Lucy O’Donnell-Vodden, the inspiration for the classic Beatles song Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds has shuffled off the mortal coil to join Beatles songwriter John Lennon in the sky with those very same diamonds. Lucy was only 46 years of age, having passed away after a prolonged and difficult battle with the autoimmune disorder lupus. Like most people who have inspired famous songs, she wore her crown of inspiration uneasily.
“I don’t relate to the song, to that type of song,” she told the Associated Press in June. “As a teenager, I made the mistake of telling a couple of friends at school that I was the Lucy in the song and they said, ‘No, it’s not you, my parents said it’s about drugs.’ And I didn’t know what LSD was at the time, so I just kept it quiet, to myself.”
The rumor always was that the song was about acid, and given that the Beatles were pretty far into their psychedelic stage at that point, it was easy to believe. I believed it myself. However, John and Julian never wavered in their story. Lucy O’Donnell was Lucy, Julian did draw the picture and bring it home to his father, and John was inspired to write the song, which will probably be a big seller on iTunes now.
Tags: Lucy Vodden, Lucy O’Donnell, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, The Beatles, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, song inspirations, lupus, John Lennon, Julian Lennon, obituaries