LSD first became a widely available street drug in early 1965. Wilson was fascinated by the drug at the time, having had what he called a "religious experience" on the occasion that he used it, but was less enamored with many of the so-called "acid heads". His 2016 memoir stated of the song: "People took to get away from themselves, but that wasn't the right way to take it. It was supposed to make you go deeper into yourself. I wanted to remind people that they could survive everything best if they remembered who they were."