But the song was also inspired by a more homely source
I took one of Ringo's malapropisms as the title, to sort of take the edge off the heavy philosophical lyrics.
Where did this 'heavy' philosophy come from?
The Tibetan Book of the Dead via The Psychedelic Experience by Timothy Leary and Richard Alpert (1964). Leary notoriously promoted the use of LSD as the key to what Huxley had termed the Doors of Perception.Lennon discovered the The Psychedelic Experience when browsing the shelves at the Indica Bookshop in London:
John began to scan the shelves. His eyes soon alighted upon a copy of The Psychedelic Experience, Dr Timothy Leary's psychedelic version of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. John was delighted and settled down on the settee with the book. Right away, on page 14 in Leary's introduction, he read, 'Whenever in doubt, turn off your mind, relax, float downstream.' He had found the first line of 'Tomorrow Never Knows'.
Many Years From Now
Barry Mile
How much did Lennon know about the ideas behind these words?
George Harrison, Anthology
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