“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is a song written primarily by John Lennon and credited to Lennon–McCartney, for the Beatles’ 1967 album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band. Lennon’s son Julian inspired the song with a nursery school drawing he called “Lucy—in the sky with diamonds”.
Shortly after the song’s release, speculation arose that the first letter of each of the title nouns intentionally spelled LSD. Lennon consistently denied this,[3][4] insisting the song was inspired by Lewis Carroll’s Alice In Wonderland books, a claim repeatedly confirmed by Paul McCartney.
Despite persistent rumours, the song was never officially banned by the BBC, and aired contemporaneously on BBC Radio at least once, on 20 May 1967.
Rolling Stone magazine described the song as “Lennon’s lavish daydream” and music critic Richie Unterberger said “‘Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” was one of the best songs on the Beatles’ famous Sgt. Pepper album, and one of the classic songs of psychedelia as a whole. There are few other songs that so successfully evoke a dream world, in both the sonic textures and words.” In a review for the BBC, Chris Jones described the song as “nursery rhyme surrealism” that contributed to Sgt. Pepper’s “revolutionary… sonic carpet that enveloped the ears and sent the listener spinning into other realms.”
In later interviews, Lennon expressed disappointment with the Beatles’ arrangement of the recording, complaining that inadequate time was taken to fully develop his initial idea for the song. He also said that he had not sung it very well. “I was so nervous I couldn’t sing,” he told journalist Ray Connolly, “but I like the lyrics.”
Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
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
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh…
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmellow pies
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers
That grow so incredibly high
Newpaper 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
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh…
Picture yourself on a train in a station
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstyle
The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds (fade out)
(John Lennon, Paul McCartney)
Lead Vocal: John Lennon
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