# Beatles' Lucy in the Sky - McCartney says LSD - really? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 2, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305 "2004-06-02T19:20:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/1 "2004-06-02T19:20:46Z")
Okay - in [this article](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/5121163/) on [MSNBC.com](http://MSNBC.com), which excerpts an interview with Sir Paul from the Daily Mirror, he talks about which Beatles songs have drug influences. > [@](#): > > \ confirmed that drugs influenced some of the group’s songs. > > “A song like 'Got to Get You Into My Life,’ that’s directly about pot, although everyone missed it at the time,” McCartney said. > > “'Day Tripper,’ that’s one about acid (LSD). 'Lucy in the Sky,’ that’s pretty obvious. There’s others that make subtle hints about drugs, but, you know, it’s easy to overestimate the influence of drugs on the Beatles’ music.” I thought John always got frustrated with anyone’s connecting Lucy in the Sky with LSD - he asserted that he got the name from a drawing of Julian’s. Granted, I find John’s assertion a bit of a stretch, but I never knew that Paul commonly just disregarded this bit of Beatles’ lore and just said “yep, it was about acid.”… Anybody know more about this? ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/2 "2004-06-02T20:05:04Z")
I argued this point until I turned blue in the face. Since Lennon always denied LSD was about LSD, everyone concluded it wasn’t about LSD. My point was Lennon wasn’t going to let you in on his little jokes, you weren’t allowed to be on his level. You know, Lennon was kind of an arrogant jerk at times. Maybe NOW people will get the picture? > **[Songs NOT about drugs](https://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=233768)** > > OK, we all know John Lennon denies Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was about LSD. I say he lied. How about other songs that appear to be about drugs but are not nudge-nudge wink-wink. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/3 "2004-06-02T20:24:31Z")
I saw that article too, and did a WTF? Who exactly wrote the song? It was my understanding that most of the songs attributed to Lennon-McCartney were primarily written by one or the other. if Lennon primarily wrote ‘Lucy’, I’d give his explanation more credence. Plus, it’s supported by the actual picture his kid drew, which turned up. And his kid’s story. Of course, the song could have been initially inspired by the pic, then Lennon noticed the LSD connection, and essentially the song it about both the pic and the drug. ---
**Author:** ![Nonsuch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nonsuch/32/2922_2.png) [@Nonsuch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nonsuch)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/4 "2004-06-02T20:37:05Z")
In the quote you excerpted, Paul isn’t saying the _name_ “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” refers to LSD; he simply says, “‘Lucy in the Sky,’ that’s pretty obvious.” And it is—the **song** “Lucy in the Sky” is very obviously LSD-inspired. Lennon didn’t bother to hide the fact that he was heavily influenced by LSD and “Lucy” is definitely supposed to be a trippy “head” song. But the title was always an accident. Sorry, **ccwaterback,** I don’t buy your denial. Lennon never bothered to dissemble about other obscure references in his songs; in fact, he was uncommonly candid about what his lyrics meant. “Lucy” was mostly written by John, with a few lyrics (and probably some help on the arrangement) from Paul. ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/5 "2004-06-02T20:45:45Z")
I followed the thread **ccwaterback** listed - there is the Snopes entry for Lucy and it pretty clearly states that it was not intentional and in fact includes a quote from Paul saying that the title was not intentional. Having said that, I still find Paul’s more recent quote confusing, even if - as **Nonsuch** argues - the song itself may incorporate LSD-influenced imagery but was named coincidentally. At that point, we are kinda of splitting hairs - Lennon was clearly going through a “word painting” kind of phase. While that _must_ have been drug-influenced, the songs weren’t necessarily _about_ drugs. I am the Walrus, Strawberry Fields and A Day in the Life don’t strike me as about drugs. It is not clear to me that Lucy is about LSD. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/6 "2004-06-02T22:07:56Z")
Since McCartney is on record as having specifically denied this, it’s not clear what this sideways comment might mean, even if we had the full context. So I turned to [the most expert source on the use of drugs in the Beatles’ music](http://logosresourcepages.org/beatles.htm) - and he doesn’t say a word about “Lucy”! Which proves it to me. No drugs there at all. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/7 "2004-06-02T22:12:37Z")
> [@Exapno Mapcase](#): > > Since McCartney is on record as having specifically denied this, it’s not clear what this sideways comment might mean, even if we had the full context. > > So I turned to [the most expert source on the use of drugs in the Beatles’ music](http://logosresourcepages.org/beatles.htm) - and he doesn’t say a word about “Lucy”! Which proves it to me. No drugs there at all. 😃 Gotta love this: > [@](#): > > Perhaps that’s why my mother was not at all impressed with the Beatles. She sat right there with me, as I watched the Ed Sullivan Show in 1964 when the Beatles sang “I want to Hold Your Hand.” Right from the word “go”, she did not like the Beatles. She did not like their floppy mop hair or their music. She was of the opinion that the Beatles and their music taught the kids rebellion and she was right! By April of that same year “Beatlemania” was attacking America. Hey, dumbass, your mother WASN’T SUPPOSED TO LIKE THE BEATLES!! ---
**Author:** ![ccwaterback](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/df705f/32.png) [@ccwaterback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ccwaterback)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 11:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/8 "2004-06-02T23:11:41Z")
Well we will never really know the story behind LSD, only Johnny knows for sure, and he’s not going to tell us now. Remember, Elvis didn’t do drugs either. ---
**Author:** ![pepperlandgirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/f17d59/32.png) [@pepperlandgirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pepperlandgirl)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/9 "2004-06-03T00:13:13Z")
I love Paul muchly, but he changes his story and contradicts himself (and the others) _all the time_. Sometimes in the same interview. It happened 40 years ago and his head has been riddled with drugs, from pot to coke…so it’s not entirely surprising. Since John isn’t going to be changing his story any time soon, I’ll just go on believing his version of tihngs for now. Although, John did the same tihng Paul is guilty of. He contradicted himself from interview to interview, probably just because he could. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2004, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/10 "2004-06-03T00:28:27Z")
I always thought it was about Lucy Van Pelt from Peanuts. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/11 "2013-06-21T06:39:36Z")
Darn. I posted this in the wrong thread. Could a moderator move this to the [Puff the magic dragon thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=694301) please? ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/12 "2013-06-21T06:46:04Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > Darn. I posted this in the wrong thread. Could a moderator move this to the [Puff the magic dragon thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=694301) please? Done. ---
**Author:** ![deltasigma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e5b9ba/32.png) [@deltasigma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/deltasigma)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/13 "2013-06-21T06:59:21Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Done. Many thanks 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![WordMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e8c25b/32.png) [@WordMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WordMan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 11:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/14 "2013-06-21T11:29:33Z")
> [@deltasigma](#): > > Darn. I posted this in the wrong thread. Could a moderator move this to the [Puff the magic dragon thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=694301) please? So - wait; this was a unintentional zombie revivification? I _hate_ it when that happens. And here I thought this thread was being revived by some random drive-by poster who was going to post some random comment about how Lucy in the Sky really refers to some porn star they need you to see at their website 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/15 "2013-06-21T13:08:43Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > So - wait; this was a unintentional zombie revivification? I _hate_ it when that happens. > > And here I thought this thread was being revived by some random drive-by poster who was going to post some random comment about how Lucy in the Sky really refers to some porn star they need you to see at their website 😉 You got the title wrong. It’s _Lucy in Skye and Diamond_. ---
**Author:** ![Sam\_A.Robrin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sam_a.robrin/32/14497_2.png) [@Sam\_A.Robrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sam_A.Robrin)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2013, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/beatles-lucy-in-the-sky-mccartney-says-lsd-really/248305/16 "2013-06-21T22:40:42Z")
John also said that “How Can You Sleep?” wasn’t about Paul. That maybe his troubles with Paul furnished the _idea_ for the song, but it wasn’t really _about_ him…