Abstract
This thesis is about The Beatles and locating them in 1967. It is a historical analytical study where I describe some of the most important events of 1967, and turning to hermeneutics and acknowledging the value of intertextuality I look at some of the ways the music, the events, and the social are interrelated. In this way I also try to map out The Beatles and their musical influences during this period. My perspective is also partly historiographical as I am interested in how the history about The Beatles and 1967 has been written, and our attitude towards that time.
To provide an overview of 1967 I explore some of what I see as 1967’s major cultural events, the cultural phenomenon referred to as “Summer of Love”, the countercultural capitals London and San Francisco, bohemian ideology, psychedelia, and music ideology. In relation to these matters I examine various elements of The Beatles’ 1967 music and activities I find significant to understand the group and their context. “Strawberry Fields” is analyzed and discussed with emphasis as being an ambitious psychedelic production; I examine Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band’s music and album sleeve, and the album in the contemporary cultural and musical context. I explore the musical and visual codes of “All You Need Is Love” and The Beatles’ performance at Our World, where they preached their version of the hippie ideology.