John Lennon’s classic, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds, heads to auction

A bid of more than $200,000 is likely to win the handwritten lyrics for Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds when John Lennon's classic song goes on the auction block next month.

Reuters reports that the draft lyric sheet, which has the opening lyrics of the tune and a sketch of four people in a curtain-draped room, will be offered for sale by auction house Profiles in History. The sale will take place starting on May 14 at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills.

The news service recounts a debate that has persisted for decades that the first letters of Lucy, sky and diamonds were a veiled reference to the psychedelic drug LSD. But Lennon said he was inspired by a picture his then-young son Julian drew of a classmate named Lucy. When he showed Lennon the art work, Julian said, "That's Lucy in the sky with diamonds."

The classmate, Lucy O'Donnell Vodden, came forward in 2007 with the story, which was confirmed by Julian Lennon when she died of Lupus in 2009.

Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds was released on the Beatles 1967 album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, a collection that is number one on Rolling Stone magazine's list of the best albums of all time.