How 'She's a Rainbow' Gave the Rolling Stones Their Most Unlikely Psychedelic Moment

The most unexpected thing about “She’s a Rainbow” is that the string arrangement was written by John Paul Jones—two years before he formed Led Zeppelin. At Olympic Studios in early 1967, Jones laid down a full orchestral part while the band layered a Mellotron (that watery flute sound) and a dizzying key-change chorus. The result is a pop song that sounds like the Stones trying on Sgt. Pepper’s coat, but with their own ragged charm.

Lyrically, Mick Jagger was reportedly inspired by John Lennon’s whimsical, surreal style—especially lines like “she comes in colors everywhere.” It’s the closest the Stones ever got to writing a children’s nursery rhyme, complete with a harpsichord and a bridge that modulates up a whole step. The whole production signaled that the band was deep in their experimental phase, chasing the acid-tinged studio-as-instrument approach of the Beatles and Pink Floyd. But unlike the rest of Their Satanic Majesties Request, which often felt forced, “She’s a Rainbow” actually works—a strange, lovely detour that the Stones would never repeat.