Soon after, John Lennon, George Harrison, and the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein also admitted that they had used LSD. McCartney even went on to extol the virtues of LSD, claiming that it had brought him closer to God and would yield world peace if only politicians would try it. Around the time the album was released, Paul McCartney revealed in a Life magazine interview that he had been using marijuana and LSD. Pepper was indeed a piece of hippie propaganda for hallucinogenic partying. The Beatles had no doubt contributed to the perception that Sgt. Some clever listeners even pointed out that the song’s title shares the initials of the hallucinogen LSD (lysergic acid diethylamide). The lyrics of With a Little Help from My Friends, Lovely Rita, and A Day in the Life all referred to marijuana, mentioning getting “high” and taking “some tea,” as well a desire to “turn you on.” And tuned-in listeners easily connected the feelings, sensations, and visions people typically experience while on hallucinogenic drugs to the dreamlike imagery of Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. The album’s deliriously decorated jacket featured marijuana plants in the garden behind which the Beatles stood. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in the late spring of 1967, fans and critics alike were quick to find references to drugs throughout the LP. When the Beatles released their album Sgt.

In the exclusive excerpt below, Kasser applies the techniques of linguistic analysis to better understand the meaning of the song, as well as the life and mind of John Lennon. I n his recent book, Lucy in the Mind of Lennon (Oxford University Press), Psychologist Tim Kasser (Knox College) utilizes the methods of psychological science to explore John Lennon’s life through one of Lennon’s most famous and controversial songs: Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds.

Lucy in the sky