<P> "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" is a song credited to Lennon--McCartney that appears on the Beatles' 1967 album Sgt . Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band . John Lennon started production of the song, and then Paul McCartney contributed to it in a songwriting session . Lennon's son Julian inspired the song with a nursery school drawing he called "Lucy--in the sky with diamonds". Shortly after the song's release, speculation arose that the first letter of each of the title nouns intentionally spelled "LSD". Lennon consistently denied this, insisting the song's fantastical imagery was inspired by Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland books, a claim repeatedly confirmed by Paul McCartney . </P> <P> Despite persistent rumours, the song was never officially banned by the BBC, and aired contemporaneously on BBC Radio at least once, on 20 May 1967 . </P> <P> Most of the song is in simple triple metre (time), but the chorus is in time . The song modulates between musical keys, using the key of A major for verses, B ♭ major for the pre-chorus, and G major for the chorus . It is sung by Lennon over an increasingly complicated underlying arrangement which features a tamboura, played by George Harrison, lead electric guitar put through a Leslie speaker, played by Harrison, and a counter melody on Lowrey organ played by McCartney and taped with a special organ stop sounding "not unlike a celeste". Session tapes from the initial 1 March 1967 recording of this song reveal Lennon originally sang the line "Cellophane flowers of yellow and green" as a broken phrase, but McCartney suggested that he sing it more fluidly to improve the song . </P> <P> The recording of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds" began with rehearsals in Studio 2 at Abbey Road on 28 February 1967 . The instrumental backing was finished the following evening . On the first take, track one of the four - track tape contained acoustic guitar and piano, track two McCartney's Lowrey organ, track three Starr's drums, and track four a guide vocal by Lennon during the verses . Take eight replaced the guide vocal with Harrison's tamboura . The four tracks of this take were then mixed together and recorded on the first track of a second four - track tape . On 2 March, Lennon's double - tracked vocals, accompanied by McCartney on the choruses, were recorded to tracks two and three . McCartney's bass and Harrison's lead guitar occupied track four . Eleven mono mixes of the song were made at the 2 March session, but they were rejected in favour of the final mono mix created on 3 March . A stereo mix was made on 7 April . </P>

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