“We hope that understanding synaesthesia will enable us to understand more about how our senses are linked in our brains, and how this may help us create and appreciate works of art that combine music and sound.”



(http://www.qj.net/Of-LSD-John-Lennon...g/49/aid/64546)
Of LSD, John Lennon, and Synaesthesia


Listed in: Science
Tags: London

"Picture yourself in a boat on a river, with tangerine trees and marmalade skies..." Or so goes the controversial Beatles song that critics say was written when John Lennon was on an LSD trip (hence the letters LSD in the title). Whether this was a product of John's psychedelic high or really just a response to the image that Lennon's son drew of 'Lucy,' we would never know. Some people claim that if you listen to this Beatle song, you'd be able to picture kaleidoscope-eyed Lucy amidst diamonds in the sky. However, it would take a synaesthete to prove that possibility.

According to a study conducted by the University College London (UCL), most of us prefer an image to be combined with sound, rather than view it in and by itself. Dr. Jamie Ward of the UCL Psychology Department said that "combinations of sound and vision go together better than others.” The ability to see words and letters is actually inherent in every one of us, but being able to do involuntarily is a condition called synaesthesia.

Synaesthesia (or synesthesia) is a neurological condition wherein two or more bodily functions are able to intertwine and function at the same time. Synaesthesia is also said to be induced by LSD, magic mushrooms (or psilocybe), and other psychedelic drugs. The most common is the grapheme-color type, where letters or numbers are described and seen as colored, while other types are the number form synesthesia, personification, and the writer's personal favorite, the music-color synesthesia.

What happens when a person experiences music-color synesthesia, you ask? What basically happens is that individuals get to experience and 'see' colors by listening to music. Synesthetes rarely give the same colors for specific tones, which means that although different forms of music may evoke them to see certain colors, the hues sometimes vary. Evidence shows that for synaesthetes, there is no imagination involved, they literally see words and letters when listening to certain forms of music.

The UCL team set out to conduct an experiment where six synaesthetes where asked to draw and describe their experiences while listening to music by the New London Orchestra, a control group were asked to do the same. The images drawn by the participants were then shown to 200 persons, asking the latter which of the images best fit the music of the New London Orchestra which was also being played at the time. They found that all of the 200 respondents chose the images drawn by synesthetes.

According to Dr.Ward, this experiment shows that "all of us have links between our hearing and vision – even if we don’t really realise it." Kandinsky, a reknown painter and synaesthete, was once quoted to have said, while describing Composition VIII, 1923, "The painting is a good balance of contrasting noise – pure tones and cacophony – which was a delight to see. The more I looked at it, the more I came to appreciate the image and to like the ‘music’" This is perhaps why other synesthetes also describe his paintings in musical terms and annotations, while the rest of us who don't have synesthesia, can look at this image and not 'hear' anything.

Dr. Ward believes that all of us have at least a degree of synesthetic ability, but the crossover in our senses are not that pronounced. Ward further said that “We hope that understanding synaesthesia will enable us to understand more about how our senses are linked in our brains, and how this may help us create and appreciate works of art that combine music and sound.”

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Lyrics for: Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds

Picture yourself in a boat on a river,
With tangerine trees and marmalade skies
Somebody calls you, you answer quite slowly,
A girl with kaleidoscope eyes.
Cellophane flowers of yellow and green,
Towering over your head.
Look for the girl with the sun in her eyes,
And she's gone.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds.
Follow her down to a bridge by a fountain
Where rocking horse people eat marshmellow pies,
Everyone smiles as you drift past the flowers,
That grow so incredibly high.
Newspaper taxis appear on the shore,
Waiting to take you away.
Climb in the back with your head in the clouds,
And you're gone.
Lucy in the sky with diamonds,
Picture yourself on a train in a station,
With plasticine porters with looking glass ties,
Suddenly someone is there at the turnstyle,
The girl with the kaleidoscope eyes.

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Lyrics for: Strawberry Fields Forever

Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

Living is easy with eyes closed
Misunderstanding all you see
It's getting hard to be someone but it all works out
It doesn't matter much to me
Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

No one I think is in my tree
I mean it must be high or low
That is you can't you know tune in but it's all right
That is I think it's not too bad
Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever

Always, no sometimes, think it's me
But you know I know when it's a dream
I think a "no" I mean a "Yes" but it's all wrong
that is I think I disagree
Let me take you down, 'cause I'm going to Strawberry Fields
Nothing is real and nothing to get hung about
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever
Strawberry Fields forever

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Lyrics for: I Am The Walrus

I am He as You are He as You are Me
And We are all together
See how they run like pigs from a gun
See how they fly
I'm crying
Sitting on a cornflake
Waiting for the van to come
Corporation T-Shirt
Stupid Bloody Tuesday
Man, you been a naughty boy
You let your face grow long

(Chorus):
I am the Eggman
They are the Eggmen
I am the Walrus
GOO GOO GA JOOB

Mr. City Policeman
Sitting pretty little policemen in a row
See how they fly
Like Lucy in the sky
See how they run
I'm Crying
I'm Crying
I'm Crying
I'm Crying
Yellow matter custard
Dripping from a dead dog's eye
Crabalocker fishwife
Pornagraphic Priestess
Boy, you been a naughty Girl
You let your knickers down

(Chorus)

Sitting in an English garden
Waiting for the sun
If the sun don't come
You'll get a tan from
Standing in the English Rain

(Chorus)

Expert Texpert
Choking smokers
Don't you think the Joker
Laughs at You?
Ho-Ho-Ho-Hee-Hee-Hee-Ha-Ha-HA!
See how they smile
Like pigs in a sty
See how they snide
I'm Crying
Semolina Pilchard
Climbing up the Eiffel Tower
Elementary Penguin
Singing Hare Krishna
Man you shoulda seen them
Kicking Edgar Allen Poe

(Chorus)

(Oompah, oompah stick in your jumper!
Everyone has one, everyone has one!)