What are some Beatles or John Lennon songs about LSD or other drugs?

Posted by admin on November 24th, 2009 and filed under beatles john lennon | 8 Comments »


Although many later Beatles songs were influenced by drugs (marijuana mostly), there are two songs that were really about to drugs. "Day Tripper" was written about a girl who takes drugs by day, and "Got to Get You Into My Life" was Paul McCartney’s "ode" to marijuana.

Contrary to popular belief, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" came about when John Lennon’s son Julian came home with a picture he drew of a girl in his class named Lucy. When John asked him what the picture was of, Julian said, "Lucy in the sky with diamonds." Also, "Strawberry Fields Forever", another song often associated with drugs, was actually based on a Salvation Army building called "Strawberry Field" near John Lennon’s childhood home. "Hey Jude" was written by Paul McCartney for Julian Lennon when John Lennon left him and Cynthia Lennon. It was originally called "Hey Jules" (short for Julian) but was changed when Cynthia Lennon and Paul McCartney felt Jude sounded better. John Lennon mistakingly thought it was about him when he fell for Yoko Ono.

8 Responses

  1. macbridgeh2o Says:

    Everyone knows about Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds but I think half the White Album they were hig on something!!!
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  2. Spinn Says:

    Strawberry Fields is suppose to be about a drug trip. Lucy In The Sky With Diamond is actually a song Lennon wrote about a picture his son drew him.
    References :
    Took a Rock History class my freshman year in college

  3. derek z Says:

    Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds
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  4. dannyukun Says:

    To name a few : “Strawberry Fields Forever,” “Day Tripper,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Help,” “Cold Turkey,” “Glass Onion,” “I Am the Walrus,” and “Penny Lane.” "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds".

    I am also sure you could get the feeling they were taking drugs in other songs too. There were no full-on lyrics saying they took drugs, it was usually disguised as it was pretty damn naughty in those days!

    References :

  5. boogyon Says:

    Hey Jude key words ; let it out and let in (shooting up) Also come togeather ( he shoots cocacola) cocaine.
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  6. Stella Says:

    Just regarding "Hey Jude" it was actually written for John’s young (at the time) son Julian. It was origianlly called "hey Jules", Paul’s name for Julian.I don’t think it was inspired by drugs – Paul composed it in his car while driving to John’s house to comfort Julian during Johns breakup with Julian’s mother Cynthia.
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  7. ringoizhot Says:

    LSD was zoomed out of proportion for "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," but that was only because someone pointed out that’s what the letters said. Yes, the Beatles took strips upon strips of LSD, but no one was ever high at a recording session or concert.
    Come Together is a song supposedly about STDs, "Hold you in his arms ’till you can feel his disease," and it very well might be.
    When the Beatles went to India, they wrote the songs for the White Album. They were on drugs, but not 24/7. In the Sgt. Pepper album cover there’s a hookah, or water pipe. just symbolic.
    If the 60’s weren’t laden with drugs, we wouldn’t have some of the music that came from that era. But face it, we’d still have the Monkeys because they didn’t write their own songs.
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  8. disco_rox Says:

    Although many later Beatles songs were influenced by drugs (marijuana mostly), there are two songs that were really about to drugs. "Day Tripper" was written about a girl who takes drugs by day, and "Got to Get You Into My Life" was Paul McCartney’s "ode" to marijuana.

    Contrary to popular belief, "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" came about when John Lennon’s son Julian came home with a picture he drew of a girl in his class named Lucy. When John asked him what the picture was of, Julian said, "Lucy in the sky with diamonds." Also, "Strawberry Fields Forever", another song often associated with drugs, was actually based on a Salvation Army building called "Strawberry Field" near John Lennon’s childhood home. "Hey Jude" was written by Paul McCartney for Julian Lennon when John Lennon left him and Cynthia Lennon. It was originally called "Hey Jules" (short for Julian) but was changed when Cynthia Lennon and Paul McCartney felt Jude sounded better. John Lennon mistakingly thought it was about him when he fell for Yoko Ono.
    References :
    I’ve read the following Beatles books over the past year:

    The Beatles: The Biography

    The Love You Make: An Insider’s Guide to the Beatles

    The Walrus Was Paul: The Great Beatle Death Clues

    The Beatles Anthology

    The Beatles: A Life in Pictures

    Here Comes the Sun: The Spiritual and Musical Journey of George Harrison

    Lennon Revealed

    Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me

    John (by Cynthia Lennon)

    Band on the Run: A History of Paul McCartney and Wings
    Paul McCartney: Many Years From Now

    Here, There and Everywhere: My Life Recording the Music of The Beatles

    Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America

    The White Book

    Revolution in the Head: The Beatles’ Records in the Sixties

    McCartney

    Ticket To Ride: Inside the Beatles’ 1964 & 1965 Tour That Changed the World

    The Beatles (by Hunter Davies)

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