Led by primary songwriters Lennon and McCartney, the Beatles built their reputation playing clubs in Liverpool and Hamburg over three years from 1960, initially with Stuart Sutcliffe playing bass. The core trio of Lennon, McCartney and Harrison, together since 1958, went through a succession of drummers, eventually settling with Pete Best in 1960, who played with them for two years before being replaced with then Rory Storm & The Hurricanes drummer Ringo Starr in 1962. Manager Brian Epstein molded them into a professional act and producer George Martin guided and developed their recordings, greatly expanding their domestic success after their first hit, "Love Me Do", in late 1962. As their popularity grew into the intense fan frenzy dubbed "Beatlemania", the band acquired the nickname "the Fab Four", with Epstein, Martin and other members of the band's entourage sometimes given the informal title of "fifth Beatle".
By early 1964, the Beatles were international stars, leading the "British Invasion" of the United States pop market and breaking numerous sales records. They soon made their film debut with A Hard Day's Night (1964). From 1965 onwards, they produced increasingly innovative recordings, including the albums Rubber Soul (1965), Revolver (1966) and Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1967), and enjoyed further commercial success with The Beatles (also known as "the White Album", 1968) and Abbey Road (1969). In 1968, they founded Apple Corps, a multi-armed multimedia corporation that continues to oversee projects related to the band's legacy. After the group's break-up in 1970, all four members enjoyed success as solo artists. Lennon was shot and killed in December 1980, and Harrison died of lung cancer in November 2001. McCartney and Starr remain musically active.
The Beatles are the best-selling music act of all time, with estimated sales of 600 million units worldwide. They hold the record for most number-one albums on the UK Albums Chart, most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, and most singles sold in the UK. The group was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988, and all four main members were inducted individually between 1994 and 2015. In 2008, the group topped Billboard's list of the all-time most successful artists on the Billboard Hot 100. The band received seven Grammy Awards, four Brit Awards, an Academy Award (for Best Original Song Score for the 1970 film Let It Be) and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards. Time magazine named them among the 20th century's 100 most important people.
Former Rolling Stone associate editor Robert Greenfield compared the Beatles to Picasso, as "artists who broke through the constraints of their time period to come up with something that was unique and original "... In the form of popular music, no one will ever be more revolutionary, more creative and more distinctive ..." The British poet Philip Larkin described their work as "an enchanting and intoxicating hybrid of African-American rock-and-roll with their own adolescent romanticism", and "the first advance in popular music since the War".
They not only sparked the British Invasion of the US, they became a globally influential phenomenon as well. From the 1920s, the US had dominated popular entertainment culture throughout much of the world, via Hollywood films, jazz, the music of Broadway and Tin Pan Alley and, later, the rock and roll that first emerged in Memphis, Tennessee. The Beatles are regarded as British cultural icons, with young adults from abroad naming the band among a group of people that they most associated with UK culture.
Their musical innovations and commercial success inspired musicians worldwide. Many artists have acknowledged the Beatles' influence and enjoyed chart success with covers of their songs. On radio, their arrival marked the beginning of a new era; in 1968 the programme director of New York's WABC radio station forbade his DJs from playing any "pre-Beatles" music, marking the defining line of what would be considered oldies on American radio. They helped to redefine the album as something more than just a few hits padded out with "filler", and they were primary innovators of the modern music video. The Shea Stadium show with which they opened their 1965 North American tour attracted an estimated 55,600 people, then the largest audience in concert history; Spitz describes the event as a "major breakthrough ... a giant step toward reshaping the concert business". Emulation of their clothing and especially their hairstyles, which became a mark of rebellion, had a global impact on fashion.
According to Gould, the Beatles changed the way people listened to popular music and experienced its role in their lives. From what began as the Beatlemania fad, the group's popularity grew into what was seen as an embodiment of socio-cultural movements of the decade. As icons of the 1960s counterculture, Gould continues, they became a catalyst for bohemianism and activism in various social and political arenas, fuelling movements such as women's liberation, gay liberation and environmentalism. According to Peter Lavezzoli, after the "more popular than Jesus" controversy in 1966, the Beatles felt considerable pressure to say the right things and "began a concerted effort to spread a message of wisdom and higher consciousness".
Other commentators such as Mikal Gilmore and Todd Leopold have traced the inception of their socio-cultural impact earlier, interpreting even the Beatlemania period, particularly on their first visit to the US, as a key moment in the development of generational awareness. Referring to their appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show Leopold states: "In many ways, the Sullivan appearance marked the beginning of a cultural revolution ... The Beatles were like aliens dropped into the United States of 1964.
In 1965, Queen Elizabeth II appointed Lennon, McCartney, Harrison and Starr Members of the Order of the British Empire (MBE). The Beatles won the 1971 Academy Award for Best Original Song Score for the film Let It Be (1970). The recipients of seven Grammy Awards and fifteen Ivor Novello Awards, the Beatles have six Diamond albums, as well as 20 Multi-Platinum albums, 16 Platinum albums and six Gold albums in the US. In the UK, the Beatles have four Multi-Platinum albums, four Platinum albums, eight Gold albums and one Silver album. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.
The best-selling band in history, the Beatles have sold more than 800 million physical and digital albums as of 2013. They have had more number-one albums on the UK charts, fifteen, and sold more singles in the UK, 21.9 million, than any other act. In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked the Beatles as the most significant and influential rock music artists of the last 50 years. They ranked number one on Billboard magazine's list of the all-time most successful Hot 100 artists, released in 2008 to celebrate the US singles chart's 50th anniversary. As of 2017, they hold the record for most number-one hits on the Billboard Hot 100, with twenty. The Recording Industry Association of America certifies that the Beatles have sold 178 million units in the US, more than any other artist. They were collectively included in Time magazine's compilation of the 20th century's 100 most influential people. In 2014, they received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
There are two holidays celebrated for the Beatles: Global Beatles Day on 25 June each year. On that date in 1967, the band performed "All You Need Is Love" on television. In 2001, UNESCO created World Beatles Day on 16 January each year. This date has direct relation to the opening of The Cavern Club in 1957.
Five asteroids, 4147 Lennon, 4148 McCartney, 4149 Harrison, 4150 Starr and 8749 Beatles are named after the Beatles.
Strawberry Fields Forever
The Beatles Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see
But it all works out
It doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
And 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 nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
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 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 nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
The Beatles’ “Strawberry Fields Forever” is a song about a place that holds a dear memory to John Lennon from his childhood. The song was released in 1967 and it blends psychedelia with melancholy. The lyrics are thought of as a reflection on his personal experiences and struggles as well as a commentary on society as a whole.
The song opens with the lyrics, “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” - this indicates that John Lennon wants his listener to join him in his mind while he reminisces about his childhood memories of the Strawberry Field, a space filled with imaginary worlds – thus indicating that the space that John Lennon chose to remember was a space for dreamers, a place where reality did not exist.
The second verse, "Living is easy with eyes closed, Misunderstanding all you see; It's getting hard to be someone, But it all works out, It doesn't matter much to me," talks about how people easily perceive things without really understanding them, and that being someone else is becoming challenging but it'll work out in the end. The theme of complicated, enigmatic thoughts continues in the third verse with “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” where Lennon may be in the tree, alluding to the poem "Now We Are Six" by A.A. Milne or looking for enlightenment, and anyone else who should be up there isn’t.”
Line by Line Meaning
Let me take you down
Join me on a journey to explore a magical place
'Cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Because I am going to this special place called Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real
Reality is subjective and can be altered in this surreal place
And nothing to get hung about
There's no need to worry or stress in this carefree place
Strawberry Fields forever
The magic of this place will last forever
Living is easy with eyes closed
Blindly ignoring reality can make life seem easier
Misunderstanding all you see
Perception can be deceiving and easily misunderstood
It's getting hard to be someone
Trying to conform to society's expectations can be difficult
But it all works out
Things have a way of figuring themselves out in the end
It doesn't matter much to me
I don't let society's expectations dictate my life
No one I think is in my tree
I feel isolated and alone in my beliefs and experiences
I mean it must be high or low
My thoughts and feelings are extreme and hard to understand
That is you can't, you know, tune in
Others can't relate or understand my unique perspective
But it's all right
Despite feeling misunderstood, I am still content with who I am
That is, I think, it's not too bad
I may not fit in with society, but I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing
Always, no, sometimes think it's me
I often question my own identity and purpose in life
But you know I know when it's a dream
I can distinguish between what is real and what isn't
I think, er, no, I mean, er, yes
My thoughts and beliefs are constantly changing and confusing
But it's all wrong
Sometimes my thoughts and beliefs can be contradictory and misleading
That is I think I disagree
I'm not entirely sure what I believe, but I know it's not what others expect from me
Strawberry Fields forever
This magical place will always hold a special place in my heart
Strawberry Fields forever
The joy and wonder of Strawberry Fields will never fade
Strawberry Fields forever
Forever is how long this place will live on in my memory
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid
Written by: John Lennon, Paul McCartney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@kikofx
Who else is listening to Beatle Songs in the middle of the night?
@mspfrau8072
Me
@kitten978
Me
@caleb_laird2006
me
@joegazvazul2448
Me
@mix_tube1784
Me
@KayShwizzley
“Living is easy with eyes closed”
@kirbykinetics_372
Blind people hwve it easy :-P
@Rhythmicons
ignorance is bliss
@runnyinthe90s27
"Misunderstanding all you see"