Strawberry Fields Forever & the Vietnam War



The Vietnam War was a misunderstood conflict among many Americans during the 1960’s. However, thousands of young, especially teenage men, enlisted to fight in Vietnam against the spread of communism. In 1967, around the turning point to the Vietnam War, the Beatles released a new song named Strawberry Fields Forever which metaphorically represents strawberry fields as Vietnam. “Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see” (The Beatles). The Beatles metaphorically represent America’s shaded knowledge about the Vietnam War by comparing it to a person living ‘with eyes closed’. The 1960’s was a time of misdirection for teenagers who leaving high school during the war, were out to discover their identities as adults. “It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out, it doesn't matter much to me” (The Beatles). Since the lyrics convey a confused or lost character, but also a free spirited one, the song depicts the life of a teenage boy, who enlists to fight in Vietnam in order to find himself. Since Vietnam was until today, America’s longest lasting conflict, it was also a very bloody war for the United States. Because strawberries are red, the suffering and death of American soldiers is conveyed through the ‘strawberry fields’. The Vietnam War was also until today’s war in Iraq, the longest lasting military conflict in American history. Therefore, Strawberry Fields Forever depicts itself as a well suiting name for the Vietnam Conflict because the war literally seemed to have lasted ‘forever’ for most Americans at the time.