How Drugs Inspired The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’
Many classic rock songs are about drugs. The Beatles’ “Let It Be” seems more innocuous than most drug songs. Paul McCartney discussed how substances influenced the track.
Paul McCartney said he wrote The Beatles’ ‘Let It Be’ when people were ‘overdoing’ drugs
Drugs had a massive influence on the counterculture of the 1960s. If you weren’t doing drugs in 1966 or 1967, you weren’t cool. The Beatles were no exception to this rule. Because they embraced psychedelia, they became associated with LSD. Fans interpreted many Fab Four songs as being about drugs, whether that was the band’s intention or not. Some of The Beatles’ songs that supposedly include drug references include “With a Little Help From My Friends,” “Yellow Submarine,” “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds,” and “Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite!”
During a 2011 interview with The Salt Lake Tribune, Paul discussed the origin of “Let It Be.” “‘Let It Be’ happened during a time when there was kind of a lot going on,” Paul said. “I think people were overdoing the use of substances. We certainly were.
“It was kind of common,” he added. “It was the fashion. And anyone who remembers that time will know that. And I think I was getting, like, a little bit over the top with the whole thing — getting pretty tired and pretty wasted. And I went to bed one night and had a kind of restless night.”
The dream that inspired 1 of The Beatles’ biggest songs
Paul’s restless night led to a fateful dream. “But I had a dream where my mother, who had been dead at that point for about 10 years, came to me in the dream and it was as if she could see that I was troubled,” he recalled. “And she sort of said to me, she said, ‘Let it be.’ And I remember quite clearly her saying, ‘Let it be,’ and ‘It’s going to be OK. Don’t worry.’ You know, ‘Let it be.'”
The tune was about Paul’s mother, Mary McCartney. Despite that, many people misunderstood it as being about the Virgin Mary, whom some Christians refer to as “Mother Mary.” Paul doesn’t have any issue with people who want to interpret “Let It Be” as a Marian hymn.
John Lennon said ‘Let It Be’ was a rewrite of a Simon & Garfunkel song
John Lennon had something different to say about the writing of “Let It Be.” During a 1980 interview found in the book All We Are Saying: The Last Major Interview with John Lennon and Yoko Ono, John said Simon & Garfunkel’s “Bridge Over Troubled Water” inspired “Let It Be.” He could not prove that. The two hits have some obvious similarities, as they both mimic the sounds of gospel music without promoting a Christian message.
While “Let It Be” is one of The Beatles’ most famous songs, John felt that track was Paul’s alone and that it had nothing to do with the band as a whole. The “Imagine” singer said “Let It Be” could have been a track by Paul McCartney & Wings. Sadly, Paul McCartney & Wings never produced a song as beloved as “Let It Be.”
“Let It Be” is perfect and it wouldn’t be the same without drugs.
