the bathroom (if we take "With The Beatles"). But it is a perfect art in every facet, chameleon-like, complex, and essential at the same time. We all know that "Rubber Soul" paved the way, but the real revolution happened in 1966 with "Revolver". From then on, each year the Beatles would take giant steps forward.

The 1967 was a miraculous year for the Beatles: in terms of albums, two masterpieces were produced: "Sgt. Pepper's..." and "Magical Mystery Tour" (released only in the USA); in terms of singles, first "Hello, Goodbye" (with the splendid B-side "I'm The Walrus"), then with one of the greatest singles of all time: "Strawberry Fields Forever/ Penny Lane".

Although the single was conceived with two A-sides, only the more commercial track, "Penny Lane", ended up in the charts (how strange....). Nonetheless, Paul McCartney, laden with surrealism and baroque, composed a splendid track, perfect in melody and arrangements. Not a second is boring: the barber who keeps pictures of people he’s met in his window, the fireman with the hourglass, introduce a new vibrancy both in the Beatles' world and in the psychedelic one.

But it is John Lennon who, having gorged on acids, upholds the name of psychedelia: contrary to what one might say about the optimism of "Sgt. Pepper", "Strawberry Fields Forever" is objectively a masterpiece. Written during the filming of Richard Lester's "How I Won The War", the track is certainly one of the most beautiful works of the entire decade (and beyond). There is no trace of commerciality as in the cheesy "Hey Jude", there's no optimism of "All You Need Is Love": there is only bitterness and resignation, existence perceived through drugs ("it's easy living with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see..."). All mixed with childhood memories: "Strawberry Fields" is the name of a garden near John's house. A life uncertain about the future that remains attached to the roots of the past, drifting away more and more, yet never separating from them. The past is certainty. The future is fog. Maybe it's a very personal interpretation, but I believe I'm very close to what Lennon was feeling in 1967, imprisoned in a marriage with Cynthia Powell, a woman he did not love (if proud John read this, he would surely deny it).

Putting aside sentimentality, the arrangement is sublime: the first part is performed with guitar, bass, drums, and organ (ahh... what an intro!); the second with the orchestra (sped up by George Martin by 5%, as it was recorded in a different key and tempo than the first verse). The result is impeccable. Only Lennon said it was rubbish and that he would soon record it again (what a fool!).

"S. F. F." I consider to be one of the most effective examples to explain how the Beatles' songs (not only Lennon's) hide a much deeper meaning behind the notes than we typically attribute to them. Sorry if you consider all this nonsense, but it is what I think.