# Vanilla Fudge - what do the initials stand for? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [September 12, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265 "2008-09-12T13:46:08Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/1 "2008-09-12T13:46:08Z")
One of my favourite albums of the '60s was Vanill’a Fudge’s first; [Vanilla Fudge (album) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_Fudge_(album)) But I’ve never worked out what the initials STRA, WBER, RYFI and ELDS stood for. Anyone know? (Please don’t let it be something \*too \*obvious.) ---
**Author:** ![Laalune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Laalune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laalune)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/2 "2008-09-12T13:51:00Z")
Strawberry Fields? ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/3 "2008-09-12T13:55:33Z")
Oh god - \*that \*obvious? You know how to make someone feel very small :o Thanks, anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Laalune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Laalune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laalune)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/4 "2008-09-12T14:01:03Z")
😃 Glad to be of service! Maybe there is more to it, I don’t know. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/5 "2008-09-12T14:06:41Z")
Oh yes, there’s much more to it than that. The initials hold the key to hidden kharmic runes that once interpreted lead the way to an inner spectrum that resonates at a particular frequency . That’s what I \*really \*wanted to know about. ---
**Author:** ![Laalune](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/977dab/32.png) [@Laalune](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Laalune)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 2:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/6 "2008-09-12T14:29:18Z")
Wow! It seems that you already know more than I do. ---
**Author:** ![Flander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8c91f0/32.png) [@Flander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flander)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/7 "2008-09-12T15:16:25Z")
So do we get to slap you with a fish for linking to a wiki article about Vanilla Fudge that says it doesn’t have an article for Vanilla Fudge? ---
**Author:** ![Ichbin\_Dubist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/51bf81/32.png) [@Ichbin\_Dubist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ichbin_Dubist)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/8 "2008-09-12T15:22:24Z")
> [@Flander](#): > > So do we get to slap you with a fish for linking to a wiki article about Vanilla Fudge that says it doesn’t have an article for Vanilla Fudge? Add the missing close parens. But is the song some kind of weird cover version of “Strawberry Fields Forever” or no? Please don’t make me go to the Record Dungeon and pay $1.50 to find this out. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/9 "2008-09-12T15:42:22Z")
> [@Flander](#): > > So do we get to slap you with a fish for linking to a wiki article about Vanilla Fudge that says it doesn’t have an article for Vanilla Fudge? I did test the link in preview - honest! Try this: [Vanilla Fudge (album) - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vanilla_Fudge_(album))) ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/10 "2008-09-12T15:48:25Z")
> [@Ichbin\_Dubist](#): > > But is the song some kind of weird cover version of “Strawberry Fields Forever” or no? Please don’t make me go to the Record Dungeon and pay $1.50 to find this out. As you’ll see from the now working link, they’re little bits of psychedelic twiddling that are actually ‘attached’ the the other tracks. RYFI is ‘Three Blind Mice’ and ELDS has them intoning ‘nothing is real’ (from Strawberry Fields). I’m not sure what the other two bits are. ---
**Author:** ![Cagey\_Drifter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/b2d939/32.png) [@Cagey\_Drifter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cagey_Drifter)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/11 "2008-09-12T15:53:41Z")
I think the use of “Strawberry Fields” in the titles of those songs was in reference to how John Lennon’s used the term to represent childhood innocence and lost youth (note the extended titles, which refer to ‘Illusions of my Childhood’); I believe the original Strawberry Fields was a Salvation Army orphanage or something of that nature that John spent a lot of time in. ---
**Author:** ![NineToTheSky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/b5a626/32.png) [@NineToTheSky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NineToTheSky)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2008, 4:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/vanilla-fudge-what-do-the-initials-stand-for/463265/12 "2008-09-12T16:09:46Z")
> [@Cagey\_Drifter](#): > > I think the use of “Strawberry Fields” in the titles of those songs was in reference to how John Lennon’s used the term to represent childhood innocence and lost youth (note the extended titles, which refer to ‘Illusions of my Childhood’); I believe the original Strawberry Fields was a Salvation Army orphanage or something of that nature that John spent a lot of time in. He wasn’t a resident. He just lived nearby.