John Lennon is famous for many reasons. His songwriting genius, his activism, his enduring cultural impact. But his rise to fame with The Beatles is the foundation on which everything was built.
In 1956, Lennon founded the Quarrymen, described as a skiffle group. Four years later, the band composed of Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr, solidified their core, changed their name, and never looked back.
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View this post on InstagramWith Harrison contributing to the Fab Four's songwriting further into their meteoric career, and two songs coming from Starr, most of the writing was shared by Lennon and McCartney. But for our purposes here, we’re focused on the masterworks that sprung from the heart, mind, and soul of the bespectacled, shaggy-haired rock pioneer.
In a recent roundup published by Uncut, the team, including Paul Weller, guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of The Jam, picked 30 songs from the music legend's discography, and the results range from “Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy),” “Dear Prudence,” and "Across the Universe,” to “Revolution,” “Imagine,” and “Give Peace a Chance.”
In a foreword, written by Lennon’s wife, Japanese artist Yoko Ono, Ono shares a peek into Lennon’s writing style.
“He wasn’t one of those writers who’d write from 10 until 12 in the morning,” she said. “He used to think of an idea when we were in a plane or something. He just writes it down. And at the time he writes it down, he’s already got the melody.”
The songs of Lennon cover a vast emotional scope, with tracks spanning raw rock and introspective drama, razor-sharp commentary and biting wit. His hits could be moody, angry, playful, and dreamy all in the same era.
“John didn’t have a narrow talent,” Ono writes. “He had all the different emotions he was able to express in his songs. If you want to analyze it, his mum wasn’t around, and his dad wasn’t around, and he wanted someone to listen to him when he was a little boy.”
Listen we did. And listen we still do.
At the top of the list: “Strawberry Fields Forever.”
According to the magazine, the track was written in Spain, while Lennon was filming Richard Leser’s How I Won the War. Released in February 1967, the song peaked at No. 2 on the U.K. chart and No. 8 in the U.S., per Billboard. No one needs a chart to tell them how good “Strawberry Fields Forever" is though.
“[This] is my all time favorite,” Weller says. “I can still remember when I first heard it on the radio; I was only 9 at the time. I didn’t know anything about drugs or psychedelia, I just knew it was a great, great tune.”
He adds, “Technically, the production on ‘Strawberry Fields’ is phenomenal. … For me, it’s the first psychedelic record. People talk about “See My Friends” by The Kinks, but “Strawberry Fields” is far more experimental. George Martin did a brilliant job editing together the two different sections; the key change in the middle is amazing. I still always return to it. It’s one of those tracks where you still hear something new every time you hear it, it’s got so many textures. For me it’s still unsurpassed.”
Fans of the song know that the title refers to a real place, Liverpool’s Strawberry Field, a Salvation Army site where Lennon played during his childhood, SPIN magazine shares. But fans might be surprised by the story behind the story.
The Story Behind the Song
In David Sheff’sThe Playboy Interviews With John Lennon & Yoko Ono, via Salon, Lennon reveals that there were two famous houses located near his childhood home, nicknamed the Mendips, where he lived for 15 years with his Aunt Mimi.
“One was owned by Gladstone: a reformatory for boys, which I could see out my window,” Lennon says, “and Strawberry Field, just around the corner from that, [which was] an old Victorian house converted for Salvation Army orphans.”
A mansion built in 1870, Strawberry Field was turned into a home for girls in 1936 by the Salvation Army. And even though many believe it’s that orphanage that inspired the song, Salon reports that it was actually the Gladstone mansion, or “the bad boys’ borstal” that housed young offenders, that serves as its inspiration.
For proof, the outlet points to Sheff's book, which shares Lennon saying, “My influences are tremendous, from Lewis Carroll to Oscar Wilde to tough little kids that used to live near me who ended up in prison and things like that.”
It can be misleading, but as far as research goes, the song gets its dreamy, rose-colored title from the orphanage down the street, but the lyrics were born from the somber narrative of Lennon’s hardships growing up in Liverpool.
The 'Ultimate Rock Star'
In 2018, Forbes declared Lennon the “Ultimate Rock Star,” writing, “It's the courage and the way he followed his own path that defines Lennon's stature as the ultimate rock star.”
It’s that relentless pursuit of voice and authenticity that still resonates in every corner of modern music, from the biggest stages to the haziest strawberry fields.
Related: 1966 Hit Named Best Song From ‘One of the Most Influential Bands’ of All Time
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