What does Strawberry Fields Forever mean?

Beatles: Strawberry Fields Forever Meaning

Album cover for Strawberry Fields Forever album cover

Song Released: 1967


Strawberry Fields Forever Lyrics

Let me take you down, ’cause I’m going to (too.)
Strawberry fields
Nothing is real, and
Nothing to get hung about.
Strawberry fields forever.

Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see.
It’s getting hard to be someone...

  1. RomiCookie
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    Dec 17th 2007 !⃝

    You know, I think this is a pretty interesting song, really.

    Consider the time period. look at all the ways people have interpreted it. An orphanage, a retirement home, a park...little...bumps you get on your arm after using heroin (okay, that one is a little strange...but...) granted, the only way you could really say what John Lennon was thinking when he wrote this song was to bring him back to life and ask him yourself.

    personally I apply it to childhood, and to a loss of innocence...or Lennon's lapse back into that stage of his life. who knows if that's what he meant by it.

    I think the most confusing part is

    Always, no sometimes, think 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.

    It seems almost like he wrote that like a struggle to comprehend something, a conflict or a revelation..but it's hard to say.

    Great song. I do love the Beatles very much.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  2. anonymous
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    Dec 1st 2007 !⃝

    Do not say anything on this song if you have not done acid.

    You naive idiots.

  3. anonymous
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    Nov 20th 2007 !⃝

    I see a lot of opinions... That is all they are and that is all I or anyone could possibly add. I am an old 60's hippie and like most I did a lot of drugs. All I would like to say is if you could get hold of a hit of strawberry fields LSD then you would probably understand every word of this song as I did.

  4. anonymous
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    Nov 7th 2007 !⃝

    This song is obviously about LSD:
    "living is easy with eyes closed misunderstanding all you see"-John's saying how it's easy it is to live under the influence but how happy life seems to the user
    or "its getting hard to be someone but it all works out it doesn't matter much to me"-his drug use is affecting him as a person but he doesn't really matter or simply
    "strawberry fields NOTHING IS REAL"-cmon people!!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  5. anonymous
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    Sep 20th 2007 !⃝

    I think the Beatles were into or just getting into eastern philosophy. "Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about" could be a reference that reality is an illusion. We interpret reality through are senses (sight,smell, touch etc.) and our mind makes meaning out of that.

    That is not the true nature of reality as eastern philosophy would say. If you happen to read philosophy it is usually separated by dualism and non dualism. I personally believe in non duality.

    "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see" to me says that most people are not awake. Not awake to the true nature of reality. Which is not their fault they just haven't stumbled upon it yet.

    "It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out" This could be a reference that "Identities" are illusions. The ego/identity is just an illusion brought on by a conditioning - family, society, spouses, etc. "It all works out" meaning he still is grounded though.

    --Don't get me wrong here life is real but conditioning is not/nor is the ego/identity. --

    "No one I think is in my tree, I mean it must be high or low". He feels different or is starting to really SEE things. He is deconstructing himself.

    But he says --

    "That is you can't you know tune in but it's all right.
    That is I think it's not too bad" He doesn't really SEE though because he still feels separated. That is not reality. Everything is connected. We are not separate from the world, objects, or other people etc.

    But---

    "Always no sometimes think it's me, but you know I know when it's a dream.
    I think I know I mean "Yes," but it's all wrong.
    That is I think I disagree."

    I think he is saying that he knows it's a dream (maybe through LSD experiences) but loses touch and falls back into the dream of ego/identity reality.

    He says "you know I know when it's a dream". Their really is know him though. But he is struggling with that concept?


    Any how that's my interpretation. Oh yes I have done LSD and magic mushrooms only about half a dozen times so I'm not that fried. Did my fare share of pot smoking but all that is way behind me. I read a lot of
    philosophy. Thanks!

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  6. anonymous
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    Sep 3rd 2007 !⃝

    I believe and heard from other sites and people that this song is about a mental institution that Lennon lived right down the street from...he apparently made a huge contribution there before he died.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
  7. ronaldinho
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    Aug 16th 2007 !⃝

    It is about a graveyard in Liverpool which is called Strawberry Fields hence the word "forever" meaning you will live there forever. And yes it was also a very popular hang out for kids in Liverpool when Paul was young.

  8. anonymous
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    Jul 26th 2007 !⃝

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

    wasn't there a phrase about LSD. Something like tune in drop out???

  9. anonymous
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    Jul 19th 2007 !⃝

    I think they were high.

  10. anonymous
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    Jul 5th 2007 !⃝

    The song is about them shooting up heroin. Strawberry Fields refers to the marks left on their arms. When you shoot up heroin its a low, that's why they say let me take you down.

  11. anonymous
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    Jun 13th 2007 !⃝

    I don't really know if strawberry fields was an orphanage or a hangout but I've been told it is about heroin but to explain further the act of mixing your blood with heroin before you inject it, just watch pulp fiction and you see John Travolta do it.

  12. GooJoob
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    May 27th 2007 !⃝

    Why does everyone think that every Beatles song is about drugs?

  13. anonymous
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    May 2nd 2007 !⃝

    THE SONG IS NOT ABOUT DRUGS

    At the end you can hear John saying "I buried Paul"

  14. anonymous
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    Mar 25th 2007 !⃝

    Alright!
    since everyone seems to think it's about a hangout...
    I have my own interpretation, not to discredit yours, but I honestly believe that they are talking about a drug, known as Strawberry fields LSD. Don't believe me? look it up

    http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strawberry_Fields_Forever

    It could also be talking about the orphanage in Liverpool??

  15. anonymous
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    Mar 14th 2007 !⃝

    If you listen to the actual song and not just the lyrics,there are different emphasises on the words. I think the song is meant as a comfort song to bring friends down from a high or a trip. When he says "..take me down, because I'm going too" I interpret it as him coming down with his friends and they're all in it together.




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