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<p>"<strong>Crystal Blue Persuasion</strong>" is a 1968 song originally recorded by&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_James_and_the_Shondells" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tommy James and the Shondells</a>&nbsp;and composed by Eddie Gray,&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tommy_James" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Tommy James</a>&nbsp;and Mike Vale.</p><p><br></p><h2>Background</h2><p>A gentle-tempoed groove, "Crystal Blue Persuasion" was built around a prominent&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_(music)" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">organ</a>&nbsp;part with an understated arrangement, more akin to&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Rascals" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">The Rascals</a>' sound at the time than to James's contemporary efforts with&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychedelic_rock" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">psychedelic rock</a>. It included melodic passages for an acoustic guitar, as well as a bass pattern, played between the bridge and the third verse of the song.</p><p><br></p><p>In a 1985 interview in&nbsp;<em>Hitch</em>&nbsp;magazine, James said the title of the song came to him while he was reading the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bible" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Biblical</a>&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Book of Revelation</a>:</p><blockquote>I took the title from the Book of Revelations [sic] in the Bible, reading about the New Jerusalem. The words jumped out at me, and they're not together; they're spread out over three or four verses. But it seemed to go together, it's my favorite of all my songs and one of our most requested.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Blue_Persuasion#cite_note-2" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[2]</a></blockquote><blockquote><br></blockquote><p><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Crystal_Blue_Persuasion_2010.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);"><img src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/Crystal_Blue_Persuasion_2010.jpg/239px-Crystal_Blue_Persuasion_2010.jpg" height="160" width="239"></a></p><p>With an appropriate lighting scheme, the 2000s edition of Tommy James and the Shondells perform "Crystal Blue Persuasion"</p><p><br></p><p>According to James's manager, James was actually inspired by his readings of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Ezekiel" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Book of Ezekiel</a>, which (he remembered as) speaking of a blue&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shekhinah" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Shekhinah</a>&nbsp;light that represented the presence of the Almighty God, and of the&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Isaiah" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Book of Isaiah</a>&nbsp;and&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Revelation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Book of Revelation</a>, which tell of a future age of brotherhood of mankind, living in peace and harmony.<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Blue_Persuasion#cite_note-songfacts.com-3" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[3]</a></p><p>At the time of the song's release there were several popular types of high quality blue-colored&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lysergic_acid_diethylamide" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">LSD</a>&nbsp;tablets in circulation—some listeners generally assumed James was referring to "acid". In 1979, music writer&nbsp;<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dave_Marsh" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">Dave Marsh</a>&nbsp;described it as "a transparent allegory about James' involvement with amphetamines."<a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crystal_Blue_Persuasion#cite_note-4" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 102, 204);">[4]</a></p><p><br></p>