Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Its a song about transcending the mind's illusion to connect with the soul. The verses are the mind's illusions. Each chorus is a triumph of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - A Breakthrough. The Sky is Transcendence, Enlightenment. The diamonds are stars. Stars are soul. Lucy is any person. Lucy meaning light. One light, one soul. A piece reconnecting with the collective whole (of the universe). Its a song about the Nature of Life. How we move in + out of clarity + obscurity; deluded by the mind, enlightened by the soul. Its a Song of Symbols.

7/2012: My take on this is that the song is not *about* LSD; it's just a coincidence that the initial letters of the main words spell 'LSD', but the imagery in the lyrics is most definitely 'acid-inspired'. Given that its prime author was tripping on regular basis throughout the period when the song would have been created and recorded, it is likely that some of the imagary - taking its cue from both his son's drawing (of Lucy) and Lewis Carroll's "Through The Looking Glass" - would have found inspiration from trips he'd taken. [N.B. I am not saying that Lennon was tripping either when he wrote it or when The Beatles recorded it but that his acid trips did colour the lyrics, which, transcending the song's melody, stand alone as a beautiful piece of poetry.]

Quite a leap from A Hard Days Night, only 4 years.

And yes the song is about LSD. The song is describing a magical land "Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies" "Picture yourself on a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies" "A girl with kaleidoscope eyes"
The name may have come from Julian's friend Lucy, but its no doubt the lyrics are about LSD.

To Ila, London,
A 12 year old should not take acid, but LSD in completely non-addictive. Nor does it to permanent damage to the person when taking properly and knowingly.
Also a single trip varies from 5-15 dollars. Wait till your 18 to take acid kids.

I don't believe that the song is about LSD. Here's my reasoning: John admitted to taking hundreds of acid trips and having used heroine (an unfortunate part of the Beatles history) Why then would he lie about this one song? The Beatles used drugs and so some people want to read it into EVERYONE single song. I know this one is an easy target but come on.

Who cares what the song is about! It's a wonderful song and I wish people would just respect it and what John has done to make the world a better place:) Best music on Earth!

This is my favorite Beatles song. Weren't they on drugs when they wrote this or something?

Yes,the song is amazing because it leaves it open to interpretation. If one has experienced LSD one would think the song is a virtual journey without actually taking the substance. I believe John Lennon's statement about getting the INSPIRATION from a picture his son made but I also believe John Lennon was an incredibly smart and clever songwritter so there is just a need for some sort of seed to sprout an amazing thought provoking song. I am surprised no one ,bible beaters especially, has said it is an interpretation of Lucifer (the morning star) in the sky with the rest of the stars. This is only a far reaching possibility but Aleister Crowley is on the cover of Srgnt. Pepper.

when scientists found the sceleten of the first erect walking being, they found out that it was a female and they called it lucy because of this song after listening to the it while celebrating

julianna from newport CA,

are you crazy???!?!?!?!?
your 12 and your going to take lsd?
my moms next door neighbor was 17 when he took lsd first then he became addicted and then by age 19 he was in a loony hospital where he commited suicide by drinking draino!!!!!
think about what your doing@!!!!
besides where are you going to get the money to buy LSD, drugs are expensive you know

Yeah, I agree with Susan. I believe the story about his son is true, but John probably noticed that the initials in "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" and used it as slang for LSD.

I want to correct my previous post.I meant to say some people do not want to admit liking a "drug" song.Also even though Lennon had admitted taking LSD he still denies the fact that lucy was about LSD because if he admitted it he would be advocating drug use.Or at least that is what the press would say.It is one thing to say he took Lsd but to admit writing a song about it would get him into a boat load of trouble with anti drug groups the press and many other people.This song is a Psychedelic song.Along with pop and rock this is what catagory it falls under. A psychedelic song is a song that was written by the influence of psychadelics

Lennon is describing a trip on acid.I am not even talking about how the title has LSD in it.If you take time to listen to the lyrics you would realize he is not singing about a drawing that his son made.Why do people find this so hard to believe? Maybe Lennon did not see the Lsd reference but this is a psychedelic song and the things he describes very trippy.Lennon had admitted taking LSD along with the other Beatles.Just because he did not realize the letters LSd were in the title does not mean the song is not describing an acid trip.The song Tommorow never knows is also a pyschadelic song and there is no LSd in the title.It is a fact that Lennon had taken LSD why is it so hard to believe that these trips influenced his songwriting? I think some people try to convince themselves that the Beatles never took drugs because they dont want to admit to liking a "drug" and they can feel better about themselves for liking it. Drugs have influenced pop music for over 50 years and will continue to do so.You don't have to take drugs to listen to good music.Nor are you a Hippy or a drug addict just because you like a song that was influenced by drug use.

Really, people! The song ISN'T about LSD! How many people actually look at titles of songs to see if they spell anything? How about people whose initials are LSD? Do you assume they drop acid? Yes? Then you're all ignorant and close-minded. Stop concentrating on illegal drugs and focus on the finer things in life.

Julianna from Newport CA. Taking LSD should not be something you should strive for.If you are such a fan of the Beatles perhaps your time would be better spent learning how to play guitar or piano.I personnaly have never LSD but I certailnly think that at age 12 a persons mind and personality are not yet fully mature and taking a powerful drug such as LSD could have a negative effect on ones personal growth. At age 12 the world is full of possibilities. It is not just a cliche that you can do and be whatever you want.Enjoy your childhood don't try to grow up too soon.Make decisions now that you will be happy with in the latter years of your life.

I love this song and no matter what it's about we all have to admit that John Lennon had talent,imagination,and just knew how to put all this stuff into a song that is still a big hit today and so did. Paul,George,and Ringo. I'm only 12 and am planning to move to Liverpool,England and take LSD, but can any of you people just tell me how it feels to take LSD,please.And if anybody responds to my response I won't be able to thank you enough.

Maybe this song isn't about LSD, I don't care. All I know is that it's amazing when you're trippin'

I can't stress this enough.Just because the title may have come from a drawing [wich I dont beleive anyway] doesn't mean it was not inspired by the use of LSD as well. Do you really think this song would have the same feel sound and mood if not for the use of psychadelics? You mean to tell me a man of Lennons' inteligence couldn't see the Lsd connection in the title of the drawing.At what point of the song does he even mention a drawing? Of all the songs ever written if this is not about drugs no song ever was. Susan from Huntington beach CA I couldn't agree with you more

I know John tells the story of julian and the drawing he made and I beleive this could have happened. I aso beleive John immediatly saw the the LSD connection and made it the title of his song.There is no way John could not have seen the connection

I hate to tell you guys but this song was referred to LSD. That dosent mean you have to drop acid it's just what was going on at the time. the beatles were experimenting with harder dugs. listen to the lirics very closely. The beatles were none for making people wonder about what there songs were referred to. in 1974 john lennon admits that the song lyrics were pretty obvious it was about LSD. but there is a lot of songs from the beatles that have no drug reference at all. take 'Let it be" for an example amazing lyrics no drug reference.

Again John Lennon's creative genius flowering so beautifully ... a highly original, magical song filled with imagery that stays with you forever. The inner worlds of this song are so beautifully and poetically drawn. No one else can write like this. John Lennon plays our imagination as a great violinist plays his violin.

Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds" has a rhythmic alternation of 3/4 and 4/4 meter and it's use of tambora drone on the verse. The song has three distinct sections with parts going from a slow psychedelic section and then to a rocking section. The guitar colors also change from a slide guitar which doubles the vocal to the next section guitar through a Leslie speaker.

I'm not totally sure but that fact about the 2004 Daily Mirror interview is a fake. I've never heard Paul saying that Lucy... is a song about LSD and Day Tripper is about pot not acid i believe 'cause when it was written Paul didn't do LSD yet and the others had recently been introduced to it.
Finally is NOT about DRUGS as Mccartney once said, congs have different meanings for everyone so if you're a junkie you will think all songs are about drugs

maybe the beatles were a bunch of acid tripping stoners, but those experiences influenced their music, and not in a bad way. i think when they were tripping and stoned, their music came out the best. and its not as if when they were high they didnt know what they were writing, and even if they didnt, they looked at it later and decided they liked it. so leave them the hell alone. they all said they didnt regret taking acid, it brought them closer to nature and further from reality. It inspired imagination, which is what this world needs. We're too caught up in reality.

Darryl from LA, I agree with you completely. But, about Doctor Robert not being a drug reference....Hate to break it to you, but that whole song is about The Beatles' dealer.

"Lol, Whenever else are you going to see tangerine trees and marmalade skys, or rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies, Other than taking LSD? never."


In a child's mind, which is what inspired this song.

I remember the first time i heard this song. I fell in love with it! It is so up beat. Ya i know the whole LSD thing..but hey it was what was going on at the time!

RIP Lucy Vodden....you will forever be remembered through the magic of THE BEATLES! And thank you too Julian Lennon.

All this LSD nonsense is killing me. Yes, the Beatles tripped often in the late 1960s. That's documented and well-known, but the song isn't about drugs. If the song was about LSD, I have no doubt that McCartney or Starr would have said so in the past decade in an interview. The song is about Julian Lennon's childhood school mate Lucy Vodden...or rather his drawing of her in the sky with diamonds. While I don't listen to NPR often, I was fortunate to hear a segment 3-4 months ago about the song and Lucy Vodden. Ms. Vodden was interviewed in the segment and said that she actually wasn't a big fan of the song. At the time of her interview, I believe she was living in France with her husband and fighting lupus. Julian, learning of his former school mate's health condition, bought Lucy some gardening supplies as gardening was her hobby. According to another posted comment, Lucy recently died. So all you people out there passing half-truths and falsehoods, put your doobie down for a second and try tracking down that NPR segment on Lucy to get to the truth of the song. So is Dr. Roberts, Rita the meter maid, Mr. Kite, Bungalo Bill, and Vera, Chuck and Dave all drugs references too?

The Associated Press

Updated: Mon. Sep. 28 2009 10:55 AM ET

LONDON -- The real-life Lucy from the Beatles' song "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" has died after a long fight against lupus.

The death of Lucy Vodden at age 46 has been announced by St. Thomas' Hospital in London, where she was treated.

The hospital said Monday she died after battling the disease for years.

Vodden came to the attention of John Lennon when the Beatles' young son Julian came home from school one day with a drawing that he said was "Lucy in the sky with diamonds."

The elder Lennon turned it into a psychedelic masterpiece long associated with LSD use.

Julian Lennon reached out to Vodden in recent years as she suffered from the disease.

Lupus is a chronic illness during which the immune system attacks the body's own tissue.

When Elton John recorded his version of "Lucy" in 1974 he enlisted the writer himself to play guitar and sing backup. Their version of the song is still to this day the only Beatles cover to go to #1 on the Billboard chart...a testiment to the abilities of Elton John and John Lennon himself.

Even though I'm not denying that they did this kind of stuff, I think that there is as much a chance for this being about LSD, Puff the Magic Dragon about Marijuana, or Stairway to Heaven and Hotel California about Satan, to Elvis being alive, Paul being dead, and the Trees being about Canada and the US. Get a grip!

you guys, obviously julian was on LSD when de drew the picture, and named it lucy in the sky with diamonds (lsd). i mean...he WAS john lennons son, DUH!

Chloe,st.louis-------even more of an example of Pauls' superb bass playing is in the song "RAIN".-----

something that ISNT related to whether or not its a drug song- has anyone ever noticed the bassline in this song? its nothing short of perfect, it gives the song its dreamy feeling. i always point out this song when anyone tries to deny that paul was an incredible bass player.

One of my favorite songs for sure, and sure I guess its "close minded" but damn, it sure seems he was on LSD doesn't it? I mean really, "Picture yourself on a boat on a river with tangerine trees and marmalade skies somebody calls you you answer quite slowly a girl with kaliediscope eyes." sounds a little drug induced, but its great none the less.

This song is obviously about LSD. Lennon probably clarified his "accident" to the Rolling Stones in order to protect identity because I believe in the 70's LSD was frowned upon by intellects and many families. Also the Beatles broke up by 1972 so he might have changed faces. Besides that, in the song he even states, "you've made the taxis appear on the shore....climb in the back..with your head in the clouds...." then states, "....suddenly someone is there at the turnstile, the girl with kaleidoscope eyes" - a kaleidoscope was a prominent (lol) object used to increasingly stimulate the LSD experience.

The first Beatles song I ever loved. It's weird, trippy, and definitely Lennon.

I actually heard Lennon say that part of this song is a description from a picture that his son drew for him.

But then again I also read somewhere that Lennon said that they chose beatles with the a because in a dream a flaming pie came to him said, "from now on you shall be The Beatles with an a".

"Can we please harp on something other than the supposed drug references in every Beatle song! No one harps on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Alan Poe or Lewis Carrol for being opium eaters...and they were! And they often wrote about what happened to them under (the influence) or in an opium dream...and yet we study their works at great length. I don't think anyone would say their works had no substance beyond these addictions...Nor was opium illegal in the 1800s nor was LSD in the 60s. It only became illegal when people started realizing the harmful effects to the users and people who unfornutately were killed or hurt as a result of users; same as opium...some 60 years before. So long story short...if the Beatles had a little induced inspiration - they wouldn't be the first. And certainly not the last. So ease up people all you sniggering closet-case druggies trying to analyze every tick and turn of phrase in every lyric...venture out of the basement once in a while. There are some undisputable references but there are also some coincidences just because the Beatles lived in a time when self expression often came at the result or at the expense of drugs...doesn't mean it's infused in every line."

Pretty much exactly what I was going to say! Thanks. I get so tired of everyone saying "It was about drugs" or "It wasn't about drugs." It doesn't bloody matter! Either you like this song or you don't!

I can account first hand that NOT ALL OF MY SONGS HAPPEN WHEN I'M ON DRUGS! So I'm sure that the Beatles had songs that were not all written from a trip...UGH.

I love stupid people.

Lucy, NY------Just wanted to say that around this time, i've read that both Jouhn and goerge were tripping majorly most of the time--in fact, during the cover shoot, John and George WERE tripping.

Ok so heres what I think 1) its not bout drugs 2) have any of u ever looked at the lyrics?? heres what i think bout the lyrics mayb john was just trying to b a kid again u know like when your an adult and life is rough and u wish u were a kid again well mayb thats what john felt especially him being famous and all! Kaleidoscope eyes could b him trying to see things in a way that they dont appear! some things do sound like alice in wonderland! Newspaper taxis, taxis in new york or just things that dont appear as they r! Picture yourself.... wherever just wherever u want to b peacful place... not around a group of ppl! TRY TO SEE THE BETTER IN THE (somewhat) BAD!!!!!!!!!!

Now I'm confused. In the article about this song on Wikipedia, it says the girl was named Lucy O'Donnel. Then I just read here that the girl that Julian drew was Lucy Richardson. Which girl was it? Between this and the one on Wikipedia, which article is right?

Lennon had the original song but relied on substantial lyrical input from McCartney

Who knows? Maybe he was on an acid trip... or not. I wonder; why someone would make a song with incoherent lyrics? What I mean is that the lyrics are all over the place. He hops from one topic to another. What's funny is that my name is Lucy is too, but this song sounds weird to me.

Obviously it is about LSD. I was 16 when Sgt. Peppers have been released and only people that have lived through that time can understand.
Drugs have been one of the most important cultural facts of the 60-70 years and people from that period that denny it , or is a lier or lost the trip! Pay attention that Nixon said that Mr. Thimoty Leary was the main USA´s enemy.And it was true as the drug revolution of that period has menaced all our culture and way of life.
Anyway , Lennon wrote a song about LSD , that was a very meaning thing by that time.
And the real question is.........is it the most beautifull and perfect song about LSD?
Sure it was and still is. Nobody can write a better song about a LSD trip.Genius work.

amen, linc from tx. amen. maybe there was a bit of inspiration from lsd for some of the imagery, but, like they themselves said, not an acid song. anyway, who really cares? name ONE THING on earth that is more fun than screaming along to the chorus.

this song is easily the most genius of their masterpieces.

Can we please harp on something other than the supposed drug references in every Beatle song! No one harps on Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Edgar Alan Poe or Lewis Carrol for being opium eaters...and they were! And they often wrote about what happened to them under (the influence) or in an opium dream...and yet we study their works at great length. I don't think anyone would say their works had no substance beyond these addictions...Nor was opium illegal in the 1800s nor was LSD in the 60s. It only became illegal when people started realizing the harmful effects to the users and people who unfornutately were killed or hurt as a result of users; same as opium...some 60 years before. So long story short...if the Beatles had a little induced inspiration - they wouldn't be the first. And certainly not the last. So ease up people all you sniggering closet-case druggies trying to analyze every tick and turn of phrase in every lyric...venture out of the basement once in a while.
There are some undisputable references but there are also some coincidences just because the Beatles lived in a time when self expression often came at the result or at the expense of drugs...doesn't mean it's infused in every line.

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds also plays as you view the Lucy exhibit - it's amazing!

This song is not about LSD John´s son Julian came home with a painting of his school friend Lucy in a sky of diamonds and it inspired Lennon to write the song definately not about LSD

The only thing that can be taken as fact in this whole arguement is the fact that each member of The Beatles (including of course, John Lennon), have admitted to taking drugs at one point in their songwriting/musical career. However, it's obvious from videographed interviews done with Lennon and the other Beatles that they were eccentric, alternative and probably on some form of drug or enhancer for different periods of time.
So we can sort of conclude that they MAY have been on LSD when Lucy in the Sky was written, but I really don't see why or how this matters... Especially today - 2008 - it was many years ago that it was released, and the fact that this song is a masterpiece of music, imagry and lyrics should be the topic of discussion not the motives for it's creation...
Just enjoy it for what it is and always will be. An amazing song, from a revolutionary band.

NOT DRUG RELATED! IT'S NOT ABOUT "LSD". God, you people. Sure they took some drugs but that's it. John didn't even want to take "LSD". Some twit slipped it into his coffee.

This song reminds me of Willy Wonka when they walk into the room with all those lollies and that chocolate river...mmm...love this song

On Elton John's version, John was credited as a guest musician under the name "Dr. Winston O'Boogie."

QUOTE: "ITS NOT A FRICKEN DRUG SONG!!! You people are so stupid and closed minded! Why can't you just face the fact that John Lennon had one of the most creative and amazing mind to think of all that imagry! THE BEATLES ADMITTED TO ACID USE FOR I AM THE WALRUS AND GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE!!! So they would have admitted to Lucy In The Sky too so just let it go! John got his inspiration for the imagry from Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. Caroll admitted to LSD use when he wrote those so even though you might hurt yourselves try to put 2 and 2 together..."
- Beth, Manhatten, NY


Beth, why cant you fricken accept that it is about LSD, why else would you see celophane flowers and marmalade skies? Awesome song, accept the facts.

I hate it when people claim every song in the world is about drugs (especially Beatles songs). What the hell do the initials of a song have to do with anything? When is that ever important? Who cares what the song is about anyway (even though it quite obviously isn't about drugs because John and Paul have both denied this repeatedly)? The point is it's a good piece of music!

The bassline in this song is very catchy and fits in well with the rest of the song. Excellent work by Paul.

Personally i don't care if it's about drugs or not, it's still a beautiful, creative song.
I mean, i support the belief/fact that it's not, that the title is just a coincidence. As for the lyrics, John did, in fact, get inspiration from Alice in Wonderland, i have read that numerous times in books and such.
But, that still was a time when John was using acid and drugs, so there is no doubt some relationship between the creativity of the song and drugs.
Still, i think it's a brilliant song, because you can imagine every lyric in your mind, maybe a different way than others, and it makes people wonder. (and i support the fact that the Beatles were so open about their drug use, especially John, so if they tell people about references and use other times, why would they just all of a sudden deny it for one song?)

well i think that people had way too much time on thier hands and came up with this song is about LSD which it isnt i dont care what anyone says its not

You guys can talk all you want about how its about drugs but its the most beautiful song ever because you can see everything that their saying and its amazing.

"John later admitted The Beatles had smoked pot (in a bathroom) prior to meeting the Queen"
John made this odd boast (and very obvious lie! the palace was swarming with security! duh!) that shows that he was just an ordinary person with insecurities. Even with all the success and fame, he felt the need to reassert himself as a Really Amazing Person who would do something like this. In fact, all four Beatles were so NERVOUS that they smoked a cigarette to calm down.

"What balls to make a statement like that"
Just cheeky enough to get headlines, not so much as to be offensive or abrasive. He was a salesman.

"John later returned the medal-a bold, defiant, but honest act"
John was glad to get his medal at the time by all accounts. After Yoko had brainwashed him to believe the Beatles were evil and he was a true mega-genius, this was just another self-obsessed stunt.

"These few examples are of a guy who remained true to his beliefs"
Uh - he definitely apologized to the press in 1966, back-pedalled a bit to calm down the hysteria. This is not remaining true to your beliefs. In 1969, he was whacked on heroin and attempting to impress Yoko with his rebel-ness, and revived that old scandal somewhat.

Oh, as for the song title. You're right - it's not about LSD, it's about a drawing from his son Julian (the one he more or less abandoned when he met Yoko).

It is easy to just look at the obvious and draw a conclusion, even if it is incorrect. John Lennon never denied anything about him that was true. He was controversial, outspoken, and a genius. When Queen Elizabeth appointed The Beatles with their MBE medals, John later admitted The Beatles had smoked pot (in a bathroom) prior to meeting the Queen. During their performance, John made the comment, "You rich people in the front rows please applaud, you people in the cheap seats, just shake your jewelry". What balls to make a statement like that to the most staunch and proper people of his country especially in a time so long ago. John later returned the medal-a bold, defiant, but honest act. In an interview when asked about the movie HELP!, John replied, "Pure rubbish". In '66 John's statement about The Beatles being more popular than Jesus, which was taken out context, resulted in panic with religous groups as evidenced by organized Beatles bonfires, with teens burning and breaking every Beatles item they owned. Yet, in '69 The Ballad of John & Yoko, he sings, Christ you know it ain't easy....their going to crucify me. These few examples are of a guy who remained true to his beliefs and didn't put up with any crap, so why disbelieve what he said about this song?

Lol, Whenever else are you going to see tangerine trees and marmalade skys, or rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies, Other than taking LSD? never.

ITS NOT A FRICKEN DRUG SONG!!! You people are so stupid and closed minded! Why can't you just face the fact that John Lennon had one of the most creative and amazing mind to think of all that imagry! THE BEATLES ADMITTED TO ACID USE FOR I AM THE WALRUS AND GOT TO GET YOU INTO MY LIFE!!! So they would have admitted to Lucy In The Sky too so just let it go! John got his inspiration for the imagry from Lewis Caroll's Alice in Wonderland and Through The Looking Glass. Caroll admitted to LSD use when he wrote those so even though you might hurt yourselves try to put 2 and 2 together...

One of John Lennon's best songs. I love it!

They used a Gibson G101/Kalamazoo organ for the intro ( http://www.combo-organ.com/Gibson/gibson.htm )

A little off the subject, but my 11 year old who is a HUGE Beatles fan, came home from school saying they were studying music history in class, and going over music from the 20's ,30's 40's' 50's-70's and 80's. Yes, they left out the 60's! My son said they probably don't want kids to know about the Beatles and Bob Dylan and the drugs. He was highly upset the left out his favorite time period for music.

a cavewoman found in antartica or something was named Lucy after this song.

This is my all time favorite song i love the lyrics and the story behind it...thats what truely makes a good song and The Beatles were good at that (the best)!

I think that everyone in here who is saying "NO it's not about the LSD" or "NO it's not about the picture, that's just a cover...." you're not getting the balance.

The Beatles were all about connection and how everything is intertwined. Everything is connected. All experiences alter our world, and you never will see anything the same as you did yesterday.
He didn't write this song about the LSD and he didn't decide, HEY i'm going to write a song about Lucy because i feel slightly inspired by this picture...
Had he never taken LSD he probably would not have seen the picture in the same way, he wouldn't have dreamt or felt or written these things. Had he not seen the picture, he wouldn't have written this song, he also would not have dreamt or felt or written these things.

It's not about just the drugs, it's not just about the picture. They're connected. It's all connected, and that's what they all have said. Just listen and you'll know.

i understand all the coincidences between the lyrics and acid trips haha but john was pretty open about what songs are a result of drugs, so why would he deny it here? its true he may have noticed the double meaning, but maybe it was after the song was finished and saw no point in changing it. i really don't think he wrote this song because of LSD, but it could have just been a bonus meaning that he noticed post-recording or something.

John said about songs he wrote after this one, "I always checked the titles' initials to see if they accidentally spelled anything, but they never did."

i like the begining to this song. its creepy and errie (did i spell that right?) oh, well! his voice is sooo strange in this and at the same time it is beautiful. i love it!

If Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds is about LSD because of its initials, what is "Tea In The Sahara" about?

This is the most missinterpeted songs ever.
Im tired of people saying that this is about drugs when they have no proof.All they say is "Pshh, well it says LSD!" It's like check the facts people.

Total Acid trip song. But it's good. Lennons singing slightly haunting.

I know John denied noticing the LSD within the Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds title (I personally find that hard to believe), and I am amazed at all the Beatles songs that some people theorize are about drugs, but despite what John said, to argue that this song was not about an LSD trip after reading the lyrics and listening to the way it was sung and recorded, you might as well argue that none of their songs were about drugs. And I think most would agree that argument makes as little sense as the thought that most of their songs were about drugs. If you've seen John's two books you'll realize that John was seriously into word games and double meanings of words and phrases. This wordplay and double meaning are reflected in some of his songs (Please Please Me, Come Together, etc.). It's in character for him to have recognized the possible double meaning of the title right away. Otherwise, was it just coincidence that the song is about cellophane flowers towering over your head, kaleidoscope eyes, someone answering quite slowly, head in the clouds, flowers that grow so incredibly high, while sung and recorded in a dizzying slow motion style leaving the listener with images of floating on the breeze like some sort of human balloon?

This is so very hard to believe.but I thought Elton John sort of sang this song too.Am I right.

listening to this song puts my in another world ESP. the beginning part. John's voice is so hauntingly beautiful on this track.

and lennon has never once denied that the song was about drugs, nor have any of the other beatles.

all of this information is terribly mistaken.
the song title came from a drawing done by john lennon's 4-year-old son, julian. it was a picture of a classmate of his named Lucy against a backdrop of stars and exploding colors. little Julian was the one who named it and john was immediately inspired to write a song.

the song is clearly about an acid trip, however, the title is mere coincidence. all of the beatles have sworn for years that none of them noticed until the album came out and people started talking about it.

it does not describe scenes from alice in wonderland, i don't know where that came from at all.

All this speculation about drugs! All the Beatles members have stated categorically that the song was not about drugs. If they say no... then it is no. Lennon in particular was never shy in admitting / announcing every "evil" the band members ever committed. He left virtually nothing to speculation regarding their drug taking / violence etc... etc... You can bet that if "Lucy" was about drugs, Lennon would have been the loudest in admitting it.

i love you jocelyn, greeneville, TN

this song is so not about drugs. i, personally, love her. lucy, that is. i think she has cat-shaped john lennon eyes- high eyebrows, a button nose and firm, mauve lips. pink hair and lots of earings. she listens to pink floyd and led zeppin and elliot smith and likes to sing the suicidal tendancys song "institutionalized" and the beastie boys song "we gutta fight for our right to party!". her boyfriend is the fool in the hill and she lives in the octopuss'es garden with lovely rita... rita makes shure she eats 3 squair meals, mostly cuz lucy enjoys eating nothing but carrots and charlston chews. i love lucy in the sky.

Has anyone looked at the picture that is supposedly Julian's Lucy?(see Wiki if you ain't). It is quite clearly a picture of someone with a tie playing a guitar. Look at the musical notations coming out from the accurately drawn guitar machine head. Not bad for a toddler, and definately not a picture of a blonde three year old.

This song was written cos one day when Julian came home from school, he showed John a picture that he drew. John asked "Well whats this?" and Jules said: "It's Lucy in the sky with diamonds." It was a picture of Jules best freind, Lucy, flying in the sky with diamonds all around her.

This song is a reference to "Through The Looking Glass", not the "Alice In Wonderland" part.

i think all of those who propose that the song is about LSD should actually look further into the facts rather than saying their opinion based on no evidence! if you read the book. sgt peppers lonely hearts club band written by george martin he explains the coming abouts of the song. This song was meant to be psychadellic not about one of the beatles getting high. It says in the book that they were heavily influenced by alice in wonderland which is clear through the lyrics. Lucy in the sky with diamonds representing LSD is a common misconception in the general public. I personally think that people are looking too much into things and are trying to make something out of nothing. And everyone was doing drugs at that time. And previous to that too... look at Miles Davis! Who cares if they did drugs? They are amazing musicians and .. this song, has clear evidence is NOT about LSD.... oh and patrick... i would really like to see some evidence to validate your point.... : ) AND I AGREE WITH ALEX... and another thing, if they wrote it about drugs, and it was common knowledge that they WERE on drugs, then why insist that it is something else... john said that the beatles were bigger than jesus and that didnt completely stop their popularity! I have a question to all those who think that it is about LSD... why would they change its meaning just for politics?

John said again and again it was precisely what the daily mail said it was why would he lie he was forthcoming about his use of drugs. he said after he heard this he went through every song and put together the letter. I believe everyone just want to think everysongs about drugs. GEORGE BUSH junior did coke and everything he says tweaked the right way byu wackos could be made into a drugs reference too im sure.
John love imagery like lewis carols, he was a dreamer, not just a stoner.

i dont know if anyone has said this or not but it seems to be about LSD...umm, even in the title...lucy in the sky with diamonds....lucy=L, sky = S, and diamonds = D

well fooling all those who believe its not LSD related

nice point Gale!... after reading all the arguments, i believe John was being sarcastic in saying its not about LSD, i mean comeeee onnn hes fooling us all because we are defending this song with these obvious lyrics

The Beatles did a decent job of covering this William Shatner classic.

It means LSD

You should like thes ong for the way it sound and the words. Not the meaning of a song. Yes with songs like Imagine yes there is a reason to like the meaning. But the meaning of a song shouldn't decide y u like it.

Amazing song. Does it really matter what the song is about ? Some say it's about LSD and other say it's about Julian painting. In the the many biograhpies I read about The Beatles and John Lennon they all said it was about Julian's painting. But I guess we wil never know if it's about LSD or Julian's painting. But serious it doesn't really matter.

this is OBVIOUSLY a song to attract attention to LSD, Lennon had stated he didn't want people to take drugs because of him because it is a GIFT and a CURSE, the reason he denies it being directly about LSD is because he never wanted to feel responsible for people who took LSD and regretted it

Forget what it's ABOUT, just pay attention to the fact that this is a great song.

the little debbie got there famous treat [marshmallow pies]from the verse [follow her down to the bridge past the fountain,where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pie]...

The song is TRULY about Julian's painting. The Beatles 'innocent-sounding' stuff was 'bad' and the 'bad-sounding' stuff was pure.

This is a very fast-paced lullabye. If sung slow and quietly enough, it could pass for a good lullaby that would help almost any child sleep, giving them images of tangerine trees, marmalade skies, newspaper taxis, rocking horse people, plasticine porters, trains, etc.

McCartney has confirmed that the song is about LSD (which doesn't in any way preclude Lennon's explanation also being true): http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3769511.stm

I love this song. Does it really matter if it's about drugs or not? Here's what I think...I think that this song was ispired by Julian's friend Lucy, but John Lennon was probably on acid while writing it. He even admitted that that's how he got a lot of inspiration for some of his song lyrics.

The song is in 3/4 and alternates to 4/4 changing metres in rock music was unsusual at the time. The song has two guitars through a Leslie speaker one with a slide guitar that sounds like an organ. The song uses a tamboura drone a instrument they used a lot in this time period. There is phasing on acoustic guitar and the lyrics influenced more than a few songs when this came out.

And about the initials, LSD would be correct. Usually when initialing something you leave out words like in, the, and with.

I think this is a great song that also went number 1 for Elton John. The song alternates from 3/4 to 4/4 and it uses phasing, drone from a tamboura, and a organ that sounds like a celeste and guitar through a leslie speaker and a bass solo at the end of the song. A great combination of Indian Instruments with pyschedlic music a sound they developed and used from Rubber Soul to early 1968.
Sal, Bardonia, NY

Shatner's version is a pisser. Not as funny as his rendition of "Mr. Tambourine Man", though.

mmm, up the page with the facts, they say that a girl, lucy richardson, inspired the song.
I read the anthology of the beatles, a biography in their own words and John says in it that his son came with a drawin to John and when John asked who the angel on the drawing was, Julian said: Lucy in the sky with diamonds

Charles Dodgeson was on Opium, not Acid

wasn't Lewis Carroll on acid when he wrote Alice in Wonderland. If that is the case, does that not mean this song IS influenced by LSD

lennon told reporters that his kid wrote him a picture of a lady flying in the sky with diamonds( i'll bet her names lucy) and lennon wrote a song of it. why did elton do this song to now he just mad it gay.

the part this song gets in the yellow submarin is my favorite part of the movie. who cares if its aobut LSD or not? its a geat song!

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds - LSD
As far as I'm concerned, there is no drug known as LITSWD! Hehe

LITSWD, not LSD.

the beatles rock, so does it matter whether or not its about being on lsd?!?!

Even though I don't think the song is about LSD, I still don't buy that John didn't see the L S and D in the initials, and I don't buy that he didn't trealize that people would think it is about LSD. Some of the images seem like ones you'd see in "Alice in Wonderland", and Louis Carol was one of John Lennon's favorite authors. John Lennon was probably inspired by the picture Julian drew and by Louis Carol's writings as well.

People, John admitted to having some of his songs about drugs, acid, and so on. If this song was really about LSD, dont you think he would of admitted it. Afterall, everyone knew that he was like that. Its NOT about LSD.

technically the initials for this are litsd. just think about that

I think that Sir Paul always belived that Lucy in The Sky With Diamonds was about LSD, but John even swear that is not.

I don't think Elton's verison is a bad cover. I really like it. It's not cheesy or over-produced. They just have different "feels". John reportedly forgot some of the chords and needed Davey Johnston to help him when he was playing guitar recording this version. I also like Elton's tribute to John - Empty Garden.

I like Elton's version. In fact it's his cover I heard first. I really don't think it's too cheesy or overproduced. The 2 versions just have different feels. I also like Elton's tribute to John - "Empty Garden".

Seth from Hebron, Kentucky... You have your dates mixed up, fella. Not sure what in the world you're thinking. "Lucy" the Neanderthal fossil was discovered in Ethiopia in 1974 by two scientists named Donald Johanson and Tom Gray. It really remained unknown to the world until the archeologists publicized their findings in the early 1980s. But you realize that by then, John Lennon was already dead. "Lucy in Sky with Diamonds" was a song released on a very popular record called "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" in the summer of 1967. See the difference? The Beatles record would've been on about its 80 billionth pressing by the time John Lennon's skeleton picked up a copy of National Geographic to read about the Ethiopian fossil you refer to.



AL 288-1, "Lucy", Australopithecus afarensis
Discovered by in 1974 at Hadar in Ethiopia (Johanson and Edey 1981; Johanson and Taieb 1976). Its age is about 3.2 million years. Lucy was an adult female of about 25 years. About 40% of her skeleton was found, and her pelvis, femur (the upper leg bone) and tibia show her to have been bipedal. She was about 107 cm (3'6") tall (small for her species) and about 28 kg (62 lbs) in weight

im listening to it ; i can't tell if its not or is about acid. some parts don't sound like it. and the guy from athens who said all the beatles were on drugs all their career, listen to all my loving. if you really think about the idea of this song, youll know

there are so many speculations about this song , this amazing song, anyone woh´s ever seen the beatles anthology knows that the offical explantion to the title is the one about them being inspired by julian Lennon`s drawing, wether that is the truth or not doesn´t really matter, it i such an amazing song and if John, Paul, George and Ringo claims it isn`t about drugs ,i choose to belive them , and even if it is , WHO CARES??

I always assumed that Julian called his picture Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds as a childish interpretation of what LSD might stand for. On the other hand, a lot of people who do drugs don't tell their kids about it, and hide it from them at least a little.

The title is based off the first Neanderthal fossil ever found that they called Lucy.

just wanna say something i heard a guy from either aerosmith or the rolling stones say.
"drugs are a short cut to creativness, it does not make you a more creative person it just gets you to the creative stage of thinking better. of course at the risk of your health." just thought id share that.

Enough with the arguing about whether or not this song is about drugs.Of course the Beatles did drugs....it was the 60's! Everyone was on some sort of drug then. The story about julien's drawing is in fact all true....Paul even gave an account of that story as well as john did...but i am certainly not saying there is no possible way this song is about drugs in any way. My point is...Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds is one of the greatest pieces of music ever written, and I think you are all over-analizing the meaning of the song.

also.. you think a man whos life and generation revolved around lsd wouldnt notice that Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds has those initials. His son came in one day and told him and he propably he thought it would be a funny name for a song considering how much he loved tounge-in-cheek jokes and subtle word games. like norwegian wood, drive my car, day tripper , girl and all the other times they joked around.

This song is about drugs. Anyone who wants to deny it is just lying to themselves. John didnt even write this himself.. paul has said that him and john would get together for that song and think of their acid trips to write it. Yes john lennon had a good imagination.. if you ever try LSD you'll have a quite good one as well. Yea they were geniuses, but they also loved drugs.. and a lot of their genius came from Acid. Anyone whos ever tried it knows exactly what that means. Sgt Pepper is like the most well known psychedelic album.. almost every song has drug references.. dont lie to yourselves people.. just because john did it

Does this song have the most comment lines of any songfacts tune? Anyway, i was about 4 when this came out, and i annoyed my mom by ruining this album overplaying it. Very kid-friendly band. I hope my 4 year old likes it as much as i did.

Yeah guys. Stop worrying about what Paul says about the song. This song is John's.

I believe John was telling the truth that the first inspiration for Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds was a drawing by Julian. I think Julian probably did tell him that the drawing was his friend Lucy and she was in the sky with diamonds. But John was much too clever not to have noticed the LSD initials in the title, and so wrote and arranged a song to sound like an LSD trip. He probably was wondering how long until someone noticed the initials in the title (not very long). If he would have come out and admitted it, it would have spoiled the fun for him and the fans. It's much more interesting if it seems to be an accident or coincidence.

I heard that its about a drawing that one of the Beatle's sons drew(i forget which band member)

So, for almost 40 years now, everybody has been arguing about the L-S-D aspects of this song. Did Lennon have drugs on the brain when he wrote it? Is this song about LSD or isn't it?.... I always thought, what difference does it make? The thing about the song isn't WHY it does what it does--it's just WHAT it does that's interesting. The most amazing thing about this recording is that mysterious whirring drone sound that floats through it like a haze. You hear it at every break, just as Ringo pounds the drums. You hear it as the song fades out. What is that thing? What are those sounds? Why does every instrument in the recording not sound like the instrument it's supposed to be (drums excepted)? Is that supposed to be a piano? Is that a real guitar going up the scales while they're singing the chorus? Lennon's voice doesn't even sound normal. Consider that when Lennon sings the words "picture yourself on a boat," these are the first sounds of John Lennon--one of the most famous men in the world in 1967--that you get on Sgt. Pepper. It's as if suddenly even John Lennon doesn't sound like he's supposed to sound. It's like you're seeing the world through a dream.... I always thought that was the accomplishment of the song. Not whether they were trying to sneak the initials "LSD" onto the album cover without anybody noticing.

I don't care how many drugs Lennon was on (or wasn't on) when he wrote this. When I hear this song, I can just picture all these colors......it's a very pretty song.

I guess it is a debate that will continue to go round and round. I just don't understand why John would admit to drugs in his life, and some of his writings, but deny that this one song was about drugs. I guess the main point is we all seem to like the song.

I agree with all who say that the beatles were far too open about drugs to deny that Lucy in the Sky was about LSD. What does it matter if Paul said it was? He wasn't the one who wrote it. This is a beautiful song, and although many of their songs were drug inspired, this is not one of them.

I've heard that the synth you hear at the beginning is in fact a combo organ i think it was a farsifa. I actually play it on the harpsicord:)

Totally about LSD, i mean "L"ucy in the "S"ky with "D"iamonds. come on, of course it is, but nonetheless a great song.

on anthology 6 it states lennon was on an lsd trip and lennon said he needed some air so producer george martin took him on to the rooftop of the building and lennon said:the stars are magnificent and thats where the idea came from

Quit it! I'm sure that if it was about drugs, John would have said.

Just listen to the lyrics they are som LSD inspired. This is the greatest song about LSD

Ok, guys, just shut up please about the whole drug thing. Please!!! But anyway, this is, like, the first song I remember listening to as a three or four year old. I loved the Beatles from then on... I love this song so much because I remember listening to it in those years. Once again, John's voice is awesome. (Rare comment for me! Usually I'm jabbering about George.)

Anyway, this song rocks my socks.

This is a great song, and I think Sgt. Pepper was a landmark album in the Beatles repertoire, but I can't stand how people say that their music is better because of "drugs". Yes, all 4 Beatles were experimenting with marijuana, and John and George were beginning with LSD, but maybe the fact that the music was more psychadelic was because they were allowed the studio time and the opportunity to try some new stuff because they were huge music starts at that time? Drugs have less to do with it than the Beatles starting to go down different paths, reflecting the social scene of free thinking at the time. People saying the music is better because of drugs is just a naive comment.

Huys. If john was so open about the fact that he took drugs then I don't see why he would lie about this one. I think it was a coincidence, even though the images are pretty tripppy. Not every later Beatles song was about drugs.

I never believed this was about LSD, either, but Paul said so himself in 2004. Look it up. Maybe it IS true that John never new that Lucy/Sky/Diamonds spelled out LSD, and that was a happy coincidence, and I certainly don't trust any of their stories, but it makes sense to me that drugs are the subject here.

Does seem like a bit of an elaborate story to make up, though.

You know...Kids paint trippy pictures. If you look at Van Gogh's Starry Starry night ...that would inspire me to write a song...oh hold on...somebody did write a song about that. Anyway....Lennon probably wrote the tune with trippy references....because thats what he saw. Is the song about Drugs NO...is it about his son's painting of his classroom girlfriend LUCY...YES but it is a cool trippy song...I love it when Jerry Sings it.

This song was not abour drug and during a rolling stones interview JOhn lennon says "I swear to God, or swear to Moa or anybody you like, I had no idea [it] spelled LSD." and to you stupid idiots it would make more sence if it was LITSWD. Lucy in the sky with diamonds. In The song Laslty if you have heard Judie in the sky with glasses you would have heard the term, kaleidoscope eyes.

"It's just a coincidence this song's initials spell LSD."

okay..so..its a coincidence that it spells out LSD.....BUT lucy in thy sky with diamonds used to be a name for acid..people like, actually used to walk around and call it that..the song was supposed to be about acid..

Yeah, I know, Mike. I really wanted to make my point.

This song is not About Drugs! People look for hidden drug references in every thing, And if they find something,even though they're probably wrong, they get all hotheaded and say, "Hey world, look, I found a drug reference in this song!" You people who think this song is about drugs are sadly mistaken. It's just a coincidence this song's initials spell LSD. Sheesh!

Hey Joe, The Beatles, especially John, had no problem speaking of drugs, and telling it like it is. I could recite many instances in regards to this, however, John explained that he had no idea that the song spelled LSD. The song was inspired by a picture his son drew. It was a coincidence, they do happen you know. When I heard him say this, I had no problem believing him. Why would he lie about it? He and Paul openly admitted to taking drugs, including LSD. There simply was no need to lie about it. Yes, some songs related to drugs, others to sex, and others to personal experiences. It is strange how people only look for drugs and sex. There are other things in the world that inspire.
- lee, clearwater, FL

The Beatles, especially John, had no problem speaking of drugs, and telling it like it is. I could recite many instances in regards to this, however, John explained that he had no idea that the song spelled LSD. The song was inspired by a picture his son drew. It was a coincidence, they do happen you know. When I heard him say this, I had no problem believing him. Why would he lie about it? He and Paul openly admitted to taking drugs, including LSD. There simply was no need to lie about it. Yes, some songs related to drugs, others to sex, and others to personal experiences. It is strange how people only look for drugs and sex. There are other things in the world that inspire.
- lee, clearwater, FL

My friend told me that I was stupid for not realising that this song was all about drugs. After reading this (and printing it off) i can now prove he was wrong! Cracking song!

Referenced in an episode of "The Simpsons" where Lisa got braces. As she was going under the anesthesia, she "dreamed" she was flying through the sky in a parody of "Yellow Submarine", complete with the Beatles flying by in a purple sub. John remarks "Look, it's Lisa in the sky" to which Paul replies "but no diamonds."

The girl with Kaliedoscope eyes can't be Yoko. This song was recorded in 1966, and surely written earlier, and he did not even hook up with Yoko until '67.

RG! I'm so sorry, my computer s me. This thing isn't letting me post certain words, so my comment thing doesn't make any sense.

Mike: Since when could you smoke ? I mean, I'm not a professional on , but I didn't think it was something you could smoke. Anyway, Lee: I thought your explanation of the song was great. It was EXACTLY the point I was trying to prove: They (as in The Beatles) admited to doing many illegal things(aka ) so why would they lie about this certain song being about acid? *please excuse any misstakkes I may have made while writing this*

changed my mind. this song is obviously about an acid trip. i mean, how often do you see "newspaper taxis appearing on the shore."
- ben russell, durham, NC -----Stupidest thing I've ever seen...anybody that has an imagination can make something up like that with ease...just watch john lennons self documentary/documentary(he created after he died others finished it)..he said his daughter showed him a picture and john said its beautiful what is it and his daughter said its lucy in the sky with diamonds...the rest he said was having fun with words which he did alot for MUSICAL purposes not to start any conspiracy...the fact is all the beatles were great songwriters no matter what they wrote about they all knew how to put together a song

i picked it up somewhere along the way, step. I remembered it because it works.

Where'd you get that. That makes lots of sense Lee, because the mind does only work when it's open.

Yeah Stef:

An open mind is refreshing! They say the mind is like a parachute. It only works when its open. peace, Lee

I get that a lot of the Beatles songs were about drugs and I get Paul McCartney's point about "Day Tripper", but did he help write this song? I'm confused.

I agree the most with your post Lee. I think the song was inspired by Lucy, and I don't think drugs are completely out of the picture on this one, but I don't thin,k John chose the title because those letters spell LSD. In this case, I think it was a coincidence.

The Beatles, especially John, had no problem speaking of drugs, and telling it like it is. I could recite many instances in regards to this, however, John explained that he had no idea that the song spelled LSD. The song was inspired by a picture his son drew. It was a coincidence, they do happen you know. When I heard him say this, I had no problem believing him. Why would he lie about it? He and Paul openly admitted to taking drugs, including LSD. There simply was no need to lie about it. Yes, some songs related to drugs, others to sex, and others to personal experiences. It is strange how people only look for drugs and sex. There are other things in the world that inspire.

yea right common it was allright to smoke lsd back then so won't you think they would have coom out opinly and said yea that was about lsd

In an interview, Ringo said that he was having a bad trip while recording this song.

whats up with all this people in denial.Yes the beatles did lots of drugs...and yes they have a lot of drug references in there songs...

Good point, Nelson. I didn't know there was a literary allusion anywhere to Rocking Horses, let alone in DH Lawrence!Think it's coincidence though - Lennon's seeing rocking horse people when he's tripping is more like it, IMO.

is rocking horse people an illusion to D.H. Lawrence's "Rocking Horse Winner", or sex?

A lot of 60's and 70's music was written in the "stream of consciousness" style - that is, the writer allows images and words to flow freeform. I don't think there's any particular meaning here - I was a teenager when it was originally released and I haven't changed that opinion in all these years. All I would say is that Lennon was probably having a laugh using the LSD letters in this way - it was always a kind of in-joke amongst musicians at that time to see just how much you could get away with in records and many records of my generation were clearly about sex and drugs; our parents' generation rarely saw it and we loved that!

In a nutshell, I think the song was inspired by the drawing, and the drugs John was taking just had a profound impact on the way he wrote it. I don't think the story about Julian's picture pr the theory about it being about drugs are mutually exclusive.

Ok, George harrison and the rest of the The Beatles admitsed to taking over a 100 trip on t.v. It seems they had no problem doign that so why on earth would they lie about a song like this. I think if confronted they would tell the truth. I mean, they hit acid so many times so why would they lie about a song that vaguely describes an acid trip....?

truthfully when I first heard this song, the first thing that came to my head was "getting high"..so the LSD thing fits rite in..nothing bad to trip out and sing abt getting high in my opinion..

Cna't this be what the writer says it's about?

Hurts to listen to, theres no way they werent on drugs when they wrote this

Here's a thought, maybe Julian's picture remined John of an acid trip, so he wrote a tripped out tale about a storybook world based on his son's drawing using and acid trip as a sort of reference. The facts are that John said it wasn't about drugs. Paul said it was, but keep in mind that that was well after the controversy had died down and the song had gone down forever as a classic. Also, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamnonds" is a line that makes even less sense than the rest in the song, but it definetely DOES spell LSD. There are a lot of Beatle songs that poeple say are about drugs, which aren't. I just can't believe that this one isn't. So, for all you non-believers out there, I'm sorry, but I say this one's a trip.

so i suppose the whole LSD hint in the song was meer coincidense? right.... like anybody believes that. honestly, i dont think they would need to cover up any information from the song. it was a great song and still is today. what ever they were trying to point out, be it drawings or drugs, its still a fantastic song that needs no excuse. who cares if its about an acid trip? it doesnt make it any less of a song than it already is.

When I think of the lyrics, "Picture yourself in a boat on a river", that's exactly what comes to my mind. I invision my best friend Seth and I sailing in a lovely lovely rowboat, on the beautiful beautiful Thames River in England!

the school friend "Lucy" apparently passed away a few weeks back June 2005 she was 47 ...breast cancer

This near-religious zealotry in favor of the acid-explanation is embarrassing. It sounds like people need this song to support their lifestyles. The Beatles were trying to challenge the listener with pop music, while trying to challenge themselves musically and lyrically. The problem with many is that they don't like being challenged into thinking. They prefer their lyrics handed to them, and if it gets more challenging than "I Want to Hold Your Hand," they start blaming the drugs. If it was just the drugs, John would have been smart enough to wake up the next day and realize the lyrics were too loopy to record.
"Lucy" is an attempt to write like Bob Dylan wrote, in abstract imagery that is meant to provoke moods and tones instead of a narrative; word pictures that show fragments of a story. Sing the song in Dylan's voice. It sounds like he could have written it. Listen to "Desolation Row" off of Highway 61 Revisited, another powerful word portrait of a storybook world, although Dylan's was dark and bleak. I really believe John, who was friends with Dylan, was trying to see if he could do a light and positive version of "Desolation Row." For those who will say that Dylan was into acid too, I'll go back even farther: "Desolation" was Dylan's attempt to mimic TS Eliot's poem "The Wastelands" (also bleak). Eliot: not acid head. Rather, he was a poet(and banker). Next time you want to "expand your mind and open the doors of perception" why don't you just listen to the music and save your dealer a trip.
Now, if someone could explain to me what "Love Me Do" means. What is "Do" doing in that line? How can anyone love something do? I blame the drugs.

great point Gale.

Funny story guys. Was listening to 'Strawberry Fields Forever' with my hubby and then we started talking about how it was in the Beatles drug phase and then we were trying to figure out what drugs they took, my husband said heroin and I was like 'no it was something else like coke or something surely' and it drove me nuts so I ended up doing a google search and found all your comments and went 'that was it, acid, LSD, of course!'...hehe...anyway I think that it's a tough one I mean artists often don't like to admit something was influenced by drugs because it may take away their ownership of the creativity of it all...having said that I think that artists are always influenced by what they're doing, what they're reading or looking at and what they're taking, a combination of things. You can definitely tell when the Beatles were in their drug phase though with songs like Lucy in the Sky, Strawberry Fields & god guys Revolution Number 9, I mean c'mon, can anyone say experimental!!! At the same time though that doesn't mean a lot of their own creativity didn't go into it or that they weren't also influenced by other stuff like a painting etc...I think maybe they downplayed the drug stuff with Lucy in the Sky because they were particularly proud of it and really liked the imaginative flights of fancy and didn't want people to only read it that way when they heard it...it's like Alice in Wonderland, it's so magical when you're a kid but it kind of sullies it when you're an adult and you realise it was all about this dude explaining his drug habit...it's nice for an artist to keep some mystery about a song that can be interpreted as either childlike and innocent or adult and kind of tawdry/sad...

I get why people say the song is about LSD, but c'mon why would it be, if Hohn Lennon said it wasn't. The song was probably just a cross-fertilization of different influences. After all, louis Carol was Lennon's favorite author, wasn't he? Reading his books may have inspired those lyrics. Also, the song may have been inspired by an acid trip, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it's about LSD. Just because the beatles took frugs doesn't mean that evert song that they wrote during whatever period of time was about them.

listen: all the beatles songs are about drugs, cause when they were composing the were high...

It's about antacid. Just kidding.

Someone mentioned the bass. I heard a documentary in which Paul says they added the bass last. That's why it has such a lovely meandering quality: most of the tracks had been laid down, so Paul could play around the melody.

If anyone has seen the Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, you know how trippy it is.

Another psychedelic song, Strawberry Fields, was written for the Sgt. Peppers album, but it was released as a single instead, at the behest of the label. I never went onto Sgt. Peppers, which George Martin describes as "the worst mistake I ever made." He hadn't wanted to charge fans twice: once for the single and again for the same song on the album.

Very nice bass work by Paul McCartney, and good drumming by Ringo. Some people think that music is about how many notes you play, but it's really about how tastefully and soulfully you choose the notes. 'Gee that solo by David Gilmour doesnt have enough notes!' And Elton John has some truly genius work himself, but his cover of this song is pretty cheesy. (Susan, I think the message you posted is REALLY about an acid trip. I don't care how many times you deny it.)

Thank you, Takashi-san. Your English is very good, BTW.

Anyway, on to my opinion:

It's about a picture if John Lennon said so. He doesn't have to give you imbeciles any sort of reason why he wrote something, so you should be happy with the explanation he has given. You can go ahead and think whatever you want, but I am quite content to continue in my train of thought.

Despite what people think- I say- who really cares if it was based on drugs or not. Werent there many other brilliant bands that made music while they were under the influence of drugs? The point is, this is an amazing song. So why not just listen to it, and be taken away into a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies?

Hey Ben Russel from Durham, NC, that is great to start a comment until YOU have to ruin a light by changing your mind about a second later and stating that it is about drugs. I don't touch a stove to see if it's mhot so YOU DONT SAY "It's not about drugs--oh-wait-It is." It annoys the crap out of me that you would do that.

John probably wished he'd called it Debbie in the Sky with Diamonds. DSD. That's not a drug, is it? It would have saved a lot of fuss.

After reading hundreds of facts and such about this song, I have made me own conclusion that, no, this song was not intended to be about acid. It probably started with Julian's picture and John (or somebody else) suddenly realized that the words (Lucy, Sky, Diamonds) was LSD, so why not run with it? The Beatles' memories have changed as have everybody elses and so has the meaning of this song. And finally, if it was about acid to begin with, why didn't they just admit it at the begining as they did with many others such as Day Tripper?

had to laugh & comment on one of the entries above...the person starts out with ..'you Retard..'& continues on to let all of us 'morons' know that this song is definitely about LDS! uhh..excuse me oh Non-Retard/Moron-One..don't you mean LSD? Lucy..Sky..Diamonds=LSD Think before you speak especially when throwing out such judgmental comments
..As for the song...no matter what the initial reason behind it, it is an amazing piece by a phenomenol group! Just shows what genius minds those guys had to be able to create such a song whether from a child's picture or a memory of an acid trip; who gives a hoot; we were honored with a pretty cool history-making song. They will always have my greatest respect.

And by Acid I meant LSD. Sorry.

Well, I believe that this song is not about Acid. I mean if they were on Acid, why in the world would they use Julian as an excuse. And I don't think that they would deny it. I mean as you read up top, Paul blatently says that Day Tripper was about Acid. It just wouldn't make sense to tell the truth about one song, and to lie to they're fans about another. This song shall remain my favouite reguardless of what other people think.

I really don't care if this song is about LSD. The music reminds me of a magical place. When I here this song, the song talks of a place where I would like to go to. The tone and the mood of the song is really cool. MY FAVORITE BEATLE SONG.

Who cares if it's the rsults of a acid trip?It's good song and thats really all that counts.No matter what I will contiue to listen to it intell the end of time or to when i die, which ever comes first.

Not only did John take acid in the mid-sixties, there were times when he took so much he would be almost perma-tripping. He liked drugs. He liked booze, weed, acid, and eventually heroin. Yes there was Julian's picture, and there was Lewis Carroll, and there was John's own brilliant imagination, but c'mon...this song is too super-trippy to not be drug-fuelled.

Who is the woman singing harmony on the chorus? does anybody know?

'Alice in Wonderland ' was based on 'Lewis Carroll's' fond relationship with an 11-year-old Alice Liddell. Many believe that Alice's journey through Wonderland was her trip from childhood to adulthood, and is written with an extreme love for the emotions and personalities Alice experienced while on this trip. I like that Lucy is in the Sky with Diamonds...Lewis Carroll used his symbol of Hearts, and I think the Beatles were more heavily influenced by this book and its opium-smoking caterpillars than they care to realise.

Johns just messing with people its obviously about LSD also for anyone who thinks Lewis Carrol (of Alice in Wonderland) wrote solely with his vivid imagination, think again, he was a Heavy opium user.

Who cares if the song is about drugs or not you likethe song or you don't! I think its a fun song that you can just listen to abd not care. I have a question whats LDS I know what LSD is but not LDS. Everyone should just lay off if it's about frugs or not and just enjoy the music

From Stykman of, little river,SC "'LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS (Lennon/McCartney) JOHN 1980: "My son Julian came in one day with a picture he painted about a school friend of his named Lucy. He had sketched in some stars in the sky and called it 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,' Simple. The images were from 'Alice in Wonderland.' It was Alice in the boat. She is buying an egg and it turns into Humpty Dumpty. The woman serving in the shop turns into a sheep and the next minute they are rowing in a rowing boat somewhere and I was visualizing that. There was also the image of the female who would someday come save me... a 'girl with kaleidoscope eyes' who would come out of the sky. It turned out to be Yoko, though I hadn't met Yoko yet. So maybe it should be 'Yoko in the Sky with Diamonds.' It was purely unconscious that it came out to be LSD. Until somebody pointed it out, I never even thought it, I mean, who would ever bother to look at initials of a title? It's NOT an acid song. The imagery was Alice in the boat and also the image of this female who would come and save me-- this secret love that was going to come one day. So it turned out to be Yoko... and I hadn't met Yoko then. But she was my imaginary girl that we all have." PAUL circa-1994: "I went up to John's house in Weybridge. When I arrived we were having a cup of tea, and he said, 'Look at this great drawing Julian's done. Look at the title!' So I said, 'What's that mean?' thinking Wow, fantastic title! John said, 'It's Lucy, a freind of his from school. And she's in the sky.' ...so we went upstairs and started writing it. People later thought 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' was LSD. I swear-- we didn't notice that when it first came out.' "

I have something to add to all the speculation of connections to Alice In Wonderland. Someone asked what the author of Alice In WOnderland was on when he wrote the book. I do not know if he was on drugs, but regardless of what he was or was not doing, I do believe the book was written about the author's niece, Alice. The basis of the story was founded upon Alice's ill-logic. This brings about the creative aspects of the book. That is what I believe to be true. Now whether or not this song is based on a trip, I don't know. I don't care. I would like to know the truth, but whenever I try and discover the truth behind the song, it shatters the creative, dream-like mood. I just see this as a brilliant song that has put me to sleep since I was very young.

Me again the girl with kaleidoscope eyes is YOKO.....Paaahleeese....i don't think so

another song about drugs.... here we go again...
me thinks the star spangled banner is about drugs ..... check out the lyrics " the rockets red glare " obvioulsy a big night on the hashish.

"by the dawns early night " still stoned from the day before......need i go again...
" o'er the land of the free"...
yes free from drug restaints..a tolerant drug accepted society

I have been reading the comments given on the song. I too, have read that he wrote the song of Alice in Wonderland... but my question is, who wrote that, and what were they on when they wrote it? I would think the whole movie was some giant trip!

i don't care what anyone thinks or says. i think this song is definitly about his LSD trip or somekind of trip. its a great song

This song was recently (not sure when) covered by the Japanese rock star Hyde as the B-side to his Horizon single.

while John Lennon probably was on acid when he wrote this song the song is not about acid. Watch Alice in Wonderland and you'll see a connection to this song. John publicly admitted to drug use and had no problem with it. if John said that this song isn't about an acid trip why would he lie.

The title of the song was taken from Julian Lennon's painting. The images created by the rest of the lyrics (mostly by John but some by Paul) seem to have been inspired by a part of Lewis Carroll's book, "Through The Looking Glass". Given that this was 'hallucinatory' in its feel, and that Carroll was one of Lennon's favourite writers, and that the Beatles were in their LSD phase during the Pepper sessions, and that Lennon & McCartney were at their creative peak, it is likely that the final product was a cross-fertlisation of influences and ideas, with their own experiences of LSD 'informing' this astonishing piece of work. It is not "about" LSD as such, but their LSD trips would likely have influenced the shape of the lyrics and the 'feel' of the song. The fact that the main words of the title are L,S & D was merely coincdence. John and Paul said many times they were genuinely surprised when it was pointed out. Incidentally John later considered the lyrics to be "contrived" and was also not happy with the production. He wanted to re-record it, which he did - with Elton John 7 years later!

It is about LSD I should Know it describes the good part of the trip but leaves out the end which is a nightmarish hell. Unlike Purple HAze which goe's through the different stages of an Acid Trip.

This song is about LSD and anyone who denys it has never tried LSD and therefore won't understand the song.

shame on you guys. Just because the lyrics has dreamy imageries, doesn't necessarily mean that it's about drugs. When John Lennon wrote a song about drugs he'll openly admit it ("She said she said" for example), there's no reason why he would try to hide or make an excuse. This song is not about drugs. He was just being creative. One more thing, Paul McCartney recently said that this is about drugs, but remember, he's not the author of the song and I still believe Lennon.

Okay ppl, how the hell is this not about LSD. I mean cmon. This song has so many crazy lines it would make no sense at all if it meant something else. Hes juss covering it up. I mean, he wudnt go out and say "o yeh i wrote that wen trippin on some acid" he wud deny it like almost everybody else would do in his shoes. This song is about Lsd no question. I love lennon n all but i mean he had to b influenced on something to write this. I dunno anybody who can write something lik this with drugs.

the song lucy in the sky with diamonds is obviously about lsd or an lsd trip. lennon probably took the song and made many different meanings out of it. you see, everyone is trying to figure out if this song is about lsd or a painting or w/e. but with a great imagination like lennon, this song could be about a million things at once. it probably was about his sons painting, but he also probably made the song of a lsd trip or "feelings". i dont see why it couldnt have been both. that would be beautiful. these are my thoughts... i may not be correct.

i agree if it aint about an acid trip i dont know what is and i should know seein as how ive tripped acid a few times lol Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds says it all i think

hey, i like how that first comment said that a song can mean anything you want it to mean. actually, a song means whatever the person who wrote it says it means, so if john says its not lsd, then its not.

this song is about whatever you want it to be. thats the beauty of a song, it can have so many different meanings to so many different people. only the beatles will ever know the real meanings of their songs, so as much as id like to know the real meanings, i prolly wont ever. you can argue forever, it means whatever you want it to mean.

BTW, to everyone who thinks this was about LSD, why did the Beatles deny it when they admitted that songs like "I Am the Walrus" and "Got to Get You Into My Life" (which, btw, they easily could have passed off as a simple love song) were about drugs? Anyway, they didn't mean for the song to meant as anything but what it turned out to be.

"Judy in Disguise" is a really underrated song, very catchy, good flow.

LUCY IN THE SKY WITH DIAMONDS
(Lennon/McCartney)
JOHN 1980: "My son Julian came in one day with a picture he painted about a school friend of his named Lucy. He had sketched in some stars in the sky and called it 'Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,' Simple. The images were from 'Alice in Wonderland.' It was Alice in the boat. She is buying an egg and it turns into Humpty Dumpty. The woman serving in the shop turns into a sheep and the next minute they are rowing in a rowing boat somewhere and I was visualizing that. There was also the image of the female who would someday come save me... a 'girl with kaleidoscope eyes' who would come out of the sky. It turned out to be Yoko, though I hadn't met Yoko yet. So maybe it should be 'Yoko in the Sky with Diamonds.' It was purely unconscious that it came out to be LSD. Until somebody pointed it out, I never even thought it, I mean, who would ever bother to look at initials of a title? It's NOT an acid song. The imagery was Alice in the boat and also the image of this female who would come and save me-- this secret love that was going to come one day. So it turned out to be Yoko... and I hadn't met Yoko then. But she was my imaginary girl that we all have."


PAUL circa-1994: "I went up to John's house in Weybridge. When I arrived we were having a cup of tea, and he said, 'Look at this great drawing Julian's done. Look at the title!' So I said, 'What's that mean?' thinking Wow, fantastic title! John said, 'It's Lucy, a freind of his from school. And she's in the sky.' ...so we went upstairs and started writing it. People later thought 'Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds' was LSD. I swear-- we didn't notice that when it first came out."

changed my mind. this song is obviously about an acid trip. i mean, how often do you see "newspaper taxis appearing on the shore."

This song isn't about LSD. There is no point in wasting studio time and money to talk about and acid trip for 5 minutes. It was obvious it was about a picture. Ever heard of an imagination. John sure had one. That's how he wrote this song. The real truth is that we will never know. No one knows but John.

See what Snopes has to say. They have a very good aticle outlining the facts behind this song, including: (1) It is not about LSD, (2) The title is based on paintings his school friend created (the pictures are shown in the Snopes article). (3) The lyrics in the song describe scenes in "Alice in Wonderland."

Elton John covered this too.

Susan is soooooo right. That bull@#%$ about a girl in school is so vague and transparent. Lets face it The Beatles were a bunch of acid tripping stoners with a lot of time on their hands....Not to mention great musicians and songwriters ;)

From what I have read the drawing that Julian made in school was of his teacher and her name was Lucy.
Coincidently mine is too, so I have a special relation to this song.

(2001) The Black Crows sang this song for the I Am Sam soundtrack.

I don't care how many times they deny the LSD reference. I don't believe it. It's too coincidental. And the entire song seems to describe an acid trip. I'm sure Julian did have this friend, but I'm also sure that John thought it was a good excuse to write a song about LSD.