Richard P. "Richie" Havens (born January 21, 1941; died April 22, 2013) was… Read Full Bio ↴Richard P. "Richie" Havens (born January 21, 1941; died April 22, 2013) was an American folk singer and guitarist. He is best remembered for his intense, rhythmic guitar style (often in open tunings), soulful covers of pop and folk songs, and his opening performance at the 1969 Woodstock Festival.

Born in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, Havens moved to Greenwich Village in 1961 in time to get in on the folk boom then taking place. Havens had a distinctive style as a folksinger, appearing in such clubs as the Cafe Wha? His guitar set to an open tuning, he would strum while barring chords with his thumb, using it essentially as percussion while singing rhythmically in a gruff voice for a mesmerizing effect. Havens was signed to Douglas Records in 1965 and recorded two albums that gained him a local following. In 1967, the Verve division of MGM Records formed a folk section (Verve Forecast) and signed Havens and other folk-based performers. The result was Havens's third album, Mixed Bag. It wasn't until 1968 and the Something Else Again album, however, that Havens began to hit the charts -- actually, Havens's fourth, third, and second albums charted that year, in that order. In 1969 came the double album Richard P. Havens 1983. Havens' career benefited enormously from his appearance at the Woodstock festival in 1969 and his subsequent featured role in the movie and album made from the concert in 1970. His first album after that exposure, Alarm Clock, made the Top 30 and produced a Top 20 single in "Here Comes the Sun." These recordings were Havens's commercial high-water mark, but by this time he had become an international touring success. By the end of the '70s, he had abandoned recording and turned entirely to live work.

Havens came back to records with a flurry of releases in 1987: a new album, Simple Things; an album of Bob Dylan and Beatles covers; and a compilation. In 1991, Havens signed his first major-label deal in 15 years when he moved to Sony Music and released Now.

On April 22, 2013, Havens died of a heart attack at home in Jersey City, New Jersey. He was 72.

Discography
* A Richie Havens Record (1965)
* Electric Havens (1966)
* Mixed Bag (February 1967)
* Something Else Again (1968)
* Richard P. Havens, 1983 (1969)
* Stonehenge (1970)
* Alarm Clock (1971)
* The Great Blind Degree (1971)
* Richie Havens On Stage (1972)
* Portfolio (1973)
* Mixed Bag II (January 1975)
* The End of the Beginning (1976)
* Mirage (1977)
* Connections (1980)
* Common Ground (1983)
* Simple Things (1987)
* Sings Beatles and Dylan (1987)
* Live at the Cellar Door (1990)
* Now (1991)
* Cuts to the Chase (1994)
* Time (1999)
* Wishing Well (April 2002)
* Grace of the Sun (2004)

Guest appearances

* Please Don't Touch by Steve Hackett (1978)
* Starlight Express Music and Songs from (1987)
* OVO by Peter Gabriel (2000) (Soundtrack to the Millennium Dome Show)
* "Freedom" on The Best of The Jammy's Volume One w/ The Mutaytor
* "The Long Road" (Duet with Cliff Eberhardt) on Cliff's 1990 album "The Long Road")

Strawberry Fields Forever
Richie Havens Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Let me take you down
'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And there's nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see

It's getting harder to be someone
But it all works out
And it doesn't matter much to me

Let me take you down
'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And there's nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

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

Let me take you down
'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And there's nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

Always no sometimes think it's me
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

Let me take you down
'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And there's nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

Let me take you down

Strawberry Fields forever
Let me take you down, down, down, down...

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Richie Havens's song Strawberry Fields Forever are surreal and dream-like, with the singer inviting the listener to join him on a journey to a place called Strawberry Fields. The repeated refrain of "nothing is real" suggests an escape from the constraints of everyday existence and a yearning for a more idyllic, carefree existence. The line "living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see" seems to suggest that reality can be both overwhelming and underwhelming, and the best way to cope with it is to retreat into one's own imagination.

The following verse is more cryptic, with the singer claiming that "no one is in my tree" and that "it must be high or low," suggesting a separation from the rest of humanity. However, there is a note of optimism in the line "it's not too bad," indicating that even in this state of perceived isolation, there is still some hope and comfort to be found.

The song's overall message is ambiguous and open to interpretation, with the lyrics suggesting a longing for escape and a dissatisfaction with the realities of the world. The repeated refrain of "strawberry fields forever" serves as a kind of mantra, a symbol of the singer's desire to live in a state of blissful ignorance.

Line by Line Meaning

Let me take you down
Join me on this journey

'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
To a place that doesn't really exist

Nothing is real
The world is not what it seems

And there's nothing to get hung about
Don't worry about it

Strawberry Fields forever
This place will always exist in our imagination

Living is easy with eyes closed
It's easier to ignore reality

Misunderstanding all you see
We don't understand the true nature of the world

It's getting harder to be someone
Society puts pressure on us to be someone we're not

But it all works out
In the end, everything falls into place

And it doesn't matter much to me
What others think isn't important

No one I think is in my tree
I don't belong to any group