For some reason, I have been in ‘Beatles mode’ of late, and the other night, this one popped into my head unbidden. I searched the archives, found I had played it back in 2019, and decided the time is just about right for a redux!
One of the political cartoons I posted yesterday put this song into my head, and you guys know what happens when a song gets stuck in my head! It’s been bouncing around in there all day, and, as I only know bits and pieces of the lyrics, I keep making my own as I go along! Sometimes that can be rather interesting, actually.
George Harrison wrote this in Eric Clapton’s garden using one of Clapton’s acoustic guitars. When the Beatles’ manager Brian Epstein died in 1967, the band had to handle more of their accounting and business affairs, which Harrison hated. He wrote this after attending a round of business meetings. This song was inspired by the long winters in England which Harrison thought went on forever.
In the documentary The Material World, Eric Clapton talked about writing this song with Harrison:
“It was one of those beautiful spring mornings. I think it was April, we were just walking around the garden with our guitars. I don’t do that, you know? This is what George brought to the situation. He was just a magical guy … we sat down at the bottom of the garden, looking gout, and the sun was shining; it was a beautiful morning, and he began to sing the opening lines and I just watched this thing come to life.”
John Lennon did not play on this. Around this time, he was making a habit of not playing on Harrison’s compositions as the two were not on the best of terms. The two eventually settled their differences as George contributed quite a bit to Lennon’s album Imagine two years later. When Harrison died in 2001, many artists performed this at their concerts as a tribute. It was played at the induction ceremonies of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as part of the all-star jam.
Here Comes the Sun
The Beatles
Here comes the sun (doo doo doo)
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right
Little darling, it’s been a long cold lonely winter
Little darling, it feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun (doo doo doo)
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right
Little darling, the smiles returning to the faces
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Little darling, I feel that ice is slowly melting
Little darling, it seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s all right
Here comes the sun (doo doo doo)
Here comes the sun
It’s all right
It’s all right
Songwriters: George Harrison
Here Comes the Sun lyrics © The Bicycle Music Company