Strawberry Field was the name of a Salvation Army orphanage just around the corner from Lennon's boyhood home in Woolton. The song features extensive overdubbing, the prominent use of reverse tape effects and tape loops, and extensive audio compression and equalisation. In addition to the standard guitar-bass-drums backing, the arrangement also included piano, Mellotron (played by McCartney), trumpets, cellos and some unusual instruments including the swarmandel, an Indian stringed instrument which provided the sitar-like sound at the end of each chorus.

The promotional film for the song is now recognized as one of the first and most successful conceptual music videos, featuring reverse film effects, stop motion animation, disconcerting jump cuts from daytime to nighttime and (among other things) The Beatles playing and subsequently pouring paint over and smashing an upright piano. It also featured the use of jarring juxtaposition of setting with props - such as a table in the middle of an open field - often seen in more recent 'eccentric' music videos. It was filmed on January 30, 1967 in Knole Park in Sevenoaks, and directed by Peter Goldmann.