There's a lot of speculation about where the inspiration for this song came from, but most believe that it is an anecdote from John and George's recent exposure to LSD for the first time. According to John, whom you can rarely trust to be entirely truthful in his stories (look at the story of how he said The Beatles got their name. Hint: it involves the title of this very blog) John and George were invited to dinner at their dentists' home in 1965, after the release of Rubber Soul. After dinner, they were brought coffee and and sugar cubes, except they weren't sugar cubes, but LSD powdered into cubes. After John and George had taken a sip of their coffee, the dentist revealed that he had secretly switched sugar for the hallucinogen and that they had just taken LSD for the first time. Initially angry at being bamboozled so, John and George left with their wives Cynthia and Pattie. But the effects began to come on the four of them. In The Beatles Anthology, George recounts what taking LSD was like, such as being in love with everyone and everything, and seeing people with makeup 3 feet thick on their faces. After that first experience, the two were hooked and encouraged Paul and Ringo to try it as well. Ringo tried it instantly, but Paul held off for a while, afraid of the detrimental effects of the drug and also of the psychological and spiritual effects it might have on him. By the time Revolver was released, Paul had joined his cohorts and tried it, hence the song, "Got to Get You Into My Life," a song about LSD and not a sweet girl. "Doctor Robert" is the dentist, which is why John opens the song with "Being my friend I'd said you'd call Doctor Robert…He's a man you must believe, helping anyone in need. No one can succeed like Doctor Robert." If you watch the 2007 psychedelic musical, Across the Universe, Bono of U2 plays a drug guru named Doctor Robert, in honor of this song.
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