The Beatles, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds | Controversial Tunes 😈🎶

In the 6^th edition of Controversial Tunes (2023), we explore the controversy behind the song, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” by The Beatles. 

“Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Emphasis on the L, the S, and the D. Bring on the controversy! Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 is a column that provides background information and insight into songs that raised eyebrows and totally stirred the pot.  The records that grace Controversial Tunes are old and new alike, with all genres of music welcome.  In the 6^th edition of Controversial Tunes (2023), we explore the controversy behind the song, 🎵 “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” by 🎙 The Beatles. 

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“Picture yourself in a boat on a river / With tangerine trees and marmalade skies.” Um, okay, but totally weird and hella trippy, 🎙 John Lennon. “Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly / A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.” Yeah, um, John, what exactly are you getting at on 🎵 “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”? Per the songwriter, this controversial gem from 🎙 The Beatles’ 1967 masterpiece, 💿 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band was not written about experiences with hallucinogenic drugs, aka LSD. I mean, if the primary songwriter, Lennon, says it’s not about acid, then we have to honor that. STILL, given the lyrical imagery, and the far too clever title that features LSD, it seems far-fetched to think it’s a total coincidence “Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds” is so, well, high.

The 1960s was a time of free love and the rise of LSD use. The hippies had a certain vibe, period. Lennon experimented with LSD himself.  There just seems like there is no earthly way that this was merely a song named/inspired by a drawing by Lennon’s son and makes no reference to drugs.  “Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers / that grow so incredibly high.” High, huh? We’re not talking about height here, Johnny boy!  Furthermore, moments like “Climb in the back with your head in the clouds / And you’re gone” totally feel like the representation of a psychedelic drug induced trip. Apparently, even though Lennon denied the druggy nature of LSD – I mean, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds” – the beloved band found themselves being labeled controversial 😈.  The BBC banned the song.  Is there any explicit reference to LSD? No, but the implications explain why this brilliant classic by everybody’s favorite band totally raised eyebrows.  Shout out covers by 🎙 Elton John and 🎙 The Flaming Lips.

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🎙 The Beatles • 💿 Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band • 🏷 Apple Corps Ltd • 🗓 1967

The Beatles, “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds”: Controversial Tunes 😈🎶 No. 6 (2023) [📷: Brent Faulkner / The Musical Hype; Apple Corps Ltd; Anand Kulkarni, Aykut Bingül, Luân Phan, mohammadreza merhvand via Pexels; Anna, Gordon Taylor, harshahars from Pixabay; christian buehner on Unsplash]