Do you believe "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" was intentionally about LSD?

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Mike Bass, Aug 26, 2015.

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  1. eroz

    eroz Forum Resident

    Yeah, and Eleanor Rigby was about two queers.
    They were obviously joking in that interview. It doesn't indicate that John and Paul lied about the meaning of their songs.
     
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  2. Scott S.

    Scott S. lead singer for the best indie band on earth

    Location:
    Walmartville PA
    Yes of course it is about LSD.
     
  3. empirelvr

    empirelvr "That's *just* the way it IS!" - Paul Anka

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    One more thing to consider.

    From a lot of what I've read about the period, LSD wasn't referred to as LSD usually by the counter-culture. That was it's more "proper" nomenclature, used mostly by the establishment. It was "acid" to the Beatles and hippies of the mid to late 1960's. Calling it LSD was akin to saying acetaminophen instead of "Tylenol." It really wasn't done.

    Thinking of it like that, I can see John not making the connection initially.

    ** (DISCLAIMER: I am actually too young to have been aware of what is was called by the hippies back then. I am only reporting what I've read and absorbed about the period. I could be wrong.)

    I see this kind of synchronicity too much in life, that's why I have no qualms about John's explanation of the song. (And again, I not saying I don't think the song is LSD inspired. That would be naive of me. :) )
     
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  4. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    I don't think John was aware of how much LSD was in Lucy, as there was LSD in his cornflakes at the time. The specific flavour of Lucy is more Lewis Carroll/Charles Lutwidge Dodgson than anything else.
     
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  5. RayS

    RayS A Little Bit Older and a Little Bit Slower

    Location:
    Out of My Element
    I believe that "the dreaded lysergic" was the popular nomenclature. :)
     
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  6. slane

    slane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Merrie England
    Wasn't it about pounds, shillings and pence? ;)
     
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  7. empirelvr

    empirelvr "That's *just* the way it IS!" - Paul Anka

    Location:
    Virginia, USA
    I think that's the firm handling Apple's legal affairs these days. ;)
     
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  8. I was a hippie in the mid to late 1960s. It's true that we had nicknames for LSD but we also called it LSD. John Lennon knew what LSD was. Lawrence Welk knew what LSD was. Everybody knew what LSD was. Most hippies even knew what lysergic acid diethylamide was.
     
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  9. Robin L

    Robin L Musical Omnivore

    Location:
    Fresno, California
    Hell, even "Popular Science" knew what LSD was at the time. I was 11 in 1966, had a subscription.
     
  10. slane

    slane Forum Resident

    Location:
    Merrie England
    For those not familiar with the UK symbols used for 'old' money, here's Bob Dylan in 1966 outside a betting shop that used those symbols as their name.

    [​IMG]
     
  11. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    Because he was on LSD at the time and he believed that it was all his 4 year old son's doing (coming up with the title) so, of course, that is how he would remember it happening from that point on. As George Costanza once said, "It's not a lie if you believe it is true......."
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2015
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  12. audiotom

    audiotom I can not hear a single sound as you scream

    Location:
    New Orleans La USA
    ask Julian
     
  13. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan


    See post #161.
     
  14. Jose Jones

    Jose Jones Outstanding Forum Member

    Location:
    Detroit, Michigan
    I am surprised to learn this. I thought you would have been a clean-cut, conservative young man then.
     
  15. PaulKTF

    PaulKTF Senior Member

    Location:
    USA
    The lyrics were inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice In Wonderland according to John Lennon in The Playboy Interviews.
     
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  16. craigh

    craigh Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Germantown, MD
    John got it backwards just like the time he threaded his open reel tape backwards. It's really LDS. Just ask Captain Kirk.
     
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  17. AppleCorp3

    AppleCorp3 Forum Resident

    No, not the best proof, but probably one of their best interviews!
     
  18. guppy270

    guppy270 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Levittown, NY
    What an incredibly great picture :) How was this not used on a bootleg album cover over the years?
     
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  19. KinkySmallFace1991

    KinkySmallFace1991 Will you come back to me, Sweet Lady Genevieve?

    Lennon was an honest person. I say he would've admitted to it.
     
  20. delmonaco

    delmonaco Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sofia, Bulgaria
    I'm sure that he was totaly aware of the LSD reference, and I believe it was just a small funny thing back then. I would't say that he "lied" about this later (or ok, call it lie but I don't feel it in a bad way), because have in mind that he was a big world star, a living legend actually, and his interviews were always part of some promotional campaign, he wasn't just some silly guy, ready to answer to all people and all questions spontaneously. He was very good with words, and this was part of his genius, to make the listener to believe that he's absolutely spontaneous and honest about everything. But he was clever enough to know what to say, according what he wanted to promote at certain moment. And the elaborated story about the kid's drawing was told, IMO, just because he wasn't thinking that it's appropriate to promote LSD ideas, especially when this was already uncool, he had his serious "peace" concepts, and later his battle with the US authorities, his father/husband/houswife concept etc. The silly LSD joke just doesn't fit with his later activities. (writing all this I'm not trying to say anything bad about him, I love the guy)
     
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  21. Lightworker

    Lightworker Forum Resident

    Location:
    Deep Texas
    Nah. Everybody called it LSD back in the 60's. "Acid" was slang and did not become the default descriptor until late 1968 or so.
     
  22. Folknik

    Folknik Forum Resident

    I believe John when he said he had never noticed the LSD initials (Neither did I until I read about it) in the song title. I believe him not only because I've seen the copies of Julian's picture, but because Paul openly admitted that "Got To Get You Into My Life" was about pot when everyone thought it was a love song. Why would they admit one and deny the other? It's understood that the Beatles were dropping acid at the time, but all one needs to come up with images of marmalade skies, kaleidoscope eyes, newspaper taxis, and rocking horse people is a vivid imagination with a touch of childlike whimsy. Who needs acid?
     
    Last edited: Aug 27, 2015
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  23. jeighson1

    jeighson1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ann Arbor, MI
    Haha
    Maybe Julian was driving the car, on acid, that killed Paul. ;)
     
  24. jeighson1

    jeighson1 Forum Resident

    Location:
    Ann Arbor, MI
    Yes.

    It seems likely to me that John would have decided upon writing this song that he would not admit to its drug connection. What's the use of putting in a hidden message if you're going to turn around and reveal the trick so plainly, especially considering the dream-like, unreal quality about it? To reduce it to a factoid, "John wrote this song about LSD", would have taken away some of the song's magic. Just as a magician lies to keep imaginations alive, so did John, likely, with this song.

    Lyrics like "I need a fix" are a bit more straight-forward, not so magical. He wasn't shattering any visions in admitting that reference. And he hadn't already told a conflicting story about that song, so there wouldn't be any "John Lennon lied" headlines generated by revealing that drug connection.
     
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  25. thrivingonariff

    thrivingonariff Forum Resident

    Location:
    US
    You are joking, right? I ask because I don't quite get the joke. In any event, the terms "acid" and "LSD" were both used frequently, though "acid" was (at least, among my group, which included guys from all over the East) by far the most common. In a context where a writer wants to make a coded reference, however (e.g., "Lucy"), referring to it as "LSD" makes more sense.
     
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