# Poll: Is “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” about LSD / drugs / psychedelia, or not? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** music\ **Created:** [March 9, 2025, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334 "2025-03-09T15:24:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/81 "2025-03-12T19:18:09Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I never claimed it wasnt psychedelic with drug imagery. The whole claim here is that is it about LSD due to the coincidence in the title. Nope. Not the whole claim, by any means. The OP is asking opinions on whether the song is about drugs, specifically LSD, and the initials in the title are only one of the factors involved in the argument that it is. Also, you saying you never claimed the song wasn’t psychedelic with drug imagery kind of goes against your original post that started the whole thing in the original ‘Myths’ thread: > [@Myths that form about songs and bands / band members](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/myths-that-form-about-songs-and-bands-band-members/1014173/21): > > That _Puff the Magic Dragon_ or _Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds_ are about drugs. They are not. The Beatles did write some songs about drugs, that wasnt one of them. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/82 "2025-03-12T19:29:18Z")
> [@Cheesesteak](#): > > According to the Wiki, it’s also backed up by Julian and Ringo Starr, who stated he was present when Julian said the phrase. We even know Lucy’s full name. Good points, thanks. > [@solost](#): > > Also, you saying you never claimed the song wasn’t psychedelic with drug imagery kind of goes against your original post that started the whole thing in the original ‘Myths’ thread: There is a difference between saying a song is psychedelic with drug imagery , and that it is _about drugs._ A lot of the Sgt Pepper album is psychedelic with drug imagery. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/83 "2025-03-12T19:53:14Z")
Got to hand it to you, you can split hairs with remarkable precision. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2025, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/84 "2025-03-12T21:35:27Z")
> [@Shakester](#): > > I don’t think anyone here is saying that _Lucy_ had **zero** influence from Lennon’s use of LSD, just that it wasn’t the **only** influence, or the most important one. > > What I’m saying, and I think what others here have also said, is that the “LSD” initials were a coincidence, not a deliberate reference. I disagree. I think John caught the LSD coincidence in the drawing and thought, hey, this is a great cover story for a tripping song. Regardless, however innocent the original idea was, there’s no way John did not morph it into an actual drug reference. If it had been Lucy in a Sportscar Driving and the imagery was all about driving a car, then yeah, connecting it to LSD would be a stretch. But given that imagery, it’s about drugs. > [@GailForce](#): > > All i want is the truth. Just gimme some truth. You can’t handle the truth! ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/85 "2025-03-13T15:00:35Z")
> [@Jaycat.again](#): > > have you ever taken acid? I, too, am curious as to how many on the ‘definitely about acid’ side have ever taken it. Because I’m with you on this. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 4:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/86 "2025-03-13T16:11:17Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > I, too, am curious as to how many on the ‘definitely about acid’ side have ever taken it. Me. No, I didn’t have those hallucinations specifically, or any hallucinations at all exactly. But the overall sense of the experience – yes. However, my conclusion is still based on my not believing that none of the Beatles nor their manager noticed the acronym before the song was released under that title. Might have been a coincidence to start. But I really can’t see it as a coincidence that nobody noticed. ---
**Author:** ![puzzlegal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/puzzlegal/32/3827_2.png) [@puzzlegal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puzzlegal)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/87 "2025-03-13T17:49:56Z")
This: > [@HMS\_Irruncible](#): > > The Beatles were businessmen above all, and fairly savvy ones. They knew how to signal to the counterculture while maintaining some deniability for their more oblivious, conservative listeners. And they’re far from the only ones who did that, it’s not a stretch assumption at all. > [@DrDeth](#): > > So, rather than accept the word of the artist who wrote and performed it, not to mention his son, and the art that brought out the song- the coincidence that “Lucy in the sky with Diamonds” has “LSD” in ti proves the opposite? The whole song sounds like an acid trip. And we know they were experimenting with acid. (No, i haven’t taken LSD. But i have heard reports from people who have, and the lyrics are consistent with those stories.) Did his kid make the drawing? Almost certainly. Did his kid title the drawing, unprompted? Maybe. Did the Beatles know the title included a reference to LSD? Of course. Did they think the song was about LSD when they released it, and just denied the reference so it wouldn’t be banned on the radio, or drive away some fans? That’s certainly what i believe. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/88 "2025-03-13T18:39:40Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I mean, **we know the drawing exists.** You can Google it up in five seconds. It took me about 4 minutes. Damn internet! And I was pretty disappointed when I finally saw it. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2025, 6:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/89 "2025-03-13T18:53:49Z")
> [@thorny\_locust](#): > > But the overall sense of the experience – yes What sense is there besides the hallucinations? I’ve dropped acid a few times. I don’t feel _Lucy_ is anything like those trips. It’s _much_ more like shrooms. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/90 "2025-03-14T01:10:06Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > What sense is there besides the hallucinations? It’s a bit difficult to express in words; because the thing is that the part of me that thinks in words went out of gear. That part was still there, nattering along incessantly in words as usual; but the part of me that was running my eyes and ears and nose and muscles was the rest of me, which had gotten shoved into the background by the part that uses words somewhere around when I was three years old; and was very pleased to be up front again and having a lot of fun. Sensation and perception was quite a bit different – it’s a good thing I had somebody with me because I don’t think I could have recognized my way to find anywhere in particular – but again I can’t describe it in words. We were outdoors, wandering around on rough gravelly ground somewhere outside of Albuquerque back before that area was all built up; and at some point I’d taken my shoes off. I wasn’t in the habit of going barefoot except maybe inside on smooth surfaces, so my feet had no protective callus, and after a while the word-using part of me intruded enough on the rest of me to say 'Feet are going to be awfully sore tomorrow!" and got a wordless reply along the lines of ‘feels so good right now’. The shoes stayed off. My feet weren’t sore at all the next day. I have no logical explanation for this; but they weren’t. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 7:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/91 "2025-03-14T07:10:11Z")
That’s wonderful, but does not in any way resemble _LitSwD_ to me, either the lyrics or the music. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/92 "2025-03-14T12:12:39Z")
I don’t know when I’ve ever read an argument between people who are in basic agreement like this. Everyone agrees the lyrics are trippy, that Lennon might have and might not have been conscious of the initials suggesting LSD at some very early point, with no way to know positively when he became aware, that Lennon enjoyed playing with words and teasing fans about their meaning or lack thereof, etc. We’re arguing, it seems to me, about things that are unknowable, probably even to Lennon–exactly when he first knew that the title could be taken as an allusion to LSD, and when the Beatles decided that was cool with them, and what to say in public about the connection. ---
**Author:** ![thorny\_locust](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thorny_locust/32/431_2.png) [@thorny\_locust](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thorny_locust)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/93 "2025-03-14T15:05:37Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > That’s wonderful, but does not in any way resemble _LitSwD_ to me, either the lyrics or the music As I said – the experience does not fit well into words. I can’t explain the resemblence, but it’s there. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 3:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/94 "2025-03-14T15:08:01Z")
> [@GailForce](#): > > I don’t know when I’ve ever read an argument between people who are in basic agreement like this. I was surprised at the divide over the song in the original ‘Myths’ thread, which is why I made this poll thread. I wouldn’t say they are _quite_ in basic agreement, but I agree that there isn’t as much difference between the “of course it’s about drugs” camp and the “it’s not about drugs” camp as the vehemence of the argument would make it seem. The “yes, about drugs” camp mostly allows that _maybe_ the LSD initials were a coincidence, and the “not about drugs” camp mostly allows that the song may at least be inspired or influenced by LSD / psychedelia. ---
**Author:** ![Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/elmer_j.fudd/32/1211_2.png) [@Elmer\_J.Fudd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elmer_J.Fudd)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 3:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/95 "2025-03-14T15:53:58Z")
The only vehemence I have is in reaction to the absurd argument that it absolutely had to be a coincidence because that’s what Lennon said. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [March 14, 2025, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/96 "2025-03-14T19:03:52Z")
> [@GailForce](#): > > Everyone agrees the lyrics are trippy, that Lennon might have and might not have been conscious of the initials suggesting LSD at some very early point, with no way to know positively when he became aware, that Lennon enjoyed playing with words and teasing fans about their meaning or lack thereof, etc. We’re arguing, it seems to me, about things that are unknowable, probably even to Lennon–exactly when he first knew that the title could be taken as an allusion to LSD, and when the Beatles decided that was cool with them, and what to say in public about the connection. It seems to me, that the basic debate is that Lennon set up the whole name to be a “wink wink nudge nudge” reference to LSD- vs- the title is purely innocent and refers to the kids drawing. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/97 "2025-03-15T12:12:04Z")
> [@Gatopescado](#): > > It took me about 4 minutes. Damn internet! And I was pretty disappointed when I finally saw it. Most of the time it took me was typing “lucy in the sky with diamonds drawing” into the search bar. After that, it was scroll, click. And yeah, it’s a pretty disappointing drawing. One of the problems I have with the ‘no drugs’ stance is that there’s a lot more in the song than was in the drawing. Totally believable to me that at least some of that additional imagery was inspired at least in part by hallucinogenic experiences. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/98 "2025-03-15T13:13:47Z")
> [@RTFirefly](#): > > And yeah, it’s a pretty disappointing drawing. I mean, keep in mind that it was made by a preschooler. The thing for me is, nobody ever says that this song is about, say, magic mushrooms, even though that’s another substance the Beatles were known to use, and which also has trippy hallucinogenic effects. The argument is always that it’s about LSD specifically. And the only piece of evidence for that is the initials. And the initials are a pretty weak piece of evidence. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/99 "2025-03-15T13:15:57Z")
I, personally, have never tripped on LSD. I have, however, watched someone trip right here on The Straight Dope and. lemme tell ya, it sure looked like a Lucy In The Sky with Diamond sorta experience butternut shoehorn. ---
**Author:** ![GailForce](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/dfb087/32.png) [@GailForce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GailForce)\ **Post date:** [March 15, 2025, 1:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334/100 "2025-03-15T13:44:37Z")
Right, except most of us are admitting that we can’t really be sure our position is correct. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-about-lsd-drugs-psychedelia-or-not/1015334.md?page=6)