Strawberry Fields Forever - Musical Structure

Musical Structure

The song was originally written on acoustic guitar in the key of C major. The recorded version is approximately in B-flat major; owing to manipulation of the recording speed, the finished version is not in standard pitch (some, for instance consider that the tonic is A). The introduction was played by McCartney on a Mellotron, and involves a I- ii- I- ♭VII- IV progression The vocals enter with the refrain instead of a verse. In fact we are not "taken down" to the tonic key, but to "non-diatonic chords and secondary dominants" combining with "chromatic melodic tension intensified through outrageous harmonisation and root movement". The phrase "to Strawberry" for example begins with a highly dissonant G melody note against a prevailing F minor key, then uses extremely dissonant B♭ and B notes (against the Fm chord) till the resonant F note is reached on "Fields". The same series of mostly dissonant melody notes cover the phrase "nothing is real" against the prevailing F#7 chord (in A key). A half-measure complicates the meter of the verses, as well as the fact that the vocals begin in the middle of the first measure. The first verse comes after the refrain, and is eight measures long. The verse (for example "Always, no sometimes...") starts with an F major chord in key of B♭ (or E chord in key of A) (V), which progresses to G minor, the submediant, a deceptive cadence. According to Alan Pollack, the "approach-avoidance tactic" (i.e., the deceptive cadence) is encountered in the verse, as the leading-tone, A, appearing on the words "Always know", "I know when" "I think a No" and "I think I disagree", never resolves into a I chord (A in A key)) directly as expected. Instead, at the end of the verse, the leading note, harmonized as part of the dominant chord, resolves to the prevailing tonic (B♭) at the end of the verse, after tonicizing the subdominant (IV) E♭ chord, on "disagree". In the middle of the second chorus, the "funereal brass" is introduced, stressing the ominous lyrics. After three verses and four choruses, the line "Strawberry Fields Forever" is repeated three times, and the song fades out with guitar, cello, and swarmandal instrumentation. The song fades back in after a few seconds in to the "nightmarish" ending, with the Mellotron playing in a haunting tone — one achieved by recording the Mellotron "Swinging Flutes" setting in reverse — scattered drumming, and Lennon murmuring, after which the song completes.