The song lyrics were written by the band Van Halen, as they were asked to write a song for the 1979 movie "Over the Edge" starring Matt Dillon. The movie (and the lyrics, although more obliquely) are about bored, rebellious youth with nothing better to do than get into trouble. If you see the movie, these lyrics will make more sense. It's a great movie if you grew up in the 70s/80s you'll definitely remember some of these characters from your own life. Fun fact, after writing the song, Van Halen decided not to let the movie use it.
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
Ah
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
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
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 the kaleidoscope eyes
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
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
Ah
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
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
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 the kaleidoscope eyes
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Ah
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
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"this song is not about LSD. it's about a picture john's son brought home that he drew of his school friend lucy. it was lucy, in the sky, with diamonds. john didn't realize it was an acronym for LSD until after he wrote it"
Heh. Sure. I believe that. These guys were known for BSing... I've seen some videotaped interviews them where some of the comments they made were just hysterical. That line is typical of Lennon's creations. This song is all about drugs.
The people who are defending the Beatles are BSing. Even if there truley was a painting the melody of the song was obviously inspired by some kind of hallucinogen. So the song is most likely about LSD.
I agree with you.
My English teacher is a HUGE fan of the Beatles. As she informed the class- we had a mini lesson about the Beatles- John's son, when he was about 5 or 6, showed him a picture of a drawing he made of his friend, Lucy, in the sky with diamonds, and that's what the kid told his Dad. In fact, John's son got in contact with her when they were adults, it's also how he learned she developed Lupus. <br /> <br /> There's probably a chance that John WAS doing some sort of drug when he wrote the song, but his son's drawing was what inspired the song, not drugs. Go look it up man.
gorightly.files.wordpress.com/2009/09/3-lucy-in-the-sky-with-diamonds-julian-lennon.jpg<br /> <br /> There's John's little boy's drawing.
@rhink Not bad rhink i voted for you because I felt sorry for you when you contradicted yourself in the second paragraph (unless you were being ironic in the first - but i suspected you didn't because americans don't understand irony i heard. BSing? cant we fucking swear in this place?
If you've ever done LSD. You would know that this song, is not about drawing, or some girl named Lucy. Its about fucking acid.
You're an idiot. It's definitely about a drawing.
You are not an idiot, LSD is exactly what this song is about. Of course they would deny it - why would they admit the truth? Too embarrassing! The idiots are the people who think this song is not about LSD!!!
All of you are right about that! This song is about LSD... John Fogerty did the same on his " Lookin' out my back door"
@Sergio- Even the song you reference is not about what it seems. CCR was from the San Francisco area, where psychedelic music and such bands were big. But CCR wasn't like those kinds of bands in that regard and Fogerty has said the few times he smoked pot he didn't like the feeling of being out of control. If anything, that song (Lookin Out My Back Door) is poking fun at drug inspired songs.
@DMorley you are talking like someone who wants us to think you are cool and take drugs.
is it really that big of a deal if it is about drugs? still a good song. about lsd or not
one thing about this song is maybe it is a painting that his son made, but jon did do lsd and this song is very LSD sounding its up there with tommorrow never knows, the picture didnt show girls with kaleidoscope eyes or tangerine trees and dripping past flowers so eiether hes got one hell of an imagination or he was trippin. And second who cares if he did write it on LSD, do you like the song? then it dosent matter he made it, its amazing and people loved it. so dont fret...
@Vast334 Who's fretting?
Oh god there are so many either idiotic adults who grew up in the 70s/80s or really naive people who are in their 20s or younger (which I'm only 21).. Most here get it the meaning behind this song halfway, actually everyone here get's the full truth exactly halfway but the ones who say it is about LSD are the only ones who actually listen to it for themselves and interpert it correctly, rather than say its not about LSD (where did I see someone say defending the beatles by denying their drug use?) Listen to all their songs, from their first album listen to the lyrics hard, keep listening to the albums notice the progression of their music, or drop some acid or some type of psychedelic (no drug, psychedelic, big difference between an intoxicant and a psychedelic BIG DIFFERENCE) The Beatles dropped acid, all four of them, there wasn't denying it amongst them. 1965 began the entire explosion in musical creativity the beatles are well known to have made the first psychedelic rock album (mainstream among millions of fans, just as LSD was reaching millions of people).. They may not be saying outloud on their songs LSD LSD LSD, but take one damn listen to half their songs during that 5 year period. "Tomorrow Never Knows" prime example is probably the most obvious song about the psychedelic experience.
And when I say your all HALF-RIGHT.
John Lennon's story is true, that was what sparked the idea, however they spun it into a song purely about LSD from that picture since the picture was of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, that shoots out of the page from the combination of words. Lennon wasn't lying when he said that was how the song was made, and what it was about, because his son really did. However look at the damn lyrics..
"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."
If you cannot realize the clear connection that that phrase is about taking a hit of lsd, than you i feel sorry for you all who really are missing out on the beatles, even mcartney and ringo stated the song was obviously about lsd publicly, this one is probably one of their most obviously about psychedelic use, not their only one there are subliminal's in so many of their songs.
@AlexFulkroad No need to be a dick about it.
@AlexFulkroad No need to be a dick about it.
well after tripping yesterday and having john sing this song directly to me, i can safely say its about a picture john drew in his head...while tripping on lsd.
I was told it's about drugs and being high LUCY in the SKY with DIAMONDS=LSD of course there's other interpretations, but drug use is just too obvious to not be one.
It was a well known fact that Lennon was a user of LSD, and I think that the song was written about one of his trips. I also think the drawing theory was a way for them to say it wasn't about LSD because drugs were a bit more taboo at the time. In recent years, drugs have become more accepted, so McCartney probably felt that telling people it's about LSD wouldn't get as negative a reaction it might've gotten back in the '60s and '70s.
@nijichama Alice in Wonderland inspired a good chunk of lyrics.
and yeah the beatles always fucked around during interviews. they got a kick out of fucking with the media and their reactions.
Steve Turner, author of the book “a Hard Day’s Night”, the song’s producer said that
“The imagery in the song is partly a reflection of John’s drug experiences, and partly his love of `Alice in Wonderland,‘”