Beatles: Strawberry Fields Forever Meaning

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. anonymous

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   Oct 3rd 2010 !⃝

   Actually Strawberry Fields is a place. I've been there.
2. drencrom68

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   Jul 20th 2010 !⃝

   To the several of you who wrote something to the effect of:
   "It's about heroin, that's what they call the little bumps that are left after you shoot up?"
   
   Did it ever, even for a single second, enter yer little minds, that maybe, just maybe, it started getting called that AFTER the song was released?
3. anonymous

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   Mar 15th 2010 !⃝

   This song sings about history will always repeat itself listen and interpret closely
4. anonymous

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   Mar 7th 2010 !⃝

   ok this is conopletely true but y does everybody say its about the war .."strawberry feilds for ever"it would make sense y people do say these things
5. dutchman

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   Jan 14th 2010 !⃝

   I won't speak of the whole song but do believe the nothing is real, nothing to get hung about line is about the nature of our society. It's about the courts and how it's all De facto, fake, just like alice said in alice in wonderland to the queen of aces in her court " your all nothing but a deck of cards". All the world and governments are based on law and law is nothing but opinion of a bunch of guys in black robes. You can't be hung by a judge without any jurisdiction over you, and that takes your consent. I believe that most of this song is about the unreal side of the world that we see as real, just like the wizard behind the curtain, holding the pullies.
6. elephant1

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   Jan 13th 2010 !⃝

   I think the song is simply about being dead and buried. Also the pure peace & harmony that go with being dead. Some lines in the song talk about the turmoils of existence during our lives, but in the end, who cares? This is how everyone is going to end up ( dead ). Some lines in the song might have double meanings but on the surface I think it's just about being dead.
   
   My interpretation of the lines are as follows:
   
   CHOURUS-Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to strawberry fields. Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about. Strawberry fields forever. ( let me take you down has two meanings. The first one is that he's saying he's going to take you to strawberry fields. The second meaning, and the one that's most significant to the song, is him saying he's going to take you down beneath the soil ( buired ). And that when you're dead nothing is real because you are in complete total nothingness so there is nothing to get upset or angry about. You are now beyond anything. And strawberry fields forever means that now you're dead this is how you are going to be forever and ever and ever. At perfect peace.
   
   VERSE 1-Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see ( this might mean that if you're blind so you can't see anything then you won't know what is going on around you in the world so you won't feel hurt. But you are not... You can see so therefore you feel hurt and upset with what's happening in the world around you and your own life. It might also be a reference to being stupid or ignorant or handicapt in some way, or for whatever reason, and failing on a regular basis as a result.)
   
   It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out, it doesn't matter much to me ( this means that you're life or plan's are not working out the way you'd like them. Or, for whatever reason, you're unlucky or you are just a loser. But in the end you are going to be dead anyway thus finding peace. So there is no point being upset about how bad you feel your life is. Who cares? )
   
   VERSE 2-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 ( the tree in question is the tree that you are buried near to. And because you're dead i.e. you can't tune in, means you can't tell if anyone is in the tree i.e. climbing it. Which in turn is a reference that nobody can bother you or upset you again. So therefore being dead is 'all right'. The 'it must be high or low' part of the line just means that one of the thing you can be certain about when you're dead, apart from being in total nothingness, is that some trees are taller than others. I think that's all it means! The line 'that is I think it's not too bad' might be a reference to feeling a bit wary of death. But the meaning to the lyrics in the chorus staight after this line gives reassurance to this possible wary feeling about death. )
   
   VERSE 3-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 ( This 3rd and final verse is the one that I've been having most difficulty trying to understand. I personally find it confusing. I think it might be about feeling unsure about something. And not properly knowing the answer. And asking yourself questions such as ''was it my fault?'', ''Am I to blame?'', ''Could I have done more?'' etc. I think the verse might be about individual doubt. Whatever it is that may be troubling your mind is making you feel sad and troubled. And the line 'but you know I know when it's a dream' may be a reference that you are troubled by your dilemma to the point you are dreaming about it in your sleep. Also the word 'dream' might be used to refer to imagining things that you think are happening or might be happening, a kind of state of paranoia. At the same time as that the sleep part of the line might also be a cheeky little reference to the fact that you are not really at peace while you are asleep because in your sleep you dream. Which is something you don't do when you are dead. )
7. anonymous

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   Nov 7th 2009 !⃝

   Strawberry fields forever is about a paridice,sure the named the song after a orphanage.That does not mean its about an orphanage,the song is about a place where everything is right,Nothing to get hung about means that theres no evil,Strawberry fields is like heaven.
8. anonymous

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   Aug 4th 2009 !⃝

   okay anybody who thinks this song is about one specific thing truly isnt a beatles fan.thats what john loved about music, letting people find their own interpretation of it. yes strawberry feilds is a real place that john hung out at. so im sure many of the references in the song talk about that. there are a few ways you could look at this song and not be wrong.it could talk about growing up, some people would say its about drugs, mainly acid,
   but you could also look at it as an anti-war song, saying there are always going to be strawberry feilds, (theres always going to be war). noone i think is in my tree may be saying that noone is trying to hurt you or sneak up on you talking about the vietnamese, living is easy with eyes closed misunderstanding all you see, saying that people dont think for themselves and you should question everything you hear and see.nothing is real nothing to get hung about could be referring to being a child with nothing to worry about where you can escape the real-world and create a fantasy world. im sure that much of the song was influenced by their use of acid, but i wouldnt say thats what the song is about.you should all do acid and listen to the song and come up with your own meanings. thats how i got mine anyways. i hope this was enlightening.
   make love not war.
9. IamtheWalrus

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   Aug 3rd 2009 !⃝

   Strawberry Fields is a field where they grow strawberries. People go there for many reasons, but mainly to go get strawberries when they get ripe and yummy. Strawberries helped Mr Lennon think about many things, but mainly strawberries. That is why he wrote the song Strawberry Fields. He sings Strwaberry Fields forever because once he gets there he want to stay there forever, mainly to eat strawberries. Strawberries are another word for drugs and the little bumps on the strawberries are a metaphor for the bumps in life. The leafy part of the strawberry represents someone leaving John, probably the original drummer, Pete Best. And because strawberries grow underground, it is his way of showing how much he is like an ostrich, burying his head underground.
10. anonymous

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    Jul 28th 2009 !⃝

    The correct final verse is "Always, no, sometimes, think it's me But you know i know when it's a dream. I think, er, no, i mean, er, yes but its all wrong that is i think i disagree
11. anonymous

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    Jul 13th 2009 !⃝

    To take a passage from 'The Beatles as Musicians' by Walter Everett;
    "Lennon says that the images in the poetry express his awakening as a youth to the fact that his plane of awareness seemed higher than that of those around him; when asked, he explains in his inerview with Playboy Magazine that the lyric "No one I think is in my tree" means "Nobody seems to be as hip as me, therefore I am either crazy or a genius".
    The higher plane did not provide Lennon with an air of supiriority but, on the contorary, made him feel like an outsider. Lennon's identity problems- "It's getting hard to be someone"- are traced in the first verse to others misapprehensions of him: "Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see".
    Lennon places these childhood and adolescent memories (of time spent playing in the woods near Strawberry Field, an orphanage situated near to where he lived with his Aunt Mimi) in the context of a dream: "But you know I know when it's a dream". Because "nothing is real", the singer can be ambivalen about his anxiety and express resignation at not being understood, shrugging off his vexation; "You can't, you know, tune in but it's all right, that is I think it's not too bad": he has learned to live with his problem.
    Thanks! RP
12. anonymous

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    Jun 25th 2009 !⃝

    Strawberry mescaline. Period.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
13. m320753

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    Jun 23rd 2009 !⃝

    well i knew him vaugly just a how you doing type of hello and small chit chat nothing serious but i think he had a vague knowledge of what his future held, not so much his doing but yoko lecturing conversations after she sold her soul on some carribean island.for fame and fortune. that really pissed a lot of people off, but anyway strawberry fields was a bit of daydreaming which he did quite often, all of us do day dream about the same thing over and over. it puts you or at least me in a little better place where we can check out of the real time world for a few minutes whenever we want( living is easy with eyes closed. then he argues with himself about what's wrong or right). this could be right or it could be wrong bu hey it's only my interpretation; i could be wrong
14. anonymous

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    Jun 19th 2009 !⃝

    I think everyone should stop referring to "John," it's "Lennon" or "John Lennon." Do you know him personally? Probably not because if you did you would have asked him yourself and posted what he said instead of what you think it means.

    This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
15. anonymous

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    Jun 13th 2009 !⃝

    basically i feel this song is just about accepting that not everything has to be understood. if we worry about understanding, we will be unhappy and life wont be easy. but with eyes closed, you are happy, meaning that in actuality things arent as complicated as they seem. they will still work out somehow whether you do anything or not. the second verse refers to identity understanding. to me 'high or low' means that there are times when you understand yourself but there are times when you dont.but it's okay not to understand because you are still you, a 'big picture' in that sense. when you dont understand yourself and see yourself superficially, it will still be okay

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