The Beatles‘ recreational weed use is well-documented in their interviews, songs, and even on film (Help!). The band began to use marijuana in 1965 regularly. However, the band’s pot use became just another tool in their arsenal that unleashed their creativity. Here are three of The Beatles’ most popular songs which reference marijuana.
‘She’s A Woman’
The Beatles wrote “She’s A Woman” for the LP Beatles 65. The song’s lines state, “Turns me on when I get lonely.” It refers to a woman introducing the singer to smoking pot.
“She’s A Woman” was written and recorded on the same day in October 1964. The song was used as the B-side of “I Feel Fine.”
In the book The Beatles as Musicians: The Quarry Men through Rubber Soul, it was revealed this song contains one of the earliest references to recreational drugs in the Beatles’ lyrics. The tune was recorded just two months after John Lennon, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and George Harrison were exposed to marijuana by Bob Dylan.
Lennon confessed he and McCartney were immensely proud to have the line escape the attention of the censors. Lennon said, “That’s Paul with some contribution from me on lines, probably. We put in the words ‘turns me on.’ We were so excited to say, ‘Turn me on. You know, about marijuana and all that, using it as an expression.’”
‘Got to Get You Into My Life’
Paul McCartney wrote “Got to Get You Into My Life,” which found a home on the album Revolver in 1966. Likewise, the song, which had R&B flavors, was later covered by many artists. These included Ella Fitzgerald, Blood, Sweat & Tears, and Earth, Wind, & Fire.
As reported by Far Out Magazine, McCartney admitted in a 1994 interview he was a “rather straight working-class lad” before he began experimenting with pot. He called the experience “quite uplifting.”
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McCartney said, “It didn’t seem to have too many side effects. Like alcohol or other stuff, like pills, which I pretty much kept off. I liked marijuana, and to me, it seemed it was mind-expanding, literally mind-expanding.”
“In a stressful world, I still would say that pot was one of the best tranquilizing drugs. I have drunk and smoked pot; of the two, however, I think pot is less harmful. Furthermore, people tend to fall asleep on it rather than go out and commit murder. So it always seems to me to be rather benign,” he continued.
But McCartney debunked the rumor the song was about his love for then-girlfriend Jane Asher. He said, “So ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ is not to a person. It’s actually about pot. It’s saying, ‘I’m going to do this. This is not a bad idea.’ So it’s actually an ode to pot.”
‘With a Little Help From My Friends’
Ringo Starr sang lead on what has become an iconic song career-wise, with the most blatant lines about pot use. “With a Little Help From My Friends” found a home on Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band.
The song is written collaboratively by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Its completion came toward the end of Sgt. Pepper’s sessions. In the book Many Years From Now, McCartney discussed the references to weed in the beloved song.
“He [Ringo] was to be a character in this operetta. However, this whole thing we were doing gave him a good intro wherever he came to the album. It was the second track,” McCartney recalled
“It was a nice place for him, but wherever it came, it gave us an intro. Again, because it was the pot era, we had to slip in a little reference: ‘I get high!’”
Consequently, The Beatles made their mark as songwriters and performers with songs that contain more than their share of double-entendres about marijuana. Do you have a favorite Beatles song that includes a double reference about weed? Let us know in the comments below.
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