Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds in fact took its name from a drawing of a schoolfriend by the four-year-old Julian Lennon. There can be little doubt, however, that the song was directly influenced by John Lennon’s continual experimentation with LSD, which hit a peak in 1967. However, in 1980 he claimed the main inspiration came from Alice In Wonderland. In November 1967 John Fred and his Playboy Band released a parody/tribute song called “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)”which topped the US Billboard Hot 100 chart for two weeks and reached the number one spot in a number of other countries around the world.A fact ‘John Lennon’s handwritten lyrics for the 1967 Beatles song Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds have sold $237,132 (£145,644) at an auction in the US.’
I had no idea it spelt LSD. This is the truth: my son came home with a drawing and showed me this strange-looking woman flying around. I said, ‘What is it?’ and he said, ‘It’s Lucy in the sky with diamonds,’ and I thought, ‘That’s beautiful.’ I immediately wrote a song about it. – John Lennon
The song is structured in two distinct parts: the dreamlike verses in 6/8, with their gently psychedelic imagery; and the switch to 4/4 for the chorus.
Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds was mostly written by Lennon, with a little help from Paul McCartney.
I showed up at John’s house and he had a drawing Julian had done at school with the title ‘Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds’ above it. Then we went up to his music room and wrote the song, swapping psychedelic suggestions as we went. I remember coming up with ‘cellophane flowers’ and ‘newspaper taxis’ and John answered with things like ‘kaleidoscope eyes’ and ‘looking glass ties’. We never noticed the LSD initial until it was pointed out later – by which point people didn’t believe us. – Paul McCartney
And the Lucy of the title? Her name was Lucy O’Donnell, and she attended Heath House, a private Weybridge nursery school, with Julian Lennon. She didn’t realise she had been immortalised in a Beatles song until she was 13, in 1976.
In 1980 John Lennon criticised the arrangement and studio production, claiming it didn’t do justice to the song itself.
I heard Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds last night. It’s abysmal, you know? The track is just terrible. I mean, it is a great track, a great song, but it isn’t a great track because it wasn’t made right. You know what I mean? I feel I could remake every fucking one of them better. But that’s the artistic trip, isn’t it? That it why you keep going, always trying to make that next one the best. – John Lennon
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Written by: Lennon-McCartney
Recorded: 28 February; 1, 2 March 1967
Producer: George Martin
Engineer: Geoff Emerick
Released: 1 June 1967 (UK), 2 June 1967 (US)
John Lennon: vocals, lead guitar
Paul McCartney: backing vocals, Lowrey organ, bass
George Harrison: backing vocals, lead guitar, acoustic guitar, tambura
Ringo Starr: drums, maracas
“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” by The Beatles
Picture yourself in a boat on a river
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green
Towering over your head
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes
And she’s gone
Lucy in the sky with diamonds..
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmallow pies
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
That grow so incredibly high
Newspaper taxies appear on the shore
Waiting to take you away
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds
And you’re gone
Lucy in the sky with diamonds…
Picture yourself in a train in a station
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstile
The girl with kaleidoscope eyes
Lucy in the sky with diamonds…
