Why do you think  " Penny Lane " plays a secondary role to " Strawberry Fields Forever " ?
Everybody i know always favours  " Strawberry Fields Forever " out of the two songs myself included .
Yes we acknowledge " Penny Lane " is a great song but it stands in the shadow of it's more illustrious bed partner . Is this fair ? when it's an integral part of the greatest single  ever released ?
Im listening to  " Penny Lane " now and it's wonderful perfect infact , but i know if i put on  " Strawberry Fields Forever " i will forget  " Penny Lane " i find this very strange almost as if i am being manipulated by Lennon to favour his great song . This as always puzzled me why can't i love  " Penny Lane " equally is it really a lesser song ?

Quoted from DaveRam

Everybody i know always favours  " Strawberry Fields Forever " out of the two songs myself included .

Well, this Meanie here prefers Penny Lane!

I think SFF was a very innovative song at the time, mellotrons, tape loops, all sorts of weird and wonderful things going on, the like of which had not been heard before by the majority of the record buying public. It's also very much a product of it's time, as one of the songs that defines 1967, and psychedelia. It stays in the memory longer. Penny Lane, by comparison, is pretty normal.

I should have put money on you been awkward BlueMeanie , but good on you favouring Penny Lane  
But maybe your right making the normal comparison ? Penny Lane is like a lovely postcard , where as Strawberry Fields sounds like it's from another world ?

Given the time the single was released, there were three songs available for it. Besides Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever, there was When I'm 64 as well. Nonwithstanding the fact that everybody says that PL/SFF was the best single ever released, it did not reach #1. Personally, I always felt that Penny Lane/When I'm 64 should have reached that position without a doubt, although we will never know of course. I think that as a single, Penny Lane is a stronger song than Strawberry Fields, which is maybe even too innovative for a single release. With the virtual release of Penny Lane as a single, backed by When I'm 64, Strawberrry Fields could have been included on Sgt Pepper instead of When I'm 64. Problem might have been that both the a- and b-side should have been sung by Paul then.

Quoted from DaveRam

I should have put money on you been awkward BlueMeanie ,

You mean I have a reputation?

I've always liked 'Penny Lane' better than 'SFF'. I recognize 'SFF' as a great song loved by most Beatle fans, but I just never cared for it. Too long and monotonous for me.

Quoted from BlueMeanie

You mean I have a reputation?

Yes like the plague

Quoted from DaveRam

Yes like the plague

I'll take that as a compliment.  

i dont know but i think maybe because of how it makes you feel when you listen to it ?

i  can listen to SFF any time regardless of mood

but Penny lane i have to be in quite a cheery mood to listen to it or it irritates me a little bit as its so upbeat and cheery itself.

so when people are asked there fave between SFF and penny lane  unless theyre in a cheery mood at that point  they'll tend not to choose penny lane ?

Well, I like them both and I couldn't say that one is better then another.

Quoted from real01

Well, I like them both and I couldn't say that one is better then another.

All hail the voice of reason.

Happy new year all. SFF is a great song, but I don't think it makes a great single. It lacks any immediate oomph and the hooks are too subtle. Should have stayed as an album track. Penny Lane, on the other hand, has single written all over it.

Both SFF and PL are great songs.  Both were innovative in their own ways.  I think SFF music goes well with the lyrics.  With Penny Lane Paul used different instruments such as the trumpet.

Hands down I would pick Penny Lane.  Never cared much for Strawberry Fields, I mean I like it but not at the top of my list.  The reason I love Penny Lane is that it is so descriptive, When I listen to the words I can almost imagine myself there.  Great song!

Quoted from Bobber

Given the time the single was released, there were three songs available for it. Besides Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields Forever, there was When I'm 64 as well. Nonwithstanding the fact that everybody says that PL/SFF was the best single ever released, it did not reach #1. Personally, I always felt that Penny Lane/When I'm 64 should have reached that position without a doubt, although we will never know of course. I think that as a single, Penny Lane is a stronger song than Strawberry Fields, which is maybe even too innovative for a single release. With the virtual release of Penny Lane as a single, backed by When I'm 64, Strawberrry Fields could have been included on Sgt Pepper instead of When I'm 64. Problem might have been that both the a- and b-side should have been sung by Paul then.

Some critical notes to your post:
- SFF and Penny Lane were both 'nostalgic' songs, meaning their composers tried do describe their feelings about their childhood memories. Lennon taking the obvious negative view: 'No one I think is in my tree' and Paul the positive: 'And all the people that come and go, stop and say hello'.
- While When I'm Sixty-Four was available, it wasn't nostalgic in that sense at all because Paul wrote it when he was 16 and The Beatles performed numerous times in their pre-fame days.
- SFF and Penny Lane were released as an double A single, and so the sales figures were divided by two. De second chart position that was reached evidently meant that they were in fact selling much more than 'Release Me' but sadly not twice as much.