By Randal C. Hill
Lucy O’Donnell was just four years old when she attended the upscale Heath House School in Weybridge, Surrey, England. One of her best friends there was John Lennon’s son, Julian Lennon, who arrived at school each day in a Rolls-Royce.
Years later, in a BBC interview, O’Donnell recalled, “I remember Julian and I both doing pictures on a double-sided easel. Julian painted a picture of me.” The lad’s 5” x 7” paper artwork showed Lucy floating in an orange sky among stars that he called “diamonds.” That afternoon, the boy took his creation home and proudly showed it to his famous dad.
Related: The real Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds: How a Young Girl Inspired the Classic Beatles Song
John loved the image and immediately invited partner Paul McCartney over to work up a song inspired by Julian’s artwork. Four days later, the two Beatles had “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” ready to go.
According to Lennon, the tune had nothing to do with lysergic acid diethylamide—LSD. “Until somebody pointed it out, I never even thought of it,” he said later. “I mean, who would ever bother to look at the initials of a title?”
As 1974 drew to a close, Elton John’s version of “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” gave him his third Number One American single when his MCA Records disc topped Billboard’s Hot 100 chart for two weeks. His friend (and the song’s co-creator) John Lennon had provided some guitar work and backup vocals along the way, although the ex-Beatle forgot some chords during the recording session.
Related: Music Flashback: “Lola” by The Kinks
Okay, so “Lucy” wasn’t about drugs, but no one can deny that many of the lyrics are pretty trippy:
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
Lucy O’Donnell (later Lucy Vodden) appreciated the Beatles’ music but did once admit, “As a teenager, I made the mistake of telling a couple of friends at school I was the Lucy in the song. They said, ‘No, it’s not about 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.”
Sadly, in September 2009, Ludy Vodden died after a long battle with lupus. She was just 46. But her song lives on.
