Lucy (In The Sky With Diamonds) Passes Away

“Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds,” one of the most iconic of The Beatles’ songs, was actually written about Julian Lennon’s childhood friend, Lucy O’Donnell. If you thought the song was about its acronym ‘L.S.D.,’ you aren’t alone; the BBC actually banned the song for alleged drug references.

In 2007, Lucy Vodden (married name), told BBC Radio the story of how Julian came to paint the picture which inspired Beatle, John Lennon, to write the song “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

“I remember Julian and I both doing pictures on a double-sided easel, throwing paint at each other, much to the horror of the classroom attendant. Julian had painted a picture and on that particular day his father turned up with the chauffeur to pick him up from school.”

The story that goes that when John asked Julian about the painting, Julian explained that the portrait was of “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”

The song was originally released in 1967 on Sgt Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the album that solidified The Beatles’ position as true artists among their peers and fans.

The former classmates had resumed their friendship in recent months when Julian Lennon learned that Lucy had become ill with lupus, a disease which attacks the immune system.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009, Lucy O’Donnell passed away at 46 following a long battle with Lupus.

Tweet

Comments

1. by Chance Macari on December 27, 2010 at 3:58 pm

   Ernest Hemingway~ Theres nothing noble in being superior to your fellow men. True nobility is being superior to your former self.

One response to “Lucy (In The Sky With Diamonds) Passes Away”