Producer George Martin recalled being startled when John Lennon told him he wanted to re-record everything the Beatles had made, including “Strawberry Fields Forever”. The remark matters because it illustrates Lennon’s dissatisfaction with finished work and the creative tension between his ambitions and what he felt recordings had achieved.

Martin said the conversation took place in Lennon’s Dakota apartment in New York, years after the Beatles split. When Martin objected that not all of their work could have been poor, Lennon reportedly replied that most of it was “crap”, with “Strawberry Fields” especially singled out; Martin later interpreted this as Lennon believing his inner vision exceeded its real-world expression.