LONDON, Sept. 28, 2009
"Lucy" of Beatles Fame Dies
Girl who Inspired Famous Song Lost Fight with Lupus; She was 46
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Lucy Vodden was a childhood friend of John Lennon's son Julian. (dailymail.co.uk)
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Interactive The Beatles Follow The Fab Four from 1964, when Ed Sullivan introduced them to America, to Paul McCartney's 2002 wedding to Heather MIlls.
Her death was announced Monday by St. Thomas' Hospital in London, where she had been treated for the chronic disease for more than five years, and by her husband, Ross Vodden. Britain's Press Association said she died last Tuesday. Hospital officials said they could not confirm the day of her death.
Vodden's connection to the Beatles dates back to her early days, when she made friends with schoolmate Julian Lennon, John Lennon's son.
Julian Lennon, then 4 years old, came home from school with a drawing one day, showed it to his father, and said it was "Lucy in the sky with diamonds."
At the time, John Lennon was gathering material for his contributions to "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," a landmark album released to worldwide acclaim in 1967.
The elder Lennon seized on the image and developed it into what is widely regarded as a psychedelic masterpiece, replete with haunting images of "newspaper taxis" and a "girl with kaleidoscope eyes."
Rock music critics thought the song's title was a veiled reference to LSD, but John Lennon always claimed the phrase came from his son, not from a desire to spell out the initials LSD in code.
Vodden lost touch with Julian Lennon after he left the school following his parents' divorce, but they were reunited in recent years when Julian Lennon, who lives in France, tried to help her cope with the disease.
He sent her flowers and vouchers for use at a gardening center near her home in Surrey in southeast England, and frequently sent her text messages in an effort to buttress her spirits.
"I wasn't sure at first how to approach her," Julian Lennon told the Associated Press in June. "I wanted at least to get a note to her. Then I heard she had a great love of gardening, and I thought I'd help with something she's passionate about, and I love gardening too. I wanted to do something to put a smile on her face."
In recent months, Vodden was too ill to go out most of the time, except for hospital visits.
She enjoyed her link to the Beatles, but was not particularly fond of "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds."
"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."
Vodden is the latest in a long line of people connected to the Beatles who died at a relatively young age.
The list includes John Lennon, gunned down at age 40, manager Brian Epstein, who died of a drug overdose when he was 32, and original band member Stuart Sutcliffe, who died of a brain hemorrhage at 21.
A spokeswoman for Julian Lennon and his mother, Cynthia Lennon, said they were "shocked and saddened" by Vodden's death.
Angie Davidson, a lupus sufferer who is campaign director of the St. Thomas' Lupus Trust, said Vodden was "a real fighter" who had worked behind the scenes to support efforts to combat the disease.
"It's so sad that she has finally lost the battle she fought so bravely for so long," said Davidson.
© MMIX The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Add a Comment See all 27 Comments
- bonjour
désolée, en étant l'inspiration des beatles, pour l'une de leur merveilleuses mélodies .. "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds»
lucy aura laissé sa trace dans l'histoire a sa maniére, repose en paix lucy..condoléances a sa famille..au revoir - Reply to this comment
- even if it WAS about LSD who cares?
It was the sixties.
LSD is good medicine ta make you think.
Thats why christians and republicans are so scared of it.
ALCOHOL: turn off yer mind; thinking is for hippies commies and ****, right?
Morons.
Anyway, very sad bout this lady. Lupus is painful and horrible. - Reply to this comment
- Hasn't anyone seen the picture? I did and it looks just like a sky with bright things like diamonds and since Lucy was his little friend, that is exactly what a four year old would say to describe it.
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- When I was 23 I went to John Lennon's home in August of 1967. He happened to be there with Cynthia and good not have been nicer to us young fans. Later I told my friends the song was for me, because my name is Lucy, but then I would laugh and tell about the real Lucy. God Bless Her.
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- Here is an important link associated with this story:
http://www.beatlepool.com/home/tag/julian-lennon
This article documents a photograph of the original Julian Lennon art of his pre-school friend Lucy floating in the sky with "diamonds in her eyes". He drew this while he was attending pre-school. - Reply to this comment
- by puzzler125 September 28, 2009 1:20 PM EDT
Julian Lennon was born in April 1963 and the song was written in 1967. He was in school at age 4 and bringing home the picture? I don't think the facts "work" on this one.
All countries are different. Here our kids can start "preschool" at age 3. You can start kindergarten at the age of 5 and sometimes age 4, depending on when your birthday is. - Reply to this comment
- Julian Lennon was born in April 1963 and the song was written in 1967. He was in school at age 4 and bringing home the picture? I don't think the facts "work" on this one.
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- by puzzler125 September 28, 2009 1:20 PM EDT
"Julian Lennon was born in April 1963 and the song was written in 1967. He was in school at age 4 and bringing home the picture? I don't think the facts "work" on this one."
You are an idiot. The album was released in 1967. That does NOT mean the song was written in 1967. It just means it wasn't written AFTER 1967. Also, he was at a NURSERY SCHOOL. He could have easily been only 3 or 4 years old. Kids draw pictures in school all the time, and they frequently take them home to show their parents.
Why bring up mindless, stupid cr@p just so you can complain? A woman has died from a terribly debilitating disease. Show a little respect! If you can't do that, then just S-T-F-Up!
- each country is different, a US child has the brain potential of a chimp until their early 50's, thats if they managed to stop going to church and stopped playing video games as an intellectual activity. in England they probably draw, read and do other interesting things starting at age 4.
- by puzzler125 September 28, 2009 1:20 PM EDT
Julian Lennon was born in April 1963 and the song was written in 1967. He was in school at age 4 and bringing home the picture? I don't think the facts "work" on this one.
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My sons started school (kindergarten) at age three. So much for your theory.
- by puzzler125 September 28, 2009 1:20 PM EDT
- You people are all bleepin' STUPID.
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- You people are all bleepin' STUPID.
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- The report about this being "long associated with LSD" is not true. "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds" is associated with LSD about as much as "Puff The Magic Dragon" was associated with pot.
The lyrics (including the title) are well documented as being inspired by a drawing by John Lennon's son Julian who as a child explained that his drawing was of "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds". It is clearly a children's song.
The "LSD association" came from over zealous censors at the BBC because of the "L" in "Lucy", the "S" in "Sky", and the "D" in "Diamonds" (which is a stretch even for a numerologist).
It is a song with a children's story, a beautiful melody that was showcased by pop-music experimentation in complex meter changes and a clever transition between A-Major, B-flat-Major, and G-Major; lets leave it that way. - Reply to this comment
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- "blah, blah, blah" by swin5 September 29, 2009 2:33 AM EDT
When every pore of your body is oozing with hate, I know it's hard for it not to come out. But, really, dude, you need to chill out!
The Beatles wrote interesting lyrics, which you obviously DO NOT understand. Perhaps its because you didn't live through that period of history, so you have no idea what they were referencing. Ignoring your vile spewage, I have a few specific comments.
1. This article is about a woman who died from a horrible disease. Please show a little respect by keeping your vile ignorance to yourself.
2. Sure, the Beatles were using drugs at the time they wrote Sergeant Peppers. But that does NOT mean every song was about drugs, and it absolutely does NOT negate the fact that Julian drew a picture of Lucy "in the sky with diamonds in her eyes" which inspired John Lennon to write the song.
3. Brian Epstein died in August, 1967, AFTER Sgt. Peppers was released (in the UK on 1 June 1967, written well before that). You are idiot, with an axe to grind, but the facts do NOT support your BS.
4. George Martin had a HUGE influence on the Beatles, but that does NOT in any way detract from their contributions. Martin has spoken extensively about his specific contributions to Sgt. Peppers, and he does NOT agree with your BS.
5. Your understanding of lyrics is pathetic. I won't bother trying to explain any of them to you. In general, each line or phrase refers to items of cultural significance at the time, so you can't understand the words if you don't understand the references. But nearly EVERY line has more than one possible meaning.
6. "George Harrison may have had a weeping guitar but he had to call Eric Clapton to play it because he was too spaced out to handle the chords." Again, in your anti-drug ranting, you display your idiocy! Eric Clapton, who was a heroin addict at the time, played the song's lead on slide guitar. But Eric was NOT playing chords!
7. The vast majority of the world's Beatles fans believe that Phil Spector (now a convicted murderer, btw) RUINED Abbey Road. The Beatles were NOT happy with what he did to their music.
- For another take on Beatles music, one which also completely negates the vile spewage from swin5, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sgt._Pepper's_Lonely_Hearts_Club_Band
- swin
as a musician, I like all of the guys you mentioned, but I must point out to you that the Beatles had more hits than everybody you mentioned COMBINED. You reference to Obama discredits you even further because of the statements irrelevance. You sir or madam are an idiot.
- by swin5 September 29, 2009 2:33 AM EDT
Compare their lyrics to Bob Seger...
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Bob Seger? Yeah, Horizontal Bop was soooo profound.
- swin5
"Anybody who believes Lennon's dribble about the song being about his son probably also believes that Barack Obama is a Christian who was born in this country and who really loves his country." -- Yep, believe all of that.
But really, how can you argue with compelling arguments like the one above... or that The Beatles would have been so much better if only they had the songwriting talent of a Bob Seger... idiot.
- swin5 - you are a real idiot and obviously one of those right wing wackos to relate this story to Obama. Jesus Christ dude, get off it. Even Julian has said that this song was based on his drawing. The Beatles music has been around for more than 40 years, still remains at the top of the charts and continues to break records (pun intended) for sales (witness the HUGE response to the remastered albums just released). And to compare Lennon and McCartney to Bob Seger is just stupid. Springsteen and Dylan, maybe - and they BOTH claim Beatles as huge inspirations, as does Brian Wilson, the other writer from that era that is considered genius. The Beatles have said that Wilson's songs on Pet Sounds inspired them to write Sgt Pepper and Wilson responded by saying that Pepper was one of the greatest albums of all time.
- "blah, blah, blah" by swin5 September 29, 2009 2:33 AM EDT
- She probably didn't have lupus at age 6 or 7. That is even more unlikely that taking LSD at that age.
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- Cool story...didn't know
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- Never knew there was a real Lucy. Rest in peace.
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