Elton John version[]
The most successful remake was a single recorded in 1974 by Elton John, which also appeared on the ephemeral 1976 musical documentary, All This and World War II, with background vocals and guitar by John Lennon (who used the pseudonym Dr. Winston O’Boogie). The single topped the Billboard pop charts for two weeks in January 1975.
During their collaboration, John appeared on Lennon’s song “Whatever Gets You Thru the Night”. Lennon promised to appear live with John at Madison Square Garden if it became a number 1 single. It did, and on 28 November 1974, Lennon kept his promise. They performed “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds”, “Whatever Gets You Through the Night”, and “I Saw Her Standing There”. Those live versions are available on the Lennon box set, as well as Elton John’s Here and There.
Истинный смысл: действительно ли здесь замешено нечто «запрещённое»
Несмотря на то, что песня была вдохновлена безобидным детским рисунком, вот уже на протяжении долгих десятилетий ведутся оживлённые споры: многие видят в ней отсылки к запрещённым веществам, которыми Джон Леннон активно увлекался в те годы. Даже название, кажется, говорит само за себя (если сложить все заглавные буквы), да и психоделическое звучание наводит на интересные размышления… Однако при жизни Леннон твёрдо стоял на своём: препараты здесь не при чём.
Помимо рисунка и знаменитого литературного шедевра, свой вклад внесли юмористические передачи, из которых Джон почерпнул идею о «пластилиновых галстуках», а также Пол Маккартни, который был вдохновлён сюрреалистическим настроем и накидал парочку своих фраз по типу «такси из газет» и «целлофановые цветы». Вышло необычно, но в этом и была изюминка.
Примечательно, но в одном из интервью Леннон, говоря о «Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds», упомянул Йоко Оно
Other cover versions[]
The song has been covered by many artists.
- A 1968 version by actor William Shatner (included on his album The Transformed Man) wasn’t successful at the time, but became well-known on the internet decades later. Reportedly, in both informal and more-structured polls of music fans, Shatner’s rendition is considered one of the worst pop recordings ever, although the notoriety may, in fact, have helped his musical career.
- Another version is on Marty Gold’s 1969 album Moog Plays the Beatles.
- In 2002 the Brazilian artist Rita Lee released a Beatles cover album that included this song.
- A very different cover was recorded by pianist John Bayless, as a minuet in the style of Bach.
- In 1988 Frank Zappa changed the lyrics of the song to satirize the sex scandal revolving around televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. In this version it was called: “Louisiana Hooker with Herpes”. For legal reasons, the song is not available on the official Zappa catalogue.
- Katie Melua performed a cover version which appears on the Special Edition of her second album, Piece By Piece, released in 2006.
- The song has been covered by the Japanese Rocker Hyde from L’Arc~en~Ciel, and was released on the Horizon single.
- The Grateful Dead have also covered this song in concert.
Lyrics[]
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
Aaaaahhhhh…
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
Aaaaahhhhh…
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
Aaaaahhhhh…
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Aaaaahhhhh…
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Lucy in the sky with diamonds
Reference to drugs and the title of the song[]
While Lennon and the Beatles were often frank about their drug use, for decades they denied that “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” had anything to do with LSD. In a 2004 interview, however, Paul McCartney spoke openly about his Beatles-era drug use, revealing that songs such as “Day Tripper” and “Got to Get You into My Life” were written directly about LSD and marijuana. When questioned about “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” he noted that Julian’s painting had inspired the song, but that it was “pretty obvious” that the song was about an acid trip.
In a 1971 interview Lennon recalled hearing about how the initials of the title spelled out LSD, then checking if the same thing had happened with other Beatles songs and finding “they didn’t spell out anything.” In that same interview, he stated the song was composed in a conscious attempt to craft poetry, and in 1980 he confirmed the images were taken from Alice in Wonderland.
In The Beatles Anthology (2000), Ringo Starr claimed he was present when Julian showed his “crazy little painting”. Paul recounted the time he and John spent in John’s music room, swapping suggestions for lyrics, saying, “We never noticed the LSD initial until it was pointed out later, by which point people didn’t believe us.”
Although the Beatles say they did not name the song after LSD, the song was conceived and recorded during a time when the Beatles were experimenting with LSD frequently, and creating much of their music under the influence.
Furthermore, some LSD users report a specific type of hallucination when they look at nightly sky with stars; when watching a particular star, a “copy” of it may periodically “flash” nearby either to the left or to the right. When looking at many stars under the influence of the drug, the whole sky seems to be “sparkling” with flashing stars, so “diamond sky” may be a metaphor of this vision.
Who was Lucy?[]
The Lucy referred to in the song may have been the late Lucy O’Donnell, born in Weybridge in 1963 (making her the same age as John’s son). She sat next to Julian at Heath House School. She met up with him on a few occasions, and occasionally appeared on daytime shows for the anniversary of the “Sergeant Pepper’s” album. She is featured in the book “A Hard Days Write.” She lived in Surbiton in Surrey, and owned a nanny agency for children with special needs until she was taken ill with psoriatic arthritis and lupus; she died in 2009.
There is another candidate for the original Lucy – British comedian Peter Cook’s daughter, Lucy. Lennon and Cook were seeing quite a bit of each other at the time (Lennon made a guest appearance on Cook’s TV show Not Only… But Also as a doorman). According to Cook’s biographer, Harry Thompson, Lennon told Cook’s then wife, Wendy, that the song was inspired by Lucy Cook.
«Люси в небе с алмазами» (перевод Сергея Кознова)
Нарисуй себя в лодке, плывущей по реке с мандариновыми деревьями и небом из повидла Кто-то зовет тебя, и ты медленно отвечаешь девочке с калейдоскопическими глазами Желтые и зеленые целлофановые цветы башнями вздымаются над твоей головой. Ты ищешь девушку с солнцем в глазах, но ее уже нет.
Люси в небе с алмазами, Люси в небе с алмазами.
Проследуй за ней до моста у фонтана, Где сидящие на деревянных конях-качалках люди едят пироги с алтеем. Все улыбаются, увидев тебя рядом с цветами, выросшими до неправдоподобных размеров! На берегу появляются такси из газетной бумаги и ждут тебя, чтобы увезти отсюда. Заберись в чан, где твоя голова окажется в окружении облаков, и ты исчезнешь.
Люси в небе с алмазами, Люси в небе с алмазами.
Нарисуй себя в поезде на станции с пластилиновыми носильщиками в зеркальных галстукам Вдруг кто-то появляется у турникета — девочка с калейдоскопическими глазами.
Люси в небе с алмазами, Люси в небе с алмазами.
Музыка в песне вышла не менее странной, чем сказка Кэрролла — с тягучим куплетом под клавесин, напоминающим полусонную дрему в жаркий летний день, и взрывающимся припевом. Изрядную долю странности придал и Джордж Харрисон, в то время активно увлекающийся всякой индийской экзотикой — от религии до музыки.
Запись «Lucy…» оказалась самой быстрой среди всех песен эпохально-экспериментального альбома «Sgt. Pepper…». И как ни странно — единственной песней, которая мне по-настоящему понравилась на этом альбоме (уж извините, битломаны)… Но слухи вокруг песни всё-таки закрыли для «Lucy…» путь на радио.
Bскоре Леннон решил сознательно посмеяться над конспирологами-толкователями и написал песню «I am the walrus» («Я — морж»), нарочно составленную из случайного набора фраз, в одной из которых он злорадно упомянул всё ту же «Люси в небе». Толкователи, конечно, проявились в полной мере. Но куда им было до опасного идиота-убийцы Чарльза Мэнсона, услышавшего призыв резать людей в песне «Helter Scelter», написанной «милашкой» Маккартни. Или идиота-фаната Чэпмена, в 1980 году «просто убившего Джона Леннона»…
Но вернемся к Люси. К песенной и настоящей. В 1974 году эту песню ждало второе рождение — ее перезаписал Элтон Джон, и она тут же взлетела на 1-е место хит-парада. В новой версии участвовал и сам автор песни: Леннон подпевал и подыгрывал Элтону на гитаре, во время чего выяснилось, что он, оказывается, подзабыл аккорды своего же творения.
В том же году героиня песни передала своё имя… ископаемой прямоходящей обезьяне австралопитеку! Получилось так, что именно песня про Люси звучала на магнитофоне в антропологическом лагере в Эфиопии в тот момент, когда и были раскопаны останки экземпляра одного из самых ранних наших предков.
О том, что ее именем названа обезьяна, настоящая Люси Водден-О’Доннел, в то время и не подозревала. Даже о том, что именно ее рисованный образ вдохновил БИТЛЗ на написание знаменитой песни, она узнала только в 13 лет, в 1976 году. Попытка похвалиться этим фактом перед одноклассниками провалилась — ей в один голос ответили, что песня на самом деле про наркотики, так, мол, говорят родители.
Джулиан не мог поддержать свою детскую подругу — после детского сада их пути разошлись. Он связался с ней лишь незадолго до… ее смерти. Дело в том, что настоящую Люси всю жизнь преследовала страшная болезнь — волчанка. Попытки Джулиана помочь Люси справиться с болезнью не увенчались успехом, и в сентябре 2009-го она скончалась в возрасте 46 лет.
А в 2010 году Джулиан Леннон выпустил песню, посвященную ей и названную просто «Lucy», а часть доходов от продажи своего нового диска направил на борьбу с волчанкой.
Cultural echoes[]
- In January 1968, John Fred and the Playboy Band parodied the song on their hit single “Judy in Disguise (With Glasses)” which intentionally sounds like “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.” Interestingly enough, the single knocked another Beatles single, “Hello, Goodbye”, down the charts.
- The song inspired the name of an anthropological find. On November 30, 1974, Donald Johanson and Tom Gray discovered the skeleton of a 3.18 million year old female hominid in the Afar Triangle of Ethiopia. They called it Lucy because the Beatles hit was playing while they were discussing a name.
- On 13 February 2004 astronomers at Harvard announced the discovery of BPM 37093, a celestial object which appears to be a carbon star. Carbon being the element diamonds are composed of, they whimsically named it Lucy, likely in reference to Arthur C. Clarke’s 2061: Odyssey Three (1987), which speculates that the core of Jupiter may be an Earth-sized diamond, formed by carbon sedimenting from the outer layers (and when a mountain-sized chunk of diamond appears on Jupiter’s moon Europa, Clarke’s characters use the codeword “Lucy” to communicate the discovery).
- In the Simpsons episode Last Exit to Springfield, Lisa is given nitrous oxide by her dentist and hallucinates in a scene inspired by the Beatles’ Yellow Submarine film. In it, she encounters the four Beatles in their yellow submarine (recoloured purple for copyright reasons), with George Harrison saying, “Look, it’s Lisa in the sky!” Followed by Lennon lamenting “No diamonds though.”
- In part III (Full Circle) of the song “Octavarium” by Dream Theater, “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” is mentioned.
- “Lucy In the Sky With Diamonds” is the name of a superhero in the comic book Runaways. Karolina Dean takes up this name because her alien physiology makes her skin pulse with psychedelic colours and gives her the ability to fly.
- A mural is dedicated to the song in Westmont High School, in Westmont, Illinois.
- The song also plays an important role in the movie I Am Sam, starring Sean Penn, in which he names his daughter (Dakota Fanning) Lucy Diamond because of the song.
- The song is referenced in the Clash track “Julie’s Been Working for the Drug Squad.”
- The line “As Lucy in the sky” in the Pink Floyd track “Let There Be More Light” is a direct reference to the song.
- During the chapter “The Preternatural Courtship” of the movie Fear and Loathing In Las Vegas, actor Benicio Del Toro, playing as “Dr. Gonzo”, introduces actress Christina Ricci by the name “Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds.”
- A direct callback is made to this song in “I am the Walrus” at the lyrics “see how they fly like Lucy in the sky.”
Julian’s drawing[]
According to the Beatles, one day in 1966 Lennon’s son, Julian, came home from nursery school with a drawing he said was of his classmate, a girl named Lucy. Showing the artwork to his father, young Julian described the picture as “Lucy – in the sky with diamonds.”
Julian later said, “I don’t know why I called it that or why it stood out from all my other drawings, but I obviously had an affection for Lucy at that age. I used to show dad everything I’d built or painted at school, and this one sparked off the idea for a song about Lucy in the sky with diamonds.”
His son’s artwork appears to have inspired Lennon to draw heavily on his own childhood affection for Lewis Carroll’s “Wool and Water” chapter from Through the Looking-Glass. At least one lyric was influenced by both Carroll and skits on a popular British comedy programme (the Goon Show) making references to “plasticine ties”, which showed up in the song as “Plasticine porters with looking glass ties”. Carroll’s work has also been cited as having influenced Lennon’s two books, In His Own Write and A Spaniard in the Works.
Arrangement[]
The song has a complex arrangement typical of later Lennon/McCartney compositions; much of the song is in triple metre (3/4 time aka “waltz time”), except the chorus, where it switches to 4/4 time. The song also shifts between musical keys, using the key of A for the verse, B-flat for the pre-chorus or bridge section, and G for the chorus. It consists of a very simple melody (reminiscent of a nursery song), sung by Lennon over an increasingly complicated underlying arrangement which features a tambura, played by George Harrison, and a Lowrey organ, whose sound was altered by producer George Martin, played by Paul McCartney.
Lyrics and title[]
The lyrics of the song — which is commonly believed to be about an acid trip — feature image-laden verses which present an overtly psychedelic travelogue, describing a boat trip through a fantastic land of “rocking horse people”, “newspaper taxis” and “marshmallow pies”, alternating with chorus sections which simply repeat the song’s title. The Beatles, however, have steadily maintained that the initials of the title forming “LSD” (Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds) is mere coincidence, as the title is taken from a drawing by a young Julian Lennon. Forty years later the phrase “plasticine porters” inspired the name of the French female band the Plastiscines.
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
В заключение
В конечном итоге не только песня, а и сама Люси стала самодостаточным персонажем в фильмах, ассоциируемых с творчеством «Битлз». Но как сложилась судьба «прототипа»?
К сожалению, Люси Водден скончалась в 2009 году. Она 5 лет боролась с волчанкой, но болезнь оказалась сильнее… В последние годы Джулиан восстановил связь с подругой детства, и всячески поддерживал её: он часто отправлял Водден цветы и поддерживающие текстовые сообщения во время её пребывания в больнице. По иронии судьбы, Люси не была поклонницей песни, источником вдохновения для которой она фактически стала. Однажды она сказала:
Оригинал: источник
