'World's Best Chord Progressions' Ep. 30 - 'Strawberry Fields', The Beatles

Are the Beatles overrated??

Can they REALLY be as good as their super fans seem to say they are?

I often seen this point debated whenever the topic of how good the Beatles are comes up. It’s probably understandable, as the size and scale of their phenomena and what was achieved was unprecedented and in many ways has still not been matched. But, I think, in this case you really SHOULD believe the hype!

To make my point that the Beatles (and the team of sound engineers and technicians around them) were pioneers I have chosen to look at John Lennon’s Strawberry fields. This was a big leap forward both musically (the strange choice of chords that give the song its dream like quality) and lyrically.

Here John was trying to put into words his feeling that he saw the world differently to everyone. It’s written almost as a stream of consciousness and he magically somehow interweaves feelings of nostalgia for his childhood; a theme that would go on to shape both Lennon and McCartney’s songwriting for the next few years and particularly their next record Sgt Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band. The B side to this single in fact was Paul’s similarly nostalgic look back at childhood in Liverpool - the brilliant Penny Lane.

But this song also marked a landmark moment in recording history. Really, this was the first time songwriters were turning to the power of technology and the recording studio to aid in their songwriting and storytelling. No longer was recording just about capturing the live sound of a band but groundbreaking new techniques of recording wizardry became instrumental in painting the right mood and atmosphere of a song to really transport the listener into new sonic worlds.

For all these reasons, and as demonstrated in this song particularly well, I believe it’s actually hard to over state or overrate what The Beatles achieved in (staggeringly) just under ten years. They really DID change music, sound recording and, to a degree, the world!

But what do you think..!? Do let me know in the comments.

If you enjoyed this you may like my special series all about the songwriting techniques of Paul McCartney available exclusively on my Patreon page - head to the link in my bio to find out more!

Thanks for watching!

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