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Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds is the third track on the album. It was written by John Lennon with some input from Paul McCartney.

Form and structure

The overall structure of the song is as follows:

1. intro
2. verse 1
3. pre-chorus
4. chorus
5. verse 2
6. pre-chorus
7. chorus
8. verse 3
9. chorus
10. chorus until fade-out.

Harmony and tonality

The four bar introduction and verses are in the key of A major. The pre-chorus modulates to B♭ major before moving to G major in the chorus.

The song ends on the chord of D major. Finishing on the dominant of A major gives an imperfect cadence and the music sounds unfinished.

Tempo

The song is played at a moderate tempo of around 124 crotchets per minute. However, there is a tempo change in the chorus, so a minim becomes equal to a crotchet.

Rhythm and metre

The intro, verses and pre-chorus are written in 3/4 - a simple triple metre, which is unusual in popular music. For the chorus, the time signature changes to 4/4, which is a simple quadruple metre. McCartney plays off-beat chords - 2^nd and 4^th beat of the bar - on a Lowrey Organ in the chorus and dotted rhythms are heard throughout.

There are also examples of rhythmic augmentation. In verse 1 - line 1 - the word “river” has a quaver rhythm. When repeated in line 2 with the word “slowly”, the melody has a crotchet rhythm. This is an example of word painting. There is an increase in harmonic rhythm during the chorus when the chord changes become faster.