Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

Lysergic Acid Diethylamide

The late sixties were a time filled with sex, drugs, and rock and roll. A huge part of American culture at the time was focused around these three things. Musicians possessed a tremendous amount of social influence, and like wise, society put a lot of emphasis on the lives and attitudes of musicians. Of the rock groups from this time period, the Beatles were by far the most influential. The British rock group was probably the most catalytic band in rock and roll history. Although they came together in the shadow of the Beatles, another band of that era was Jefferson Airplane. Jefferson Airplane was deemed the first of the San Francisco psychedelic rock groups. Jefferson Airplane was always considered to be a psychedelic rock group, but it was not until later in their existence that the Beatles fell into this category as well. Both groups earned this title for their creative style of rock as well as for their experimentation with drugs. Each of these groups wrote songs that alluded to drug use at one time or another. Two of the most criticized songs from these bands are Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds by the Beatles, and White Rabbit by Jefferson Airplane. White Rabbit is a song latent with drug references. The connection with drugs in Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is not as clear. Although John Lennon claims that he had no intention of making references to LSD in his song, the abstract lyrics and metaphoric language invite drug connotation. Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds and White Rabbit mirror each other in their association with LSD and their allusions to Alice in Wonderland, but looking into these songs more deeply it is obvious that both artists were writing about escape; escaping reality.

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...ame out of the late 1960's. Both songs were criticized for their relationships to drug use and possible influence on impressionable youths. It was the media, the fans, and the critics that Jefferson Airplane and the Beatles were trying to escape from. It was through their music, Alice in Wonderland, and a drug called LSD that they were able to do so.

Works Cited

"The Beatles Ultimate Experience Database: Songwriting and Recording Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." (Online) Available http://www.geocities.com/SunsetStrip/Frontrow/4853/dba08sgt.html, 25 September 2000.

"KidsHeath." (Online) Available http://kidshealth.org/kid/grow/know_drugs_lsd_prt.htm, 26 September 2000.

Larrea, J.J. "Fifty Years Later, LSD Gains New Popularity in High Schools." (Online) Available http://www.lycaeum.org/drugs/tryptamines/lysergic/lsd_use_up.html, 27 September 2000.