Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

• Written by John Lennon and Paul McCartney and also sung by the two of them in the recording.

• Described as ‘experimental’ song writing.

• Has some unusual features such as:

• 3 different keys: Amaj, Bbmaj and Gmaj.

• Verses and pre-chorus are in ¾ but the chorus is in 4/4

• Lowrey organ, tambura, maracas

• Strange lyrics!

Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

• Moderate tempo, 124 bpm.

• Provoked discussion over The Beatles’ use of drugs.

• Thought to be based on LSD, but John Lennon commented on that this was purely coincidental.

• Was banned on many radio stations for years because of people commenting on the drug use.

• The song is classed as psychedelic pop.

Inspiration

• In 1967, John’s son, Julian, showed his father a picture he had drawn.

• When John asked his son about the picture, Julian replied that it was ‘Lucy in the sky with Diamonds’. Lucy was his friends and the stars were diamonds.

• John thought it was a great title for a song and showed it to Paul and they started writing the song straight away.

• The words for the rest of the song and apparently inspired by ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and ‘Through the looking glass’.

Instrumentation

• John played acoustic guitar and sang most of the lyrics – some of these were double tracked.

• Paul sang part of the song, added harmonies, played bass and a Lowrey organ set on a celeste or bell like sound.

• Ringo played drums.

• George Martin (the producer) played piano.

• George Harrison played lead guitar through a Leslie Speaker, maracas and a drone on the Tambura.

• An echo effect was added during the recording, to make it sound ‘spacey’.

Intro

• 4 bars long, in 3/4 time and in A maj, played mezzo piano. The Lowrey organ plays the bell like, echoed sounds. See the notes in your booklets. This four bars are played continuously through the verse, creating an ostinato.

• The ostinato is in a high register and the large jumps between notes are called disjunct.

• The four chords that are used are:

• A5, A7, F#min7, Dm and Aaug – What notes are in these chords?

• Which note is found in all of these chords?

Verse 1

• The same chords that are used in the intro are used in the verse, in the same order.

• Made up of two almost identical melodies.

• On the words ‘skies’ the music changes slightly:

• The organ melody changes

• The chord changes to Fmaj instead of Dmin

• The hi-hat and kick drum are heard

• The bass has a short fill

• The tambura comes in for the first time.

Verse 1 cont.

• The melody is very limited – in 8 bars the note C# is sung 10 times and the range of the melody is very small.

• The notes C# - B on ‘river’ are quavers, but in the third line, on the word ‘slowly’ they are crotchets. This is an example of word painting.

• For the second half of the verse, the accompaniment goes back to the organ ostinato, but at the end you can hear the bass drum and cymbals – and the bass guitar starts to pick up the pace.

• In the recording the last line of the verse is double tracked giving the effect of another voice coming in and it helps build momentum in the song, leading up to the pre-chorus.

Word painting = A musical device where the words of a song are depicted literally in the music. Eg. The word ‘slowly’ is sung on ‘slower’ note values.

Pre chorus

• The first thing we notice is the key change from Amaj to Bbmaj. This is moving by a semitone, which has the effect of the music rising to a new height.

• The range of the pre chorus is even more limited, with most of it sung on only one note!

• Only the tonic, subdominant and dominant chords are used. (I, IV and V)

• Notice the guitar part is indicated to play a bend. This adds to the spacey and strange effect.

• On the last word ‘gone’, the music changes:

• The key changes to G maj, the time signature goes to 4/4 and the dynamics change to forte.

Bend = a guitar technique of pushing and pulling the string to one side while it is pressed down. This stretches the string more tightly, making the pitch higher.

Chorus

• The energy level rises dramatically as the 4/4 time signature moves the music forward.

• The melody moves away from dreamy to catchy and memorable. • The full drum kit is used. • The key changes to G maj. • The lyrics simply comprise of the title of the song! (Along with a few Ah’s) • John joins Paul in the third line of the song, where they sing in thirds. • The chords change more frequently as there is only one chord per bar, this

is called the harmonic rhythm. • There is a countermelody on the electric guitar played through a Leslie

Speaker. This is heard 3 times, and is made up of an ascending scalic passage followed by repeated Ds.

Harmonic rhythm – the speed at which the chord change occurs.

Countermelody – a melody heard alongside the main melody. As well as providing the harmony, a countermelody has its own character.

Verse 2

• Follows the same format with four small modifications:

• John’s singing is double tracked in the verse

• The organ plays chords on the 3rd beat of each bar

• The melody played previously on the organ is now played on electric guitar

• The tambura drone is heard throughout the verse

Pre chorus

• Exactly the same format except the change being in the lyrics

Chorus

• Same as before except Paul sings in harmony in 3rds from the first line instead of the third.

Verse 3

• The third verse follows the style and format of the first two verses.

• The organ plays the same ostinato and the phrase ‘kaleidoscope eyes’ is used again.

• After verse 3 there is no pre-chorus and the music transitions abruptly from the end of the verse into the final chorus; This time the key changes is from A major straight into G major.

Chorus

• The final chorus has the usual 3 lines and the ‘Ah’. The first line is sung as solo and the second and third have the harmony in 3rds.

• The lead guitar plays the same countermelody as before.

Outro Chorus

• The music of the chorus is used as an outro in this song, serving to end it with familiar material.

• During the 3rd line, it starts to fade.

• The song ends on a D chord, which is the dominant chord of G major, creating an unfinished feel, together with the fade out.

• The lead guitar improvises in the bar towards the end.

Essay question

Explain how the musical elements in ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ combine to create its dream-like quality. (8 marks)