Picture Yourself
You probably already know the story behind the Beatles' "Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds," one of a handful of pop masterpieces that appeared on a fairly popular and influential album released forty years ago this month. Four-year-old Julian Lennon shows his father, John, a picture he drew in school. John asks what it is. "It's Lucy, in the sky, with diamonds," Julian replies. The song John writes with a little help from Paul McCartney is perceived as a lyrical depiction of a trendy psychoactive substance, and the rest is mythology.
But what about Lucy? Julian's nursery schoolmate turns out to be one Lucy Vodden, 44, who recently related her story to This Is Hertfordshire. "I remember running around Julian's garden in St George's Hill," she tells the paper.
He had a swimming pool with beautiful tiles. I was always a bit scared of John as he was a big man with a loud voice, and I remember thinking Julian's mum was really glamorous - she used to pick him up for school wearing a mini-skirt and a beehive," she recalls as she sifts through numerous newspaper cuttings about her and "her" song.
Unfortunately, Lucy currently suffers from Lupus, psoriasis, and arthritis, and must avoid not only "marmalade skies" but pretty much all sunlight.
As for other Beatles song inspirations: Lovely Rita apparently no longer grants interviews, but Lucy Vodden remains friends with Melanie Coe, the inspiration for "She's Leaving Home."