John Lennon says first psychedelic Beatles song he wrote was not She Said, She Said

An “impractical” song written before She Said, She Said is the first psychedelic song John Lennon ever wrote.

The Beatles member behind hits like Come Together and I Am the Walrus confirmed an earlier song was actually his first test of psychedelic-tinged songwriting. Lennon would confirm this two years after The Beatles had officially split up, giving an interview breaking down his writing style in the early years. Though the song proved “impractical” compared to the popular She Said, She Said, it would be the first time Lennon had written with a psychedelic intention in mind. A few candid reflections on the song in question were shared in 1972, where Lennon wished he had stuck to the “original idea” he had for Tomorrow Never Knows, a song which featured on Revolver.

He said: “This was my first psychedelic song. Tomorrow Never Knows… I didn’t know what I was saying, and you just find out later. I know that when there are some lyrics I dig, I know that somewhere people will be looking at them.

“Often the backing I think of early-on never comes off. With ‘Tomorrow Never Knows’ I’d imagined in my head that in the background you would hear thousands of monks chanting. That was impractical, of course, and we did something different. It was a bit of a drag, and I didn’t really like it. I should have tried to get near my original idea, the monks singing. I realise now that was what I wanted.”

Like many of The Beatles’ biggest moments, Ringo Starr is to thank. Lennon suggested he picked upon a “malapropism” which Starr had offered. The Imagine hitmaker had been in his “Tibetan Book of the Dead period” and found Starr’s mistaken use of a similar-sounding word inspiring.

Lennon said in 1980: “That’s me in my Tibetan Book of the Dead period. I took one of Ringo’s malapropisms as the title, to sort of take the edge off the heavy philosophical lyrics.”

Paul McCartney would also confirm that the lyrics to Tomorrow Never Knows were inspired by Starr’s malapropism. He said: “That was one of Ringo’s malapropisms. John wrote the lyrics from Timothy Leary’s version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. It was a kind of Bible for all the psychedelic freaks. That was an LSD song. Probably the only one. People always thought ‘Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds’ was but it actually ‘wasn’t’ meant to say LSD.”

Lennon would also suggest an early song of his is the first example of guitar feedback. The band’s work on I Feel Fine is reportedly the first moment of feedback being used intentionally on a record.

He said in 1972: “This was the first time feedback was used on a record. It’s right at the beginning.” Lennon would claim again in 1980 in an interview with Playboy, issuing a challenge for anyone to find a conscious use of guitar feedback. He said: “That’s me completely. Including the guitar lick with the first feedback anywhere.

“I defy anybody to find a record… unless it is some old blues record from 1922… that uses feedback that way. So I claim it for the Beatles. Before Hendrix, before The Who, before anybody. The first feedback on record.”