John Lennon on Acid

[TheVoid]

I am a firm believer that acid cannot destroy creativity. And that John had some of his most creative moments during and after his acid days. Revolver being my favorite album is extremely influenced by acid and Johns songs were amazing. His songs on Pepper and MMT are just incredible! I love John on acid. I do, believe, acid can take its toll on your mind and possibly destroy you that way. This doesnt say that you cannot be extremely creative. Like anything, its gotta be in moderation. John should probably not have taken so much. Though I cant believe it hindered his creativity. One thing of particular to note in the Vid posted is John explaining how he noticed how it destroyed his ego which in turn caused him to be more passive about the Beatles direction. I really dont think he gave a eff whether he was the leader anymore, so he let Paul and the others do their thing. His acid use, as well as the others, may have also contributed to their decision to stop touring. Thus leading them down the road to the breakup. Actually, it has been widely reported that John was ready to pack it in back in 66! Pauls concept for doing Pepper may well have saved an early Beatles demise.

[taylor]

I think marijuana influenced John's creativity more than acid but that's just my opinion.

[TheVoid]

Oh yeah, Pot totally was an influence as well. Rubber Soul, Help and even Beatles For Sale show how creative Pot made the Boys and John in particular. Acid opened up additional colors that Pot couldnt though. Still, Pot was a continuing influence throughout their careers from 64 onward. The combo of Acid and Pot certainly combined and added a lot to all their creativeness.

[Euan Buchan]

John did say it helped him write the most popular songs including Across The Universe

[onolennon]

John said that LSD broadens people's horizons, and he said he used to feel extremely happy when he was under the influence. Later, however, he said that taking drugs, light or hard, is the worst thing you can do to yourself. I'm against drugs, but I don't deny that it may have a strong influence in people's minds, although I'm not sure about the creativity bit. I acknowledge that it affects the brain and probably the creative side of it, but I think John, as well as the other Beatles, were always extremely talented, 'drugful' or not. For example, take John's solo years: Double Fantasy has great, great songs and John was drug free and completely sober. A lot of psychologists argue that if you believe in something real bad, it may end up by happening. It can be a possibility, you know - their brains were so cluttered and they wanted drugs to work so bad that they pushed themselves to the very limit, ending up to believe that their creativity came from the drug use [for example, some women think they're pregnant, when, in fact, they're not, it's just psychological]. This is an issue that certainly deserves some more research on drugs and the human brain.

[onolennon]

I write the music in the circumstances in which I'm in, whether it's on acid or in the water.

That's what I was trying to say. John used to write about his feelings, whether on acid or not.

[onolennon]

Thanks, reza

[matt72582]

He wasn't "drug-free" duing 1980. In fact, during his last interview he said he still smoked grass, and they he'd do mushrooms or peyote a few times a year. Caffeine is a drug.

[johnnumberone]

He wrote some of his most popular songs during the period, "Strawberry Fields" and "A Day in the Life," so it's hard to say if it didn't push him a little forward or if he could have done it without it, we don't really know because all we know is the one who had it. But there seems to be a big evolution from "Hard Day's Night" to "Strawberry Fields Forever"