Shenzhan
It sounds strange but while I was writing for a Wechat column about Central Park (说道西东：亲爱的孩子，我想带你看世界）, I rediscovered the Beatles.
The rediscovery process starts with a research on the Strawberry Field. Built in 1985 after John Lennon was murdered in the nearby Dakota Apartment building just across from the Central Park West Avenue, where he resided with Yoko Ono at the time, the memorial field is built with mosaics from Naples, with “IMAGINE” written in the middle, inviting people to stand, sit, or play music around, while showing respect to the most famous singer in the world.
In front the quiet and peaceful Strawberry Field today, it’s hard to imagine the bloody night of December 8, 1980, when John Lennon was shot 4 times with fatal wounds, right in front of the entrance of the Dakota building. Today the castle-like building quietly watches people passing at its foot to and from Central Park. Flowers and candles often are displayed at the Strawberry Field to express people's respect, seemingly so uneventful now.
But why is it named "the Strawberry Field"?
“the Strawberry Fields Forever” was a song released by the Beatles in 1967. If you listen to it or try to sing along with it, you would find it’s not the most harmonic music in the world. But it’s still beautiful and powerful, especially with Lennon’s voice, pure, innocent, and young.
In fact, the song was inspired by Lennon’s childhood memory: as a child in Liverpool, England, Lennon and his friends often hung out at an old Victorian house called Strawberry Field, converted for Salvation Army orphans. They always had a good time there. Lennon told Anthology years before his death.
Perhaps there isn’t too much to read into. However, it’s just comforting to know how the field commemorating Lennon’s death is connected to his childhood - as if it could bring Lennon back to the beginning of his life.
Astoria, New York
May 20, 2018