# What songs from the 60s really are about acid trips or drugs? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 24, 2015, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042 "2015-07-24T11:47:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/21 "2015-07-24T18:41:47Z")
Another one where the songwriter denies it’s about drugs but where there is reason to wonder: [Mr. Tambourine Man](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mr._Tambourine_Man) ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/22 "2015-07-24T18:45:35Z")
Space Oddity - David Bowie (Major Tom’s a junkie!) ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/23 "2015-07-24T19:00:02Z")
People continue to insist that the 1992 song **smoke two joints in the morning** has something to do with drug use, but that’s been effectively proven incorrect. ---
**Author:** ![Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e47c2d/32.png) [@Biffy\_the\_Elephant\_Shrew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biffy_the_Elephant_Shrew)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/24 "2015-07-24T19:10:26Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > The Small Faces’ “Itchycoo Park” sure sounds like it’s about playing hooky from school and going off to smoke some weed in the park. The “What will we do there? We’ll get high!” bit doesn’t leave much room for doubt. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c57346/32.png) [@Little\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Pig)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/25 "2015-07-24T19:14:56Z")
I would venture [The Pusher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XqyGoE2Q4Y) by Steppenwolf qualifies. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_Draper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b2d939/32.png) [@Don\_Draper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_Draper)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/26 "2015-07-24T19:37:31Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Classic example: [White Rabbit - Jefferson Airplane](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HmJQyS8QVw). They also had a song “Wild Tyme (H)” with the lyric “I’m doing things that haven’t got a name yet” - writer Paul Kantner has gone on record stating that is a reference to the vast variety of mind-altering drugs available during the time, and that he and fellow bandmates were routinely sampling chemical compounds that hadn’t even been given street names. (Note the song title - it was originally supposed to be “Wild Thyme”, but the label balked at that.) * * * [She Said She Said](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/She_Said_She_Said) was inspired by a comment Peter Fonda made to Lennon while they were both tripping heavily - “I know what it’s like to be dead.” \*\* **bordelond** - I think EVERYONE in the world knows the rumor about “Puff the Magic Dragon”, but the three members of PP&M have steadfastly maintained for about 50 years now that this is NOT a drug song, that it’s about the loss of childhood innocence. I think this is one we just have to accept that. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Miskatonic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr.miskatonic/32/310_2.png) [@Mr.Miskatonic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Miskatonic)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/27 "2015-07-24T19:56:04Z")
> [@Spoke](#): > > Space Oddity - David Bowie (Major Tom’s a junkie!) Not until [Ashes to Ashes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashes_to_Ashes_(David_Bowie_song)) he wasn’t, and by then it was 1980. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/28 "2015-07-24T20:19:05Z")
> [@Mr.Miskatonic](#): > > Not until [Ashes to Ashes](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ashes_to_Ashes_(David_Bowie_song)) he wasn’t, and by then it was 1980. If you mean Bowie didn’t CONFIM the song was abut drugs until 1980, I guess you’re right. But everybody interpreted the song as a drug metaphor long before that. It just so happens that, THIS time, “everybody” was right. Sometimes, of course, songs “everybody” knows are about drugs really aren’t. ---
**Author:** ![Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hilarity_n.suze/32/6223_2.png) [@Hilarity\_N.Suze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hilarity_N.Suze)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/29 "2015-07-24T21:00:05Z")
You have to look for certain key words. SNOW for instance means cocaine; HORSE means heroin. “Grandmother” = the pusher or drug dealer. “Over the river”=Mexico, where a lot of drugs are procured. “Through the woods” – directions, obviously means some kind of trip. Etc. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/30 "2015-07-24T21:12:12Z")
> [@Little\_Pig](#): > > I would venture [The Pusher](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3XqyGoE2Q4Y) by Steppenwolf qualifies. Probably “Magic Carpet Ride”, as well. “Cocaine”, by Eric Clapton, although he claims it is an anti-drug song. “Incense and Peppermints”, by Strawberry Alarm Clock > [@](#): > > Incense and peppermints, meaningless nouns > Turn on, tune in, turn your eyes around. > > Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, yeah > Look at yourself, look at yourself, yeah, yeah, yeah! ---
**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:** [July 24, 2015, 9:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/31 "2015-07-24T21:31:11Z")
_Marrakesh Express_ and maybe _Purple Haze._ ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/32 "2015-07-24T21:37:55Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > “Cocaine”, by Eric Clapton, although he claims it is an anti-drug song. Sorry to nitpick, but that’s a J. J. Cale original and not by Clapton, and as an aside, [his version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWmD_HcOcfU) is way better than Clapton’s. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/33 "2015-07-24T21:53:59Z")
_Casey Jones_, by the Grateful Dead, was “driving that train, high on cocaine.” Frank Zappa, who was anti-drug, had any number of songs on the subject, including _Cocaine Decisions_, _Charlie’s Enormous Mouth_, and _Pygmy Twylyght._ ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/34 "2015-07-24T21:54:46Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Sorry to nitpick, but that’s a J. J. Cale original and not by Clapton, and as an aside, [his version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWmD_HcOcfU) is way better than Clapton’s. Yes! And here’s the two of them together, four years ago. [![](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/5WUeOEkl270/hqdefault.jpg?sqp=-oaymwEmCOADEOgC8quKqQMa8AEB-AHOBoAC4AOKAgwIABABGHIgWihAMA8=&rs=AOn4CLCLjFAoQ8pmAujmrwUGtyfU1mVb0Q "JJ Cale, Eric Clapton (After Midnight & Call me the Breeze)") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5WUeOEkl270) ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/35 "2015-07-24T22:36:54Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > Sorry to nitpick, but that’s a J. J. Cale original and not by Clapton, and as an aside, [his version](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KWmD_HcOcfU) is way better than Clapton’s. Yeah, I know, but Clapton made it a hit. Actually, that was in the 70s, so it doesn’t fit the OP anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2015, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/36 "2015-07-24T23:21:39Z")
“Along Comes Mary” by the Association is purportedly about marijuana, not a woman ---
**Author:** ![Mangosteen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Mangosteen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangosteen)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/37 "2015-07-25T00:11:04Z")
> [@WordMan](#): > > Paul McCartney has shared that **Got to Get You Into My Life** is his love song to marijuana. Songs like Strawberry Fields, A Day in the Life, I am the Walrus, and most famously, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds aren’t _about_ LSD, but John was experimenting with drugs at the time, and so his innovative songs are thought to reflect the effects… In an interview with Uncut magazine, Sir Paul begs to differ. In his own words: "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_." I think I’ve heard Lennon finally admit “Lucy” was about LSD. The Beatles were under a contract with their record label. There may have been some kind of morality clause about not admiting to (or advocating) drug use so they just made up a story about Lucy being a little girl in a kids book. ---
**Author:** ![Steophan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steophan/32/9595_2.png) [@Steophan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steophan)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/38 "2015-07-25T00:29:21Z")
> [@EinsteinsHund](#): > > And of course tons of others, though the drug references are often ambigious, and the artists and songwriters often denied that their songs were about drugs, but you can’t always trust the writers talking about their creations. Take [_Eight Miles High_ by the Byrds](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoSwOrytf_M): probably meant to be ambigious, banned for the possible drug references, denied by the band (you know, it’s about flying into London). Make up your own mind. The Byrds certainly weren’t against singing about drugs, the most obvious example is Artificial Energy, about amphetamines. ---
**Author:** ![drad\_dog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@drad\_dog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drad_dog)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/39 "2015-07-25T00:33:23Z")
To me Lennon has the right to say Lucy is not “about” LSD. We just all know that he was being influenced at the time by tripping. It’s tacky and obvious to take it out of his hands though, like it’s not his song. Listen to “Something happened to me yesterday.” from Between the Buttons by the Stones. That’s my best example. It also is the first solo vocal turn by Keith Richards. ---
**Author:** ![Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@Ellis\_Aponte\_Jr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellis_Aponte_Jr)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2015, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042/40 "2015-07-25T01:13:54Z")
Well, there is an actual picture drawn or painted by Julian Lennon that depicts his actual schoolmate named Lucy who appears to be in the sky with some diamond-type shapes, so apparently the original explanation is true. David Gilmour of Pink Floyd owns the original artwork today. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-songs-from-the-60s-really-are-about-acid-trips-or-drugs/726042.md?page=3)