Beatles: Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds Meaning

Song Released: 1967

Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds Lyrics

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...

1. anonymous

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   Jan 15th 2007 !⃝

   Facist American Bible freaks. Just because you want the Beatles to be a pretty little gospel band doesn't mean they are. The song does pertain to Julian's picture (see the wiki on the song.) However, it also openly connected with the psychedelic genre and acid itself. (Anyone who knows jack about music or has been tripping could tell you this.)
2. anonymous

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   Dec 29th 2006 !⃝

   you who think it s about drugs are stupid go read any real Beatles book and you'll know that it really was Julian Lennon's picture that inspired it

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
3. anonymous

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   Dec 16th 2006 !⃝

   This is simply a song about LSD. They couldn't sing about drugs at that time, so obviously they needed an acronym: Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. I haven't heard of it being inspired by a picture, but it seems to describe all the weird things you see when you're high. And the Beatles were always high.
4. anonymous

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   Dec 7th 2006 !⃝

   I don't care what everyone says, it is ridiculous, it is inspired by a picture Julian drew, but it is obvious that there was some connection to LSD.
   Acid people, Acid!
5. anonymous

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   Dec 1st 2006 !⃝

   Is there a reason why a song must have only one meaning? Or why the entire song must be based around and pertaining to only ONE subject? Do you honestly think that it's feasible that a song, usually have three verses and two or more chorus, is going to be so singularly oriented that it would all be only about ONE specific thing?
   
   I can see something beautiful and appreciate it in an artistic sense, while at the same time be reminded of a childhood memory, and at the same time think, "This would be really cool on acid."
   
   I think that the kid's picture thing is probably true. I also think that the Allison in Wonderland thing probably has some merit. The song is definately very colorful and very fanciful with some crazy imagery; it's a very skillful and detailed imagination... That could very possibly be about or inspired by LSD.
   
   (Wow, this'd be cool on acid.)
   ;)
6. anonymous

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   Nov 20th 2006 !⃝

   its the person from the last one. Someone up there was right, it was inspired by this picture but it was ABOUT being high on acid.
7. anonymous

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   Nov 20th 2006 !⃝

   the LSD is NOT total crap. Originally, when the beatles were asked what it was about, John ( or Paul or whoever it was) fed them crap about a picture julien drew. In 2005, Paul admitted it was about acid. (I read this in Rolling Stone I think, it was some magazine like that).

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
8. jo1969

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   Nov 15th 2006 !⃝

   It's all been said above, the lsd thing is total crap.

   This interpretation has been marked as poor. view anyway
9. anonymous

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   Aug 25th 2006 !⃝

   This song is about the pic that julian drew but he was on lsd when he seen the pic, and that's how the song came about.
10. anonymous

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    Aug 13th 2006 !⃝

    John denied this song being about drugs. John was also very open about using drugs, so I don't believe he would lie about writing a drug related song.
11. mightymuffin5042

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    Jun 12th 2006 !⃝

    Well, above, you don't exactly decide to write a song and go "Ok. I've got between 8-12 hours to write this song since I must be high the entire time or it won't come out right. Ready. Set. Go."
12. klayfox

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    May 6th 2006 !⃝

    I was doing research, and the effects of LSD last for about 8 to 12 hours which is definitely enough time to write lyrics with a basic tune you want for the song. I'm not saying they wrote this song on LSD, but I'm saying that if they did, they surely had enough time to do it.
13. anonymous

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    Apr 25th 2006 !⃝

    It was said before that this song is a mirror to I am The Walrus. This is sort of correct, but it's really that I Am The Walrus reffers to THIS. I'm sure that this had some socialist means, because I Am The Walrus did, and it refers to Lucy in the Sky in that song.
    
    I'm sure most of you are saying "it's not about LSD" and those saying "ITS SOOO ABOUT LSD" have both probably never experienced this stuff. I'm SURE he was either high, or drawing from past experiences of being high when he wrote it, but it odsnt mean that's what the whole things about.
    
    Being a lyricist, and a strange one at that, I know where you get these things from. Sometimes ill be writing a song and say to myself "hmm I remember that one time when..." and make a small refference to something, but not make the whole song about it. It probably had refferences to Julians picture, and lucy herself, but he was clearly high or thinking of haullucinations when he wrote it.
    Kaleidascope eyes gives it away. I was thinking today "when you look through a Kaleidascope, you see these shimmery things swirling around (diamonds) and then he thought about Lucy, being in this kaleidascope. Something he might have seen when high on LSD.
    
    So look, it's based on the picture, but inspired by a trip. That's the short story. But I'm sure that everything means somthing else, even "rocking horse people eat marshmellow pies".... Its all metaphoric and based on SOMETHING. That's how the brain works.
    
    Just don't assume it was scrambled down on paper randomly while tripping, but also don't assume that those crazy lyrics where written while clean for a week.
    
    -Matt Vituccio
14. anonymous

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    Apr 3rd 2006 !⃝

    OK, all you people who are looking for an excuse or a sign to like point out drugs in EVERY BEATLES SONG are full of shit. Yellow submarine isn't about drugs, this song isn't about drugs, and strawberry field forever isn't about drugs. They are just great musicians.
15. anonymous

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    Mar 25th 2006 !⃝

    here are the lyrics, don't tell me this isn't about LSD:
    
    Picture yourself in boat on a river,
    With tangerine trees and marmalde 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 taxis 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 on 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.
    
    Now with that written, how in the world is a kid supposed to draw that? I do know that this song is influenced by the picture, but also LSD. look at the lyrics carefully.

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