In this blog, I will discuss how Mr. Lennon uses his own life experiences and memories to write his songs. The songs covered will be Help!, In My Life, and Strawberry Fields Forever. These 3 songs are just a few of many songs that John Lennon wrote about his life. He uses his childhood and his memories to write an amazing song.
Help!
In 1965, Beatlemania was in full swing and the grout was performing live a lot with little else going on. Genius says that Lennon wrote the song in response to the stress and sudden fame. In the movie that goes along with the LP, Lennon's character (Himself) is, in John's words, "...very fat, very insecure, and he's completely lost himself". John also says, about the song itself, "I am singing about when I was so much younger and all the rest, looking back at how easy it was." In 1970, John did an interview with Rolling Stone, and he praised "Help!" for its sense of realism. He says, "I meant it-- it's real. The lyric is as good now as it was then. It is no different, and it makes me feel secure to know that I was aware of myself then."
In My life
The 1965 hit In My Life was brought to life by an interviewer telling Lennon to add more personal meaning behind some of his songs. He then began to write In My Life and Lennon said it was the first major and meaningful piece of work. He said that all the other songs leading up to this song were 'glib and throwaway'. The song itself has a very simple meaning, and that is that all of his relationships, past and present, mean a lot to him and he loves all of them. He wants to show that he cares for all of his friends and family.
The Beatles' 6th studio album, Rubber Soul
Strawberry Fields Forever
Strawberry Fields Forever was a smash hit released in 1967. John Lennon wrote this song while he was in Spain filming the movie "How I Won The War." Once he returned, around November of 1966, he met Yoko Ono, and everyone knows the story from there. Beginning in November of 1966, The Beatles began to record Strawberry Fields Forever for 45 hours over 5 weeks. They made 3 versions of the song, and in the final version on the LP, it is a combination of several takes. John wrote this song about a Salvation Army children's home in Liverpool, where John lived most of his life. As a young child, John would go here to be by himself. He says that he was in a different place here, that nothing was real, hence the line "nothing is real".
