Recalling the release of "Sgt. Pepper" in his 1977 book "The Beatles Forever", Nicholas Schaffner wrote that "Nothing quite like 'A Day in the Life' had been attempted before in so-called popular music" in terms of the song's "use of dynamics and tricks of rhythm, and of space and stereo effect, and its deft intermingling of scenes from dream, reality, and shades in between". Schaffner said that in the context of 1967, the track "was so visually evocative it seemed more like a film than a mere song. Except that the pictures were all in our heads." Having been given a tape of "A Day in the Life" by Harrison before leaving London, David Crosby proselytised strongly about "Sgt. Pepper" to his circle in Los Angeles, sharing the recording with his Byrds bandmates and Graham Nash. Crosby later expressed surprise that by 1970 the album's powerful sentiments had not been enough to stop the Vietnam War.