John Lennon Once Said He Wanted to Re-Do This Classic Beatles Song
Many of The Beatles’ songs are perfection. While not every song is a knockout, many have remained prominent, even as the years go by. However, John Lennon was often cynical about some of his work with The Beatles, and there is one song he said he wished he could have re-done, and it may surprise fans.
John Lennon wrote one Beatles song about a location in Liverpool
The Beatles all grew up in Liverpool, and several songs are based on locations from their hometown. John Lennon wrote “Strawberry Fields Forever” about a location he used to play in as a child near his home. The 1967 track is based on a garden from Strawberry Field, a Salvation Army children’s home in Liverpool. In Many Years From Now, Paul McCartney detailed what the garden looked like and why it was important to Lennon.
“I’ve seen Strawberry Field described as a dull, grimy place next door to him that John imagined to be a beautiful place, but in the summer it wasn’t dull and grimy at all: it was a secret garden,” McCartney said. “John’s memory of it wasn’t to do with the fact that it was a Salvation Army home; that was up at the house. There was a wall you could bunk over and it was a rather wild garden, it wasn’t manicured at all, so it was easy to hide in.”
John Lennon wanted to re-do ‘Strawberry Fields Forever’
John Lennon didn’t look back fondly at many of the songs he did with The Beatles. While he certainly had his favorites, he seemed to favor the music he created during his solo career. In an interview with Robert Sandall, Beatles’ producer George Martin said Lennon once told him that he would like to re-do all of The Beatles’ music, especially “Strawberry Fields Forever”.
“We were just chatting about old times, and he suddenly came out and said, ‘I’d like to do everything we’ve done over again,’” Martin said. “And I said, ‘You don’t think we did anything right?’ He said, ‘Most of what we did was crap.’ I said, ‘Well, what about ‘Strawberry Fields’?’ and he said ‘ESPECIALLY ‘Strawberry Fields’.”
‘Strawerry Fields Forever’ was still a hit for The Beatles
While John Lennon might not have been happy with the final product of “Strawberry Fields Forever”, the track was still a hit for The Beatles. The song was released as a double A-side with “Penny Lane”, another song written about a location in Liverpool. “Strawberry Fields Forever” reached No. 8 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and No. 2 on the U.K. Record Retailer chart.
However, “Penny Lane” was the bigger hit of the two, reaching No. 1 on the Billboard charts and No. 2 on the U.K. Official Charts. Even though it wasn’t a No. 1 hit, many consider “Strawberry Fields Forever” a Beatles classic as it’s one of the best examples of how the band infused rock with psychedelic imagery and lyrics.
