10 Song Meanings Fans Can't Accept
1. The Beatles' "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" Was Inspired By Julian Lennon's Drawings
Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band was seen as a true watershed moment for rock music. Coming out at the start of the Summer of Love, this marked a turning point in the Beatles' career as well as putting them at the center of the counterculture movement.
Given the band's documented history of being high on acid during this period, most people latched onto the fact that John Lennon's cosmic "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds" happened to spell out LSD. With the media quick to capitalize on the band's drug habits, Lennon cleared the air by saying the actual inspiration was a little closer to home.
When pressed about the song, Lennon talked about how his son Julian came home from school one day with a picture he drew of one of his classmates Lucy, with the caption 'Lucy in the sky with diamonds.' Seeing the beauty in the phrase, Lennon set to work on the Alice-in-Wonderland like imagery of the tune.
Then again, once fans took a listen to the song's more hazy atmosphere, it was much easier to make the connection to drugs than to a drawing. While Lennon defended it constantly up until his death, this psychedelic masterpiece isn't too far removed from its narcotic connotations.