@@v-town1980 Lennon stole "Come Together" from the 1956 Chuck Berry song "You Can't Cath Me" and got his ass sued by Berry's record label. Listen to the Berry song and you'll see it's obvious.
Yeah.....if you really want to appreciate their great music then trash the videos that distract you....put on the album version and wear headphones...... it's totally a better way to explore the music
not always, all the time, a lot of these reactors who are young and are not familiar with them, don't even know what they LOOK like, so they DO need to see some of their videos to SEE what they looked like and how their appearances changed in the 8 years that they were world famous.
Yeah, there be the problem, music reactors will always look for something with a video, which distracts from the music, it's a shame but it's a fact, and headphones are a must 👍
Strawberry Fields is a Park in Liverpool near where John Lennon lived and also the name of an lsd tab they experimented with. The video means to invoke an acid trip, as does the music and lyrics, so it's part and parcel. Also this was the B-side to the Penny Lane single, promoted as a double A-side so got exposure on tv pop programs. It was mooted to be on the Sgt Pepper's album but didn't make the final cut.
The video for "Strawberry Fields Forever" is distracting. The song itself is quite challenging for the first-time listener, and the trippy video has nothing to do with the song... it's just the Beatles having fun. To understand how the Beatles arrived at this point in their career, you have to know that they were the top entertainment act in the world and had been for the previous 4 years. They were trend setters and fashion icons. The Beatles started out playing poppy rock 'n roll love songs and opened the world to British rock. Then, album by album, they got more experimental and pushed boundary after boundary. By the time they reached "Strawberry Fields Forever" (and its companion album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"), the Beatles had pushed into every musical category: classical, country, jazz, soul, experimental, children's, folk, metal, etc. There had been nothing like the Beatles before, and they did it all while being the top entertainment act in the world. Imagine Taylor Swift and multiply that by 10 times. And then came "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". It was astonishing at the time... but you can't possibly feel the astonishment that your grandparents felt at the time. The decades have dulled the sense of awe that this music caused when it was released. I applaud your willingness to react to this challenging song, and attempt to find its meaning. Many of us couldn't figure it out at the time of the song's release. For future reactions to Beatles' songs, I recommend that you listen to a music track that does not have a video. The videos are often distracting and many times have nothing to do with the content of the song. ("Eleanor Rigby" is a perfect example... the "official" video -- an excerpt from the film "Yellow Submarine" -- really distracts from the meaning of the song.)
Yep. I don't like it when reactors use music videos because they invariably become more engrossed in the images than the music. Also, these two appear to be listening on a laptop (bad enough) without using headphones (worse still) which means they are missing out on much of the intricacies of the music.
Thanks for all that Bob...too many dismiss the whole story/picture of the earlier Beatles as boy band tripe, and have little idea how important they were to rescuing pop and rock music from the clutches of middle aged adult record producers dictating whom the next teen idol shall be and what they shall sing with parent approval. And middled aged to current metal heads dismissing the early Beatles out of carefully trained musical preference developed by corporate radio playlists and such. As a former music teacher I apply the same idea to ignorance of other music - an important experience and delightful at the same time, like ignoring early New Orleans Jazz as trite, unimportant...a musically ignorant country we have, no one knows who Duke Ellington was, or George Gershwin, Dvorak, etc. Part of the reason is in our country school music program budgets are always cut first, but you'll never see a weed growing in a football stadium....result = a culturally stupid country, that bleeds over into other subjects the media messes with. . Too many listen to music with their eyes ever since MTV was born.
@@christopherwinkler4451 This is a frustrating trend. I realize reactors are often working with the results that youtube provides them, but I think they would generally benefit from starting with the album version of most songs, ideally with no video.
It was however heavily reliant on studio techniques manipulating sound - speeding up and slowing down tape speeds and playing stuff backwards then playing over that so it sounds backwards when playing forwards normally. All cutting edge in its day thanks to producer George Martin and his team of recording engineers at Abbey Road.
@@AuxesisHyperbole666Techniques are not the same as "just autotune my voice." Plus, the melodies, lyrics, and harmonizing blows anything today out of the water. No comparison.😊
Strawberry Fields is the Church garden of St. Peter's church just down the street a block. John used to climb the fence and have a little fort in the woods of the garden. It was his personal hideaway as a kid.
Next up to react to is Penny Lane - a similarly-themed song from the perspective of Paul McCartney. Both songs were released simultaneously and represent the Beatles at the apex of their creativity.
The film ( not called video at the time) was simply a way to get their new songs out without having to tour. Why travel all over the world, when we can send a film everywhere overnight. Just a practical solution to performing live. Especially since they were doing things in the studio that they knew couldn't be performed live. They laid the foundation for what everyone now knows as music videos. For this video and all the ones they released, understand they were very creative and had a sense of humor.
it's a song that grows on you and you can listen to it again and again and hear new things every time. Lennon said he wasn't much of a melody man (as opposed to Paul's songs) but he imparts a rawness into his songs Paul rarely manages. Try Julia soon - about his late mother
So to me (please forgive me) it’s cute you two chose this particular Beatles’ song to have your friend’s first experience with. There was a time before there were any music videos, and this was it. The Beatles innovated the whole concept of shooting a little film to go with their songs, and started this idea during the “Psychedelic Period” of the 1960’s era. John (the singer) was using LSD an awful lot during this time, and the song, and the video are intended to give the listener the experience close as possible to having a little bit of a psychedelic trip. The song may seem bizarre but the comments saying that it is a masterpiece are not very far off the mark. They did a longer film during this time for TV in the UK, called “Magical Mystery Tour,” that eventually made its way here to the states. There’s some place in a Liverpool park called “Strawberry Fields” that John used as inspiration….❤
They started relying on what was called "promotional films" when they stopped touring. But promotional films didn't originate with the band. In England they were more popular because they were used in variety shows and music programming such as Top of the Pops. That's one reason why the first year of MTV relief so heavily on English bands at first.
It was just a fun song & video. Best with a buzz. This was made from 2 different versions of the song. One faster than the other one so they had to slow one down which explains the weird sound.
The Beatles are meant to be heard and their videos in this period weren't supposed to make sense, it's just supposed to be suoer trippy. They were experimenting with the newest, hi-tech, multitrack recording, and video recording, and were the first to put out their own music videos along with their songs, and were creating new ways of using audio and video, a long list of ways in which are still used in modern music and audio recording and songwriting today, and since then. The Beatles almost always did everything first. They have influenced every generation of songwriters and musicians over the last 60+ years. They are worth a deep dive, but you need to start at the beginning with the early "boy band" sound, thru the, and the amazing Abbey Road final album, and listen to the evolution of their sound, songwriting, and recording. They were musical geniuses and the most innovative and influential recording artists of the last 100 years.
that's what amazes me about some of their music and this song is a perfect example......... how often does a song maintain it's unique edge 50 years after it was recorded. I love it.
they have been carefully taught starting with MTV to listen to music with their eyes instead of the ears and heart...while the music industry picks their pockets. I dare anyone to listen to Rachmaninoff's Variation 18 of a theme on Paganini, and not be moved . We are a culturally ignorant county ...Part of the reason is in our country school music program budgets are always cut first, but you'll never see a weed growing in a football stadium.
Young people have the attention span of an ant. Videos on the whole are so inferior to the music that they should be totally turned off. They are nothing but a distraction to amuse the small minded who simply can't appreciate music of great distinction.
Hi ladies, it's great to see you try a reaction to the beatles. I grew up with Beatles music and what a ride. You can't really begin to understand the music unless you, as others in this forum have suggested, listen to the whole album with head phones. With headphones you can hear more hidden content that will amaze you. Magical mystery tour, Sgt. Peppers, and abby road were their psychedelic and deep music time in their careers. If you want pop, when the girls went wild and though they were "dreamy ", then listen to their first albums like, meet the beatles, revolver and rubber soul. Great job, ladies.
Don’t confuse yourself with the “video”. The “promotional film” was created at a time when tours were the way to connect with fans but the Beatles had made the decision to cease touring. If you go down the rabbit hole of music by The Beatles, realise that it was nearly 60 years ago, without modern technology. Any “video” was itself pioneering and experimental. Appreciate that what happens today owes plenty to those pioneering days.
Well if you girls live in the British Island look up strawberry Fields I believe it's a location for an orphanage his aunt lives next door to it Long story short, John was raised by his aunt because his mother was unable to care for him and she ended up dying when he was probably about 17 got run over by a drunk driver dad was a drunk and left John and mom , drank like a sailor. .Auntie lived next door to strawberry field , an orphanage where orphans were cared for . John would jump over the wall to play with the kids throughout the day. Johns aunt would always tell him not to do that,, but John would do it anyway, And once replied " aww Auntie you're not going to get hung for it" it's not like he was breaking the law in his own mind he was just going over the wall to play with the orphan kids. John also remembers sound of trumpets and drums in the big bass drum from the band that would play in the garden for the kids certain days so he was talking about his childhood .. Play John Lennon that is
This was nearly the peak of the first psychedelic era. (The 2nd was the early `80's but there were still people doing psych in the `90's). Despite not much of it being played on the radio or elsewhere, there was TONS of great psych, back then!! This song was, pretty much, the tip of the iceberg! I lived all through that era and had NO IDEA, back then, that there was SO MUCH great psych out there until about 25 years ago when I started getting heavily into it! Now, I've got a collection of at least 400 psych songs!! I started listening to the collection again about 3 weeks ago while doing things here on the computer and I still have at least another 2 week's worth of stuff to get through. I've actually had to stop looking for more because I've already got 175 full CD's worth, so far.
It's interesting to see how video focused younger people are, than in older generations. Nothing wrong with it, just a different medium now. If we had ubiquitous access to video/audio on numerous devices back in those days, we'd have probably been focused on the video at least as much, if not more than the audio of the song itself, which is almost 60 years old now! Good grief we are old AF. LOL
Back in the Beatles' day there was no MTV. The main reason for doing a music video in those days was so that when you had a hit, you could send the video clip to chart shows like Top of the Pops (don't know if TOTP was actually running in the 60s, but there were certainly shows like it) in lieu of making personal appearances every week. The music videos were all produced by the bands, and a lot of the time they were just home movies spliced together and had nothing to do with the music. Between all their films and the Saturday morning cartoon show, the Beatles could just send a clip for just about any song someone might ask them for, but on this one, A Day In The Life, and maybe one or two others they went the home movie route.
By many in the Rock industry old and new this is considered the most influential and greatest popular song ever created. There were a few contenders before this but Strawberry Fields was the one that said “ Do/create whatever you want”
Both of you did such a great job on this reaction. Love the way you interact together, and I would like to see more of Maya. I would also love to see more Beatles reactions because they have so many great songs. I would recommend reacting to a live performance, instead of something with a video. If your interested in watching history being made, choose one of their songs from their first live television appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Otherwise the song Don't Let me Down from their rooftop concert in 1969 which was their last.
Don't try to overthink it. By the Beatles' own admission the lyrics didn't really mean anything, at least anything too deep. People kept asking them what the deeper meaning of their lyrics were so they decided to write some that seemed deep but were actually just intentional nonsense. It was their way of having fun with some of the more overly serious critics and fans who missed the point of rock music, which was to have fun. In a way it predicted punk rock in poking fun at people who took rock too seriously, only in a far more musically inventive and, well, serious way. Plus it all stemmed from their taking LSD and other psychedelic drugs and the way it made them look at the world differently. Things really were different back then, in all sorts of ways. Btw the name of the song comes from a school playground of the same name from their childhood in Liverpool. And if you want to hear something even weirder, try I Am The Walrus (and the proper, not the remixed one).
@@northernlight2598 I didn't that that this was uniform, but not every Beatles song "means" something, and people who are looking for such meaning need to step back and take a breath, maybe listen to something else for a change.
Nobody had ever heard anything like this before it came out. Certainly not in 'mainstream' popular music. Musically, it was new and utterly different, and the words were dealing with concepts and feelings which were confusing and difficult to resolve. It certainly struck a chord with me as a 16 year old, struggling with confidence, self esteem, lack of certainty and all the usual teenage angst. I must have listened to it hundreds and hundreds of times and it still affects me to this day.
The clip is about the reaction of the girls and to a lesser extent the songs themselves. It is awesome to see these youngsters experience this, embrace and wrestle with it.
Great reaction. This was an LSD inspired song - reflecting how scrambled your brain can become on that particular substance. It was one of the pioneering songs of the psychedelic movement. I know I'm being a bit flippant here when I say that I think one of the reasons young people today find it harder to cope with their mental health is because, these days, they don't have fantastic music like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc to immerse themselves in excite their imagination as my generation did. I appreciate, though, that there are many other factors in the modern world which play a part also
If you thought it was unique now just imagine how unique it was nearly 60 years ago .This was their psychedelic period which revolutionized music back then:)
The song is a masterpiece, the music video was an afterthought. The main thing about this video, is that it is The First Music Video ever produced. Score another 1st for the Beatles. Their next was I AM THE WALRUS was taken from their movie MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. The Beatles is a very deep and expensive well musically. They inspired me to go into music when I saw them live in 1964, and I'm to this day still playing. (Very impactful)
At the time that Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane were released, The Beatles had been a global musical and cultural phenomenon unlike anything that had come before for 4 years and had quit doing personal appearances, meaning they had stopped doing concerts and TV shows. They came up with the idea of sending the TV shows a short film to accompany their latest songs instead. And of course, being the biggest entertainment entity in the entire world, every TV program showed the films. The Beatles were one of the innovators that invented the concept of the music video, long before videos became common in the early 1980's. As a result, the videos don't really have much to do with the song at all.
While they did the most to help make them popular, the Big Bopper created the music video concept in early rock in 1958 with his video film of acting out his song "Chantilly Lace" quickly followed by two more. He was quoted in an English newspaper as saying "Soon all music will be on film". He was also working on a plan to create video jukeboxes when he died in the plane crash. He also coined the term "music video".
It has a psychedelic flavor. Strawberry field was in the UK. Loved this song and was one of the 1st psychedelic songs I ever heard. John was on drugs during this period. Another reaction you should do from the Beatles is " I Am The Walrus". The words will prob blow your mind.....
the Beatles changed everything when they came along with their experimentation and innovation in the way music songs were written how they sounded and how they were produced. you have to remember this track was made in 1967.. they were decades ahead of their time. they influenced everyone who came after them and are still influencing the musicians of today.
Around 1978 Cherrie Currie, the lead singer of the all girl rock band, "The Runaways" sang a cover of "Strawberry Fields Forever". Its a very beautiful piano based cover. She also did a cover of "Here Comes the Sun", but the 1st song was very well done and is among my favorite Beatle covers.
I think as someone seeing this video and not knowing who the Beatles really were, it would indeed be pretty strange. At the time, just about everyone on the planet knew who they were so the point was probably to showcase the new side of them that had been emerging once they were done with the gruel of touring. Highly recommend 'Let It Be' if you haven't already seen it.
You have to get the context. Which is hard to imagine. They were the biggest band ever, the most popular, and simultaneously the most experimental, pushing the boundaries. They went from basic 'boy loves girl' type stuff to high art and crazy experimental music that no one had ever heard before, all in a few years. Strawberry Fields came out as they were in their most rapidly evolving phase, trying out things. It sits in between Revolver and Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Two of the most revolutionary albums ever. It's hard to capture the amazement and excitement of a new Beatles record coming out. You had to get the record, you had to listen, you spent weeks talking about it. It was all so new. Start from the beginning with their first album, and work your way forward. Watch some videos about their history, watch the films A Hard Day's Night and Help.
John recorded this one day in the studio, and then their producer, George Martin recorded the symphony the next day. When he overlayed the 2 tracks, they were a semi-tone apart in tune. George had called John to come in an re-record his vocals to match the orchestra. John, being more lax than the rest of the band, said "No, George, I won't be coming in today, I am sure you can just fix it". George then slowed John's vocal track to match the orchestras tuning. This gives the track a smeared effect where John's voice sounds distorted.
Strawberry Fields was an orphanage near to John's house growing up in Liverpool. He used to play with the kids there. As an adult, famous of course, he went back to visit was devastated to find it torn down. He would have funded it to keep it alive, he cared so much for it. I have signed my name at the wall of Strawberry Fields. If you like the Beatles, take a trip to Liverpool. It is fantastic.
This was actually back in the day where everyone started smoking weed. Certain songs like Strawberry Fields were kind of high on songs...though they sound great completely straight. Just the reverse effect at the end would kind of mess with your mind. There was just a different level we got to with the Beatles, the Stones the Doors etc...and im a total lightweight as far as that goes
I always just concentrated on the lyrics... never really cared about finding out the meaning of the video.. it was just entertaining... The song is just outstanding..
When this song came out, I don't think I tried to understand it once I realized I couldnt. There was so much new music and sound with it to think about lyrics.
Wonderful reaction to the band who changed music. Judging by your library, you will love a band called YES and a song called Roundabout, been dancing to it for 53yrs
Strawberry Fields was an orphanage in Liverpool. The song basically explores the musings of an LSD trip, not uncommon in the late 1960's. We were all doing it. For example, the "no one I think is in my tree" verse deals with the difficulties of an individual in communicating with other people. Other verses deal with confusion and the vagaries of being "someone". It could have been titled An Exploration Of A Human's (John Lennon) Psyche.
I see the first several comments said not to watch the videos. Just me personally, I don’t react to people that don’t use the videos and watch them along with the music. Just my personal taste. As you can tell, I’m a major Beatles fan by my name, ha ha. Great job!
That was a transition piece that old Beatles wearing uniforms, no facial hair and doing their earlier music and they had pretty much quite touring because it was too weird (doing stadiums like Swift Era). If you have time watch the whole semi-fictional "Hard Days Night" movie, in black and white, but catches the whole Beatles vibes.
Since the beggining of Beatlemania, the Beatles were on a tireless quest for evolution, innovation, and change. And all despite the narrow space of analog technology!!
Strawberry Fields was the name of a children’s home in Liverpool. When John Lennon was young he used to go there climb a tree and just chill out. That was the inspiration for him to write the song.
John Lennon, who wrote Strawberry Fields Forever, was putting into music his period growing up in Liverpool. Strawberry Fields was a large private school grounds he played in and daydreamed as a kid. He's capturing the surreal aspect of memory of childhood and it's enchanting aspects. The mystery of growing up and developing your own inner self. During this same time, fellow Beatle Paul McCartney did his song Penny Lane as his joy and enchantment of growing up in Liverpool. You should listen to Penny Lane.
This was the first ever rock video. If you're confused, it's bcz it was actually two different songs slapped together in studio by George Martin. The two songs are in different pitches and registers, however, by playing one of them backwards, it sounded better and the result along with even more studio manipulation of sound, was Strawberry Fields. 🙂
Oh yeah! Strawberry Fields Forever was recorded on November 24, 28, 29 and on December 8, 9, 15, 21 and 22, 1966 and they made 26 takes from it , which the take 7 was so much better! The song was composed by John Lennon while he was in Almería, Spain, and then on September 1966 he made a demo of the song in his home.
You have to first grasp the fact that at the time this was done the whole concept of music videos didn't even exist! And there wasn't even an internet back then! No social media! MTV didn't even exist. Must be hard to imagine growing up in a world where the video productions are as important, if not more important than the actual songs themselves! So yeah I get your reaction. And to be honest having grown up with the Beatles... I was 10 years old when they first landed in America and can't even imagine what life would have been like without them! Their influence was HUGE! They literally changed changed our world in many ways.... I got to hear this song by its self when it came out I was completely blown away! The Beatles just kept raising the bar over and over again with their innovation and creative genius. But I have to say I when I saw the "video" I was a bit disappointing as it has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song. To me I felt like it was trying a little too hard to be "trippy" or "psychedelic" or "Avant Garde". But here again the Beatles were breaking new ground! One could argue, as crude as it was, this was quite likely the birth of the whole concept of music videos. However IMHO This song is better listened to on its own without the distraction of the "video"!
I have been told that the break in this song is not silence. Not for dogs. anyway. It's. supposedly music recorded at a pitch too high for human hearing, but dogs can hear it.
He wrote the song I AM THE WALRUS specifically for people who think the songs have deep meanings all the time. He wrote just nonsensical lines colorful words. He found out some universities were trying to "understand" the lyrics and basically said......"Ha ha, let them figure this one out."
This song transformed everything in music production forever. The music we all listen to wouldn’t sound the same without this song. And Lennon was one of the first mega stars to discuss his mental health openly. Their song Help was about his deep depression and body issues. He had body dysmorphia about being overweight and impostor syndrome about feeling talentless at the absolute peak of their success.
The greatest band in history who were decades ahead of everyone.
As soon as they met Little Richard.
@@makeminealargecognacOh please. Richard, like Elvis and Berry, inspired them. But The Beatles' creativity surpassed all those RnR acts.
@@v-town1980 incorrect. They changed their style after workikng with Little Richard. He wasn't just an inspiration.
No comparison Beatles Forever
@@v-town1980 Lennon stole "Come Together" from the 1956 Chuck Berry song "You Can't Cath Me" and got his ass sued by Berry's record label. Listen to the Berry song and you'll see it's obvious.
Yeah.....if you really want to appreciate their great music then trash the videos that distract you....put on the album version and wear headphones...... it's totally a better way to explore the music
word
not always, all the time, a lot of these reactors who are young and are not familiar with them, don't even know what they LOOK like, so they DO need to see some of their videos to SEE what they looked like and how their appearances changed in the 8 years that they were world famous.
Yeah, there be the problem, music reactors will always look for something with a video, which distracts from the music, it's a shame but it's a fact, and headphones are a must 👍
Strawberry Fields is a Park in Liverpool near where John Lennon lived and also the name of an lsd tab they experimented with. The video means to invoke an acid trip, as does the music and lyrics, so it's part and parcel. Also this was the B-side to the Penny Lane single, promoted as a double A-side so got exposure on tv pop programs. It was mooted to be on the Sgt Pepper's album but didn't make the final cut.
Agreed - it seems they were concentrating more on the video than the music.
It's a place from your childhood that remains when you grow up. That's why it's happy and sad, it's nostalgic
...and the best description of LSD "logic" put to music. Amazing how many of the comments skip past this pretty fundamental detail...
The video for "Strawberry Fields Forever" is distracting. The song itself is quite challenging for the first-time listener, and the trippy video has nothing to do with the song... it's just the Beatles having fun. To understand how the Beatles arrived at this point in their career, you have to know that they were the top entertainment act in the world and had been for the previous 4 years. They were trend setters and fashion icons. The Beatles started out playing poppy rock 'n roll love songs and opened the world to British rock. Then, album by album, they got more experimental and pushed boundary after boundary. By the time they reached "Strawberry Fields Forever" (and its companion album "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band"), the Beatles had pushed into every musical category: classical, country, jazz, soul, experimental, children's, folk, metal, etc. There had been nothing like the Beatles before, and they did it all while being the top entertainment act in the world. Imagine Taylor Swift and multiply that by 10 times. And then came "Strawberry Fields Forever" and "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". It was astonishing at the time... but you can't possibly feel the astonishment that your grandparents felt at the time. The decades have dulled the sense of awe that this music caused when it was released.
I applaud your willingness to react to this challenging song, and attempt to find its meaning. Many of us couldn't figure it out at the time of the song's release. For future reactions to Beatles' songs, I recommend that you listen to a music track that does not have a video. The videos are often distracting and many times have nothing to do with the content of the song. ("Eleanor Rigby" is a perfect example... the "official" video -- an excerpt from the film "Yellow Submarine" -- really distracts from the meaning of the song.)
Well said!
Excellent explanation!
Yep. I don't like it when reactors use music videos because they invariably become more engrossed in the images than the music. Also, these two appear to be listening on a laptop (bad enough) without using headphones (worse still) which means they are missing out on much of the intricacies of the music.
Thanks for all that Bob...too many dismiss the whole story/picture of the earlier Beatles as boy band tripe, and have little idea how important they were to rescuing pop and rock music from the clutches of middle aged adult record producers dictating whom the next teen idol shall be and what they shall sing with parent approval. And middled aged to current metal heads dismissing the early Beatles out of carefully trained musical preference developed by corporate radio playlists and such. As a former music teacher I apply the same idea to ignorance of other music - an important experience and delightful at the same time, like ignoring early New Orleans Jazz as trite, unimportant...a musically ignorant country we have, no one knows who Duke Ellington was, or George Gershwin, Dvorak, etc. Part of the reason is in our country school music program budgets are always cut first, but you'll never see a weed growing in a football stadium....result = a culturally stupid country, that bleeds over into other subjects the media messes with. . Too many listen to music with their eyes ever since MTV was born.
@@christopherwinkler4451 This is a frustrating trend. I realize reactors are often working with the results that youtube provides them, but I think they would generally benefit from starting with the album version of most songs, ideally with no video.
This is one of the finest music productions in history. This song is brilliant and they somehow did this production on 4 track tape.
"I Am The Walrus" is another psychedelic masterpiece by Beatles
Yes I just love John Lennon's explanation of how the real world works! Goo Goo Gajoob!
Don't do the video version though. It's an inferior audio track.
Great song. Ringo's drumming is stunning.
Ringo was an "artist" with a drum kit
@@garyhamalainen1651 And a human metronome! Amazing time.
The modern generation would find it hard to believe that it wasn't composed by a computer, and that actual musicians played actual instruments.
i find it hard to believe how many musicians are out of work because of computers.
It was however heavily reliant on studio techniques manipulating sound - speeding up and slowing down tape speeds and playing stuff backwards then playing over that so it sounds backwards when playing forwards normally. All cutting edge in its day thanks to producer George Martin and his team of recording engineers at Abbey Road.
John Lennon wrote melodies before there were any.
@@AuxesisHyperbole666Techniques are not the same as "just autotune my voice." Plus, the melodies, lyrics, and harmonizing blows anything today out of the water. No comparison.😊
but they don't know what 911 is or actual oppression
Wear headphones when you react to music.
Strawberry Fields is the Church garden of St. Peter's church just down the street a block. John used to climb the fence and have a little fort in the woods of the garden. It was his personal hideaway as a kid.
It's not a video review! It's supposed to be a music review..........
Right they were doing videos way before MTV
"The Beatles wasn't a rock & roll band...The Beatles was a miracle". (David Gilmour).
Iconic song! One of the Beatles game changers in popular music.
Next up to react to is Penny Lane - a similarly-themed song from the perspective of Paul McCartney. Both songs were released simultaneously and represent the Beatles at the apex of their creativity.
The film ( not called video at the time) was simply a way to get their new songs out without having to tour. Why travel all over the world, when we can send a film everywhere overnight. Just a practical solution to performing live. Especially since they were doing things in the studio that they knew couldn't be performed live. They laid the foundation for what everyone now knows as music videos. For this video and all the ones they released, understand they were very creative and had a sense of humor.
It's psychedelic. Music, lyrics and visuals.
make life the best you can...don't suffer alone...WE ALL WILL LISTEN TO YOU
it's a song that grows on you and you can listen to it again and again and hear new things every time. Lennon said he wasn't much of a melody man (as opposed to Paul's songs) but he imparts a rawness into his songs Paul rarely manages. Try Julia soon - about his late mother
So to me (please forgive me) it’s cute you two chose this particular Beatles’ song to have your friend’s first experience with. There was a time before there were any music videos, and this was it. The Beatles innovated the whole concept of shooting a little film to go with their songs, and started this idea during the “Psychedelic Period” of the 1960’s era. John (the singer) was using LSD an awful lot during this time, and the song, and the video are intended to give the listener the experience close as possible to having a little bit of a psychedelic trip. The song may seem bizarre but the comments saying that it is a masterpiece are not very far off the mark. They did a longer film during this time for TV in the UK, called “Magical Mystery Tour,” that eventually made its way here to the states. There’s some place in a Liverpool park called “Strawberry Fields” that John used as inspiration….❤
Strawberry fields was a girls orphanage in Liverpool near his aunts house where he grew up
The Beatles didn’t innovate the music “video” idea. That would be The Big Bopper a decade before. Obviously it changed a lot during those years.
@@AlBarzUKI was thinking of Dylan's iconic Subterranean Homesick Blues, but I'll check out Big Bopper.
They started relying on what was called "promotional films" when they stopped touring.
But promotional films didn't originate with the band. In England they were more popular because they were used in variety shows and music programming such as Top of the Pops. That's one reason why the first year of MTV relief so heavily on English bands at first.
It was just a fun song & video. Best with a buzz. This was made from 2 different versions of the song. One faster than the other one so they had to slow one down which explains the weird sound.
Put on your headphones
Close your eyes
And just listen
Let your mind interpret the song/music
Focus on the audio,
not the visual/video
The Beatles are meant to be heard and their videos in this period weren't supposed to make sense, it's just supposed to be suoer trippy. They were experimenting with the newest, hi-tech, multitrack recording, and video recording, and were the first to put out their own music videos along with their songs, and were creating new ways of using audio and video, a long list of ways in which are still used in modern music and audio recording and songwriting today, and since then. The Beatles almost always did everything first. They have influenced every generation of songwriters and musicians over the last 60+ years. They are worth a deep dive, but you need to start at the beginning with the early "boy band" sound, thru the, and the amazing Abbey Road final album, and listen to the evolution of their sound, songwriting, and recording. They were musical geniuses and the most innovative and influential recording artists of the last 100 years.
Realize that this video/song is over 55 years old.
that's what amazes me about some of their music and this song is a perfect example......... how often does a song maintain it's unique edge 50 years after it was recorded. I love it.
Their videos and songs were unique when they came out, they're still unique sixty years later. Thats THE BEATLES. 💜
Young people today care about the videos. The songs themselves are after thoughts. What a shame.
they have been carefully taught starting with MTV to listen to music with their eyes instead of the ears and heart...while the music industry picks their pockets. I dare anyone to listen to Rachmaninoff's Variation 18 of a theme on Paganini, and not be moved . We are a culturally ignorant county ...Part of the reason is in our country school music program budgets are always cut first, but you'll never see a weed growing in a football stadium.
It Otay, videos great.
Young people have the attention span of an ant. Videos on the whole are so inferior to the music that they should be totally turned off. They are nothing but a distraction to amuse the small minded who simply can't appreciate music of great distinction.
@@bohdan3239 Thanks to unsocial media, and don't be so mean to ants lol.
womp womp
Hi ladies, it's great to see you try a reaction to the beatles. I grew up with Beatles music and what a ride. You can't really begin to understand the music unless you, as others in this forum have suggested, listen to the whole album with head phones. With headphones you can hear more hidden content that will amaze you. Magical mystery tour, Sgt. Peppers, and abby road were their psychedelic and deep music time in their careers. If you want pop, when the girls went wild and though they were "dreamy ", then listen to their first albums like, meet the beatles, revolver and rubber soul. Great job, ladies.
Don’t confuse yourself with the “video”. The “promotional film” was created at a time when tours were the way to connect with fans but the Beatles had made the decision to cease touring. If you go down the rabbit hole of music by The Beatles, realise that it was nearly 60 years ago, without modern technology. Any “video” was itself pioneering and experimental. Appreciate that what happens today owes plenty to those pioneering days.
Well if you girls live in the British Island look up strawberry Fields I believe it's a location for an orphanage his aunt lives next door to it Long story short, John was raised by his aunt because his mother was unable to care for him and she ended up dying when he was probably about 17 got run over by a drunk driver dad was a drunk and left John and mom , drank like a sailor.
.Auntie lived next door to strawberry field , an orphanage where orphans were cared for .
John would jump over the wall to play with the kids throughout the day.
Johns aunt would always tell him not to do that,, but John would do it anyway,
And once replied " aww Auntie you're not going to get hung for it" it's not like he was breaking the law in his own mind he was just going over the wall to play with the orphan kids.
John also remembers sound of trumpets and drums in the big bass drum from the band that would play in the garden for the kids certain days so he was talking about his childhood ..
Play John Lennon that is
This was nearly the peak of the first psychedelic era. (The 2nd was the early `80's but there were still people doing psych in the `90's). Despite not much of it being played on the radio or elsewhere, there was TONS of great psych, back then!! This song was, pretty much, the tip of the iceberg! I lived all through that era and had NO IDEA, back then, that there was SO MUCH great psych out there until about 25 years ago when I started getting heavily into it! Now, I've got a collection of at least 400 psych songs!! I started listening to the collection again about 3 weeks ago while doing things here on the computer and I still have at least another 2 week's worth of stuff to get through. I've actually had to stop looking for more because I've already got 175 full CD's worth, so far.
It's interesting to see how video focused younger people are, than in older generations. Nothing wrong with it, just a different medium now. If we had ubiquitous access to video/audio on numerous devices back in those days, we'd have probably been focused on the video at least as much, if not more than the audio of the song itself, which is almost 60 years old now! Good grief we are old AF. LOL
Back in the Beatles' day there was no MTV. The main reason for doing a music video in those days was so that when you had a hit, you could send the video clip to chart shows like Top of the Pops (don't know if TOTP was actually running in the 60s, but there were certainly shows like it) in lieu of making personal appearances every week. The music videos were all produced by the bands, and a lot of the time they were just home movies spliced together and had nothing to do with the music. Between all their films and the Saturday morning cartoon show, the Beatles could just send a clip for just about any song someone might ask them for, but on this one, A Day In The Life, and maybe one or two others they went the home movie route.
By many in the Rock industry old and new this is considered the most influential and greatest popular song ever created. There were a few contenders before this but Strawberry Fields was the one that said “ Do/create whatever you want”
Girls Listen To "In My Life"that"s also by John Lennon 1965,and he sings about memories,friends,ect,great song!
Both of you did such a great job on this reaction. Love the way you interact together, and I would like to see more of Maya. I would also love to see more Beatles reactions because they have so many great songs. I would recommend reacting to a live performance, instead of something with a video. If your interested in watching history being made, choose one of their songs from their first live television appearances on the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964. Otherwise the song Don't Let me Down from their rooftop concert in 1969 which was their last.
What part of this reaction was great?
Don't try to overthink it. By the Beatles' own admission the lyrics didn't really mean anything, at least anything too deep. People kept asking them what the deeper meaning of their lyrics were so they decided to write some that seemed deep but were actually just intentional nonsense. It was their way of having fun with some of the more overly serious critics and fans who missed the point of rock music, which was to have fun. In a way it predicted punk rock in poking fun at people who took rock too seriously, only in a far more musically inventive and, well, serious way. Plus it all stemmed from their taking LSD and other psychedelic drugs and the way it made them look at the world differently. Things really were different back then, in all sorts of ways.
Btw the name of the song comes from a school playground of the same name from their childhood in Liverpool. And if you want to hear something even weirder, try I Am The Walrus (and the proper, not the remixed one).
Yeah, like 'Revolution' wasn't serious and just "poking fun". There's others also.
@@northernlight2598 I didn't that that this was uniform, but not every Beatles song "means" something, and people who are looking for such meaning need to step back and take a breath, maybe listen to something else for a change.
@@kovie9162 Interesting. How does reacting to a song turn into telling people what they need to do? What else do people "need" to do?
Nobody had ever heard anything like this before it came out. Certainly not in 'mainstream' popular music. Musically, it was new and utterly different, and the words were dealing with concepts and feelings which were confusing and difficult to resolve. It certainly struck a chord with me as a 16 year old, struggling with confidence, self esteem, lack of certainty and all the usual teenage angst. I must have listened to it hundreds and hundreds of times and it still affects me to this day.
The clip is about the reaction of the girls and to a lesser extent the songs themselves. It is awesome to see these youngsters experience this, embrace and wrestle with it.
Great reaction. This was an LSD inspired song - reflecting how scrambled your brain can become on that particular substance. It was one of the pioneering songs of the psychedelic movement. I know I'm being a bit flippant here when I say that I think one of the reasons young people today find it harder to cope with their mental health is because, these days, they don't have fantastic music like the Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd etc to immerse themselves in excite their imagination as my generation did. I appreciate, though, that there are many other factors in the modern world which play a part also
Song was based on real place called Strawberry Field, a Salvation Army children's home in Woolton, Liverpool. Near Where John Lennon grew up.
If you thought it was unique now just imagine how unique it was nearly 60 years ago .This was their psychedelic period which revolutionized music back then:)
The song is a masterpiece, the music video was an afterthought.
The main thing about this video, is that it is The First Music Video ever produced. Score another 1st for the Beatles. Their next was I AM THE WALRUS was taken from their movie MAGICAL MYSTERY TOUR. The Beatles is a very deep and expensive well musically. They inspired me to go into music when I saw them live in 1964, and I'm to this day still playing. (Very impactful)
Great reaction! I love your honest approach to analyzing what you are hearing! 🧡, PJ
At the time that Strawberry Fields Forever and Penny Lane were released, The Beatles had been a global musical and cultural phenomenon unlike anything that had come before for 4 years and had quit doing personal appearances, meaning they had stopped doing concerts and TV shows. They came up with the idea of sending the TV shows a short film to accompany their latest songs instead. And of course, being the biggest entertainment entity in the entire world, every TV program showed the films. The Beatles were one of the innovators that invented the concept of the music video, long before videos became common in the early 1980's. As a result, the videos don't really have much to do with the song at all.
While they did the most to help make them popular, the Big Bopper created the music video concept in early rock in 1958 with his video film of acting out his song "Chantilly Lace" quickly followed by two more. He was quoted in an English newspaper as saying "Soon all music will be on film". He was also working on a plan to create video jukeboxes when he died in the plane crash. He also coined the term "music video".
I watched the Beatles cartoon's every Saturday morning and learned a lot of their songs!😊
It has a psychedelic flavor. Strawberry field was in the UK. Loved this song and was one of the 1st psychedelic songs I ever heard. John was on drugs during this period. Another reaction you should do from the Beatles is " I Am The Walrus". The words will prob blow your mind.....
I guess they expected a choreographed dance in a field of strawberries...lol
🤣It's kind of hard to choreograph anything when you're stoned on LSD lol....
Strawberry Field is in Liverpool, where the band came from.
the Beatles changed everything when they came along with their experimentation and innovation in the way music songs were written how they sounded and how they were produced. you have to remember this track was made in 1967.. they were decades ahead of their time. they influenced everyone who came after them and are still influencing the musicians of today.
Around 1978 Cherrie Currie, the lead singer of the all girl rock band, "The Runaways" sang a cover of "Strawberry Fields Forever". Its a very beautiful piano based cover. She also did a cover of "Here Comes the Sun", but the 1st song was very well done and is among my favorite Beatle covers.
Both of you have incredible smiles, good reaction.
🤍
amazing song probably one of my favourite songs of all time.
I think as someone seeing this video and not knowing who the Beatles really were, it would indeed be pretty strange. At the time, just about everyone on the planet knew who they were so the point was probably to showcase the new side of them that had been emerging once they were done with the gruel of touring. Highly recommend 'Let It Be' if you haven't already seen it.
Such a timelessly classic melody that never gets old to me!
You have to get the context. Which is hard to imagine. They were the biggest band ever, the most popular, and simultaneously the most experimental, pushing the boundaries. They went from basic 'boy loves girl' type stuff to high art and crazy experimental music that no one had ever heard before, all in a few years. Strawberry Fields came out as they were in their most rapidly evolving phase, trying out things. It sits in between Revolver and Sargent Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. Two of the most revolutionary albums ever.
It's hard to capture the amazement and excitement of a new Beatles record coming out. You had to get the record, you had to listen, you spent weeks talking about it. It was all so new.
Start from the beginning with their first album, and work your way forward. Watch some videos about their history, watch the films A Hard Day's Night and Help.
This is John, strawberry fields was a field around the corner from John's childhood home.
It is best to listen to the entire album for many of the beatles recordings. It's like a story.
It was THE Psychedelic Song of early 19967...Acid Music.
John recorded this one day in the studio, and then their producer, George Martin recorded the symphony the next day. When he overlayed the 2 tracks, they were a semi-tone apart in tune. George had called John to come in an re-record his vocals to match the orchestra. John, being more lax than the rest of the band, said "No, George, I won't be coming in today, I am sure you can just fix it". George then slowed John's vocal track to match the orchestras tuning. This gives the track a smeared effect where John's voice sounds distorted.
Strawberry Fields was an orphanage near to John's house growing up in Liverpool. He used to play with the kids there. As an adult, famous of course, he went back to visit was devastated to find it torn down. He would have funded it to keep it alive, he cared so much for it. I have signed my name at the wall of Strawberry Fields. If you like the Beatles, take a trip to Liverpool. It is fantastic.
Agreed. I wish reactors would listen to the album versions of the songs by themselves. They can do video reviews another time.
For many, the best song of all times
This was actually back in the day where everyone started smoking weed. Certain songs like Strawberry Fields were kind of high on songs...though they sound great completely straight. Just the reverse effect at the end would kind of mess with your mind. There was just a different level we got to with the Beatles, the Stones the Doors etc...and im a total lightweight as far as that goes
Ignore the video, most of us that had the original experience of the music never saw it or only saw it once.
You should wear headphones and not let the video distract you!
I always just concentrated on the lyrics... never really cared about finding out the meaning of the video.. it was just entertaining... The song is just outstanding..
Right back from Poona. A good one. Very fresh "influences" in their musical style.
The song is a 10/10. One of the best ever.
There's something quite joyous about Gen Z discovering The Beatles all over again. 😁
Great analysis, thank you!
When this song came out, I don't think I tried to understand it once I realized I couldnt. There was so much new music and sound with it to think about lyrics.
Wonderful reaction to the band who changed music. Judging by your library, you will love a band called YES and a song called Roundabout, been dancing to it for 53yrs
The Beatles didn't shy away from surreal lyrics and experimental music.
God bless you, both. You are so darling 💖.
Largest selling musical act in history by far !
Context. This is from the era of hippy dippy psychedelia. The music is intended to be trippy.
two great beauties, and great song 🙂
Strawberry Fields was an orphanage in Liverpool. The song basically explores the musings of an LSD trip, not uncommon in the late 1960's. We were all doing it. For example, the "no one I think is in my tree" verse deals with the difficulties of an individual in communicating with other people. Other verses deal with confusion and the vagaries of being "someone". It could have been titled An Exploration Of A Human's (John Lennon) Psyche.
These late Beatles psychedelic pieces are wierd moods with John's acerbic social critique lyrics -- I'd recommend "It's All Too Much" as a followup
Glad you took time find out reason behind song , also nice to know instruments used
I see the first several comments said not to watch the videos. Just me personally, I don’t react to people that don’t use the videos and watch them along with the music. Just my personal taste. As you can tell, I’m a major Beatles fan by my name, ha ha. Great job!
It's an awesome video, too! The original video, not some second-hand video that barely goes with the music. And doesn't show any of the Beatles.
Never watched an Beatles music video. But my dad did own the at least one of their movies and it was so silly and fun to watch.
Penny Lane is next. Please react to it. Another awesome Beatles song, also recorded at the end of 1966 and in the beginning of 1967!
That was a transition piece that old Beatles wearing uniforms, no facial hair and doing their earlier music and they had pretty much quite touring because it was too weird (doing stadiums like Swift Era). If you have time watch the whole semi-fictional "Hard Days Night" movie, in black and white, but catches the whole Beatles vibes.
Just dive in their girls. The Beatles were so diverse - there's something there in the backlog for everyone! I guarantee you will love them
Since the beggining of Beatlemania, the Beatles were on a tireless quest for evolution, innovation, and change. And all despite the narrow space of analog technology!!
Strawberry Fields was the name of a children’s home in Liverpool. When John Lennon was young he used to go there climb a tree and just chill out. That was the inspiration for him to write the song.
John Lennon, who wrote Strawberry Fields Forever, was putting into music his period growing up in Liverpool. Strawberry Fields was a large private school grounds he played in and daydreamed as a kid. He's capturing the surreal aspect of memory of childhood and it's enchanting aspects. The mystery of growing up and developing your own inner self. During this same time, fellow Beatle Paul McCartney did his song Penny Lane as his joy and enchantment of growing up in Liverpool. You should listen to Penny Lane.
This was the first ever rock video. If you're confused, it's bcz it was actually two different songs slapped together in studio by George Martin. The two songs are in different pitches and registers, however, by playing one of them backwards, it sounded better and the result along with even more studio manipulation of sound, was Strawberry Fields. 🙂
Oh yeah! Strawberry Fields Forever was recorded on November 24, 28, 29 and on December 8, 9, 15, 21 and 22, 1966 and they made 26 takes from it , which the take 7 was so much better! The song was composed by John Lennon while he was in Almería, Spain, and then on September 1966 he made a demo of the song in his home.
Of which Lennon was probably delighted to hear his voice slowed down, lol..."That'll weird them out, eh, Ringo?"
Good on you for checking the context of the song about Johns childhood. Do more sixties and seventies reviews if you can :)
strawberry fields was a park/playground in liverpool.
You have to first grasp the fact that at the time this was done the whole concept of music videos didn't even exist! And there wasn't even an internet back then! No social media! MTV didn't even exist. Must be hard to imagine growing up in a world where the video productions are as important, if not more important than the actual songs themselves! So yeah I get your reaction. And to be honest having grown up with the Beatles... I was 10 years old when they first landed in America and can't even imagine what life would have been like without them! Their influence was HUGE! They literally changed changed our world in many ways.... I got to hear this song by its self when it came out I was completely blown away! The Beatles just kept raising the bar over and over again with their innovation and creative genius. But I have to say I when I saw the "video" I was a bit disappointing as it has nothing to do with the lyrics of the song. To me I felt like it was trying a little too hard to be "trippy" or "psychedelic" or "Avant Garde". But here again the Beatles were breaking new ground! One could argue, as crude as it was, this was quite likely the birth of the whole concept of music videos. However IMHO This song is better listened to on its own without the distraction of the "video"!
I have been told that the break in this song is not silence. Not for dogs. anyway. It's. supposedly music recorded at a pitch too high for human hearing, but dogs can hear it.
Young people, welcome to the world of timeless music!!
while my guitar genty wheeps-something- here comes the sun (all gorges songs)
I can advice "The fool on the hill" too
Hope your injury has healed!
🙏❤🌹 John & George 🌹❤🙏
🤍🤍
@@Itsprincesss 😃 👍 👊
I suggest starting from the beginning and getting to know these guys when they were young.
John writes songs like he is painting a picture. He uses words to evoke images in the listeners minds. He is a master of IMAGERY.
He hated when people tried to decipher meanings of songs. They usually are just a series of clever rhymes and turns of phrase.
He wrote the song I AM THE WALRUS specifically for people who think the songs have deep meanings all the time. He wrote just nonsensical lines colorful words. He found out some universities were trying to "understand" the lyrics and basically said......"Ha ha, let them figure this one out."
This song transformed everything in music production forever. The music we all listen to wouldn’t sound the same without this song.
And Lennon was one of the first mega stars to discuss his mental health openly.
Their song Help was about his deep depression and body issues. He had body dysmorphia about being overweight and impostor syndrome about feeling talentless at the absolute peak of their success.