 The band recorded three distinct versions of the song . After Lennon played the song for the other Beatles on his acoustic guitar , the band recorded the first take . Lennon played an Epiphone Casino ; McCartney played a Mellotron , a new home instrument purchased by Lennon on 12 August 1965 ( with another model hired in after encouragement from Mike Pinder of The Moody Blues ) ; George Harrison played electric guitar , and Ringo Starr played drums . The first recorded take began with the verse , " Living is easy … " , instead of the chorus , " Let me take you down " , which starts the released version . The first verse also led directly to the second , with no chorus between . Lennon 's vocals were automatically double @-@ tracked from the words " Strawberry Fields Forever " through the end of the last verse . The last verse , beginning " Always , no sometimes " , has three @-@ part harmonies , with McCartney and Harrison singing " dreamy background vocals " . This version was soon abandoned and went unreleased until the Anthology 2 compilation in 1996 . 
