Tag Archives: George Harrison

♫ No Matter What ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I played this one back in 2018, and again two years later.  I rather like it, so I’m playing it again tonight, for I’m too exhausted to go in search of something new.  Perhaps tomorrow …

This one is a little off the beaten path, so some may not remember it.  It never got above #5 on the UK charts, and #8 in the US.  It did better, however, in South Africa where it hit #1 for a brief time.  It’s one of those that I don’t think about often, but about twice a year, for no discernible reason, it pops into my head and stays for a day or two.  I like the rhythm, but as with most songs, just tonight I discovered that I had been singing the lyrics all wrong!  I’ve been singing “Down by the ol’ mill stream, be a part of it all”, when in fact it is “Knock down the old grey wall, and be a part of it all”.  Sigh.  deaf

The song was recorded by the band Badfinger in April 1970 at Abbey Road Studios under the Beatles’ label, Apple Records.  Some actually thought it was the Beatles when they first heard it, and Peter Ham actually used one of George Harrison’s Gibson guitars on this.

This song is also noted for its false ending, after the final chorus, where, after a short pause, the song repeats the last line twice before its final ending chord.

No Matter What
Badfinger

No matter what you are
I will always be with you
Doesn’t matter what you do girl, oh girl with you
No matter what you do
I will always be around

Won’t you tell me what you found girl, oh girl won’t you
Knock down the old grey wall, and be a part of it all
Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do
If you would give me all, as I would give it to you
Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be

No matter where you go
There will always be a place
Can’t you see in my face girl, oh girl don’t you
Knock down the old grey wall, and be a part of it all
Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do
If you would give me all, as I would give it to you
Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be

No matter what you are
I will always be with you
Doesn’t matter what you do girl, oh girl want you
Oh girl, you girl, want you
Oh girl, you girl, want you

Songwriters: Peter William Ham
No Matter What lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

♫ Norwegian Wood ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

I promised a Beatles song to our friend Clive, and I spent a good 20 minutes pouring over the choices, trying to figure out which one he might like best.  I really wanted to play Nowhere Man, but I had a feeling everyone might like this one better, based on past experience!  And so, this one’s for you, Clive!

A bit of interesting history accompanies this one …

This was the first pop song to use a sitar – George Harrison played it. Harrison was new to the sitar and took many takes to get it right. He bought the instrument, which he described as “crummy,” and taught himself to play. It was David Crosby of The Byrds, and Crosby, Stills & Nash who had introduced Harrison to the sitar shortly after the folk musician Shawn Phillips had shown him the basic steps. A few months later, Harrison studied the sitar with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, who helped Harrison explore Eastern music and religion.

John Lennon, who wrote the song, explained why it was decided to use the sitar on this song …

“I think it was at the studio. George had just got the sitar and I said ‘Could you play this piece?’ We went through many different sort of versions of the song, it was never right and I was getting very angry about it, it wasn’t coming out like I said. They said, ‘Well just do it how you want to do it’ and I said, ‘Well I just want to do it like this.’ They let me go and I did the guitar very loudly into the mike and sang it at the same time and then George had the sitar and I asked him could he play the piece that I’d written, you know, dee diddley dee diddley dee, that bit, and he was not sure whether he could play it yet because he hadn’t done much on the sitar but he was willing to have a go, as is his wont, and he learned the bit and dubbed it on after. I think we did it in sections.”

Paul McCartney said he came up with the title, inspired by the Norwegian Wood furniture in the Asher household, where he was staying.

But the trivia I thought the most intriguing was what John Lennon said about the writing of the song …

“I was trying to write about an affair without letting my wife know I was having one. I was sort of writing from my experiences – girl’s flats, things like that. I was very careful and paranoid because I didn’t want my wife, Cyn, to know that there really was something going on outside of the household. I’d always had some kind of affairs going on, so I was trying to be sophisticated in writing about an affair, but in such a smoke-screen way that you couldn’t tell. But I can’t remember any specific woman it had to do with.”

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
The Beatles

I once had a girl
Or should I say she once had me
She showed me her room
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?

She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around
And I noticed there wasn’t a chair

I sat on a rug biding my time
Drinking her wine
We talked until two and then she said
“It’s time for bed”

She told me she worked
In the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn’t
And crawled off to sleep in the bath

And when I awoke I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?

Songwriters: John Lennon / Paul Mccartney
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ End Of The Line ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music, Tributes

I had only ever briefly heard of the group Traveling Wilburys, but a few nights ago Clive suggested a song by them so I thought I’d look into them a bit more, and I’m glad I did!  A bit about the group first …

Based on the accomplishments of its members/founders, the group is indeed considered a ‘supergroup’ …

  • George Harrison (yes, THAT George Harrison, the ‘quiet’ Beatle)
  • Bob Dylan
  • Tom Petty
  • Jeff Lynne
  • Roy Orbison

The five came together when George Harrison needed a B-side for a single. He got his friend Jeff Lynne to work on it with him and Bob Dylan offered use of his garage studio. Tom Petty and Roy Orbison came along, so the five superstars found themselves together writing and recording the song on the spot: Handle With Care. They had such a good time making it and were so impressed with the results, they decided to form a band and include the song on a full album, which they recorded a month later.

The group only lasted three years, from 1988 to 1991, but during that time released three albums.  Tonight’s song, End of the Line, was released in October 1988, just two months before the death of Roy Orbison from a heart attack.  The song only charted at #63 in the U.S. and #52 in the UK.  The album it was on, however, Volume 1, rising to #1 in Canada, #3 in the U.S. and #16 in the UK.

In February 1988, George Harrison was asked during an interview what his next plans were, and he replied …

“What I’d really like to do next is … to do an album with me and some of my mates … It’s this new group I got in mind: it’s called the Traveling Wilburys, I’d like to do an album with them and then later we can all do our own albums again.”

When Roy Orbison died in December 1988 the group put together a music video for End of the Line showing Orbison’s guitar rocking in a chair next to his photo when his vocals are heard.

The story of the Traveling Wilburys is fun and fascinating, and I encourage you to take a further look at SongFacts and Wikipedia.  Meanwhile, let’s listen to the music and watch the video!  Oh, and thank you, Clive, for pointing me in this direction!

End of the Line

Traveling Wilburys

Well it’s alright, riding around in the breeze
Well it’s alright, if you live the life you please
Well it’s alright, doing the best you can
Well it’s alright, as long as you lend a hand

You can sit around and wait for the phone to ring
(At the end of the line)
Waiting for someone to tell you everything
(At the end of the line)
Sit around and wonder what tomorrow brings
(At the end of the line)
Maybe a diamond ring

Well it’s alright, even if they say you’re wrong
Well it’s alright, sometimes you gotta be strong
Well it’s alright, as long as you got somewhere to lay
Well it’s alright, everyday is Judgment Day

Maybe somewhere down the road a ways
(At the end of the line)
You’ll think of me, and wonder where I am these days
(At the end of the line, end of the line)
Maybe somewhere down the road when somebody plays
(At the end of the line)
Purple haze

Well it’s alright, even when push comes to shove
Well it’s alright, if you got someone to love
Well it’s alright, everything’ll work out fine
Well it’s alright, we’re going to the end of the line

Don’t have to be ashamed of the car I drive
(At the end of the line)
I’m just glad to be here, happy to be alive
(At the end of the line, end of the line)
And it don’t matter if you’re by my side
(At the end of the line)
I’m satisfied

Well it’s alright, even if you’re old and gray
Well it’s alright, you still got something to say
Well it’s alright, remember to live and let live
Well it’s alright, the best you can do is forgive

Well it’s alright, riding around in the breeze
Well it’s alright, if you live the life you please
Well it’s alright, even if the sun don’t shine
Well it’s alright, we’re going to the end of the line

Source: Musixmatch

Songwriters: George Harrison / Roy Orbison / Thomas Earl Petty / Jeffrey Lynne / Robert Dylan

End of the Line lyrics © Umlaut Corporation (ascap), Laut Music, Umsongs

♫ Here Comes The Sun ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

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.

climate-6

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

♫ Something ♫

Posted on by under Bits 'n Pieces, History, music

Back in 2020, I played this song as part of a Beatles’ Week that I did at David’s suggestion.  Tonight it is not part of a week-long thing, but just one that I felt like playing for no particular reason!  George Harrison, sometimes referred to as the “quiet Beatle”, was greatly underappreciated, I think.  Most of us gravitated toward Paul and John, and of course Ringo was always good for a bit of admiration, but many didn’t even notice George, who was immensely talented!

Day #4 of Beatles’ Week …

This was the only song written by George Harrison released as a single by The Beatles.  Harrison wrote this during a break while they were working on The White Album. It was not recorded in time for the album, so Harrison gave this to Joe Cocker, but Cocker didn’t release it until after The Beatles did.

This seemed to be inspired by Harrison’s wife, Pattie, but he claimed he did not have anyone in mind when he wrote it. In her 2007 book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me, Pattie Boyd wrote:

“George wrote a song called ‘Something.’ He told me in a matter-of-fact way that he had written it for me. I thought it was beautiful and it turned out to be the most successful song he ever wrote, with more than 150 cover versions. George’s favorite version was the one by James Brown. Mine was the one by George Harrison, which he played to me in our kitchen. But, in fact, by then our relationship was in trouble. Since a trip to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in India in 1968, George had become obsessive about meditation. He was also sometimes withdrawn and depressed.”

Harrison came up with the title and the first line after listening to a James Taylor song called Something In The Way She Moves.

There are over 200 cover versions of this song on record, making it The Beatles’ 2nd most covered song, after Yesterday, which has … wait for it … over 1,600!!!  The question here becomes, is there anyone who hasn’t covered Yesterday?

Frank Sinatra called this “The greatest love song ever written.” He often performed it in the ’70s.  High praise indeed!

The video is from the promotional clip for Something that was shot in late October 1969, not long after Lennon privately announced that he was leaving the band. By this time, the individual Beatles had grown apart and so the film consisted of separate clips of each Beatle walking around his home, accompanied by his wife, edited together. The four segments were edited and compiled into a single film clip by Neil Aspinall.

Something
The Beatles

Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me

I don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don’t need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me

Don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

You’re asking me will my love grow
I don’t know, I don’t know
You stick around, now it may show
I don’t know, I don’t know

Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me

I don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

Songwriter(s) George Harrison
Producer(s) George Martin

♫ Day After Day ♫

Posted on by under music

When someone (I’m pretty sure it was Clive) mentioned the group Badfinger a week or two ago, I thought I didn’t know much of their work.  Well, I don’t know much, but I knew more of it than I thought I did!  Confused yet?  Yeah, me too.

Badfinger was a British rock band from Swansea, Wales, that evolved from an earlier group called The Iveys, formed in 1961, which became the first group signed by the Beatles’ Apple label in 1968.  Badfinger had four consecutive worldwide hits from 1970 to 1972: Come and Get It (written and produced by Paul McCartney, 1970), No Matter What (produced by Mal Evans, 1970), Day After Day (produced by George Harrison, 1971), and Baby Blue (produced by Todd Rundgren, 1972).  Of those, my favourite is No Matter What, but I’ve played that one recently, so tonight I’ll go with my next favourite, Day After Day.

Badfinger guitarist Peter Ham wrote this song, which was their highest charting song (#4) in the U.S. George Harrison produced this song and played guitar on it. The year before, members of Badfinger played on Harrison’s first solo album, All Things Must Pass. Harrison then started producing Badfinger’s Straight Up album, but midway through got sidetracked organizing the Concert for Bangla Desh, which Badfinger played as part of his backing band. Todd Rundgren was brought in to finish the album.

When Badfinger signed on with Apple Records, it seemed like a good place to hitch their wagon, but it ended up being disastrous. The Straight Up album did very well thanks to Day After Day and Baby Blue, but Apple was in such disarray that Badfinger had to leave the label soon after. They recorded one more album for Apple before signing with Warner Bros., and ended up in disputes with both labels that froze their finances in 1975 and kept them from recording.  As a result, tragically Peter Ham committed suicide on April 24, 1975.

This song hit #4 in the U.S., #2 in Canada, and #10 in the UK.

Day After Day
Badfinger

I remember finding out about you
Every day my mind is all around you
Looking out from my lonely room
Day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you

I remember holding you while you sleep
Every day, I feel the tears that you weep
Looking out from my lonely gloom
Day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you

Looking out from my lonely gloom
Day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you

I remember finding out about you
Every day my mind is all around you
Looking out from my lonely room
Day after day
Bring it home, baby, make it soon
I give my love to you

Source: Musixmatch
Songwriters: Peter Ham
Day After Day lyrics © Apple Publishing Ltd., The Estate For Peter William Ham, Apple Publ Ltd

♫ No Matter What ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under music

Tonight’s song is again a repeat from September 2018.  There is a reason it came to my mind, though, and just begged to be played.  My friend Michael Seidel posted this song on his “Friday’s Theme Music” post yesterday, and I fully agree with his reasoning … well, take a look yourself, and I think most of you will agree:  Friday’s Theme Music by Michael Seidel.

This one is a little off the beaten path, so some may not remember it.  It never got above #5 on the UK charts, and #8 in the US.  It did better, however, in South Africa where it hit #1 for a brief time.  It’s one of those that I don’t think about often, but about twice a year, for no discernible reason, it pops into my head and stays for a day or two.  I like the rhythm, but as with most songs, just tonight I discovered that I had been singing the lyrics all wrong!  I’ve been singing “Down by the ol’ mill stream, be a part of it all”, when in fact it is “Knock down the old grey wall, and be a part of it all”.  Sigh.  deaf

The song was recorded by the band Badfinger in April 1970 at Abbey Road Studios under the Beatles’ label, Apple Records.  Some actually thought it was the Beatles when they first heard it, and Peter Ham actually used one of George Harrison’s Gibson guitars on this.

This song is also noted for its false ending, after the final chorus, where, after a short pause, the song repeats the last line twice before its final ending chord.

No Matter What
Badfinger

No matter what you are
I will always be with you
Doesn’t matter what you do girl, oh girl with you
No matter what you do
I will always be around

Won’t you tell me what you found girl, oh girl won’t you
Knock down the old brick wall, and be a part of it all
Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do
If you would give me all, as I would give it to you
Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be

No matter where you go
There will always be a place
Can’t you see in my face girl, oh girl don’t you
Knock down the old brick wall, and be a part of it all
Nothing to say, nothing to see, nothing to do
If you would give me all, as I would give it to you
Nothing would be, nothing would be, nothing would be

No matter what you are
I will always be with you
Doesn’t matter what you do girl, oh girl want you
Oh girl, you girl, want you
Oh girl, you girl, want you

Songwriters: Peter William Ham
No Matter What lyrics © Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd., Warner/Chappell Music, Inc

♫ While My Guitar Gently Weeps ♫

Posted on by under music

Tonight concludes ‘Beatles Week’ on Filosofa’s Word.  It started innocently enough … I played a Beatles’ song, and David suggested a Beatles’ week, and thus it began.  I missed one day, but otherwise have played some oldies but goodies.  I learned some things this week … I learned that George Harrison was a much under-appreciated member of the band, and a great songwriter in his own right.  I wish I had realized back in the day … but I was enamoured of Paul’s cute little grin and head tilt, and barely noticed George.

Did you know that at one point during their career, George walked out, said ‘I’m done’, and that John Lennon wanted to replace him with Eric Clapton?  Yes, my friends, Eric Clapton was almost a Beatle!  Harrison soon came back, however, and he and Clapton bonded.

By the time the Beatles were recording their 1968 self-titled album, also known as The White Album, things were tense among the four.  When they got to the song While My Guitar Gently Weeps, they started recording an early “draft” on July 25, 1968, with Harrison playing the guitars and McCartney following along on the harmonium.  But, it wasn’t until Harrison invited his best pal Clapton into the studio that they went back to the song. “Eric played that and I thought it was really good,” Harrison said, according to Rolling Stone. “Then we listened to it back and he said, ‘Ah, there’s a problem, though; it’s not Beatley enough.’ So we put it through the ADT to wobble it up a bit.”

But Harrison’s true purpose of inviting Clapton? To lessen the tension. “George knew everyone would behave themselves around Clapton — a classic George power move,” the Rolling Stone piece said. “The trick worked — in George’s words, ‘The other guys were as good as gold because he was there.’”

A few nights ago, our friend Keith mentioned that Eric Clapton had done a tribute to George Harrison, who died of cancer on 29 November 2001.  Of course, I had to check it out, and … well, I it moved me and I felt it was a fitting way to conclude Beatles’ Week 2020.  And so, my friends, I offer first, the Beatles version of the song, and last, Mr. Eric Clapton et al in a fitting tribute to a great and talented musician.

 

While My Guitar Genly Weeps

The Beatles

I look at you all, see the love there that’s sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps

I don’t know why nobody told you
How to unfold your love
I don’t know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you

I look at the world and I notice it’s turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps

Well…

I don’t know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don’t know how you were inverted
No one alerted you

I look at you all, see the love there that’s sleeping
[LOVE version:] I look from the wings at the play you are staging.
While my guitar gently weeps
Look at you all
[LOVE version:] As I’m sitting here doing nothing but aging
Still my guitar gently weeps

Oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, oh, ooh

♫ Norwegian Wood ♫ (Redux)

Posted on by under music

Day #5 of Beatles Week, and since a couple of people mentioned this one, I thought it only right to give it a slot.

A bit of interesting history accompanies this one …

This was the first pop song to use a sitar – George Harrison played it. Harrison was new to the sitar and took many takes to get it right. He bought the instrument, which he described as “crummy,” and taught himself to play. It was David Crosby of The Byrds, and Crosby, Stills & Nash who had introduced Harrison to the sitar shortly after the folk musician Shawn Phillips had shown him the basic steps. A few months later, Harrison studied the sitar with Indian musician Ravi Shankar, who helped Harrison explore Eastern music and religion.

John Lennon, who wrote the song, explained why it was decided to use the sitar on this song …

“I think it was at the studio. George had just got the sitar and I said ‘Could you play this piece?’ We went through many different sort of versions of the song, it was never right and I was getting very angry about it, it wasn’t coming out like I said. They said, ‘Well just do it how you want to do it’ and I said, ‘Well I just want to do it like this.’ They let me go and I did the guitar very loudly into the mike and sang it at the same time and then George had the sitar and I asked him could he play the piece that I’d written, you know, dee diddley dee diddley dee, that bit, and he was not sure whether he could play it yet because he hadn’t done much on the sitar but he was willing to have a go, as is his wont, and he learned the bit and dubbed it on after. I think we did it in sections.”

Paul McCartney said he came up with the title, inspired by the Norwegian Wood furniture in the Asher household, where he was staying.

But the trivia I thought the most intriguing was what John Lennon said about the writing of the song …

“I was trying to write about an affair without letting my wife know I was having one. I was sort of writing from my experiences – girl’s flats, things like that. I was very careful and paranoid because I didn’t want my wife, Cyn, to know that there really was something going on outside of the household. I’d always had some kind of affairs going on, so I was trying to be sophisticated in writing about an affair, but in such a smoke-screen way that you couldn’t tell. But I can’t remember any specific woman it had to do with.”

Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)
The Beatles

I once had a girl
Or should I say she once had me
She showed me her room
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?

She asked me to stay
And she told me to sit anywhere
So I looked around
And I noticed there wasn’t a chair

I sat on a rug biding my time
Drinking her wine
We talked until two and then she said
“It’s time for bed”

She told me she worked
In the morning and started to laugh
I told her I didn’t
And crawled off to sleep in the bath

And when I awoke I was alone
This bird had flown
So I lit a fire
Isn’t it good Norwegian wood?

Songwriters: John Lennon / Paul Mccartney
Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown) lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

♫ Something ♫

Posted on by under music

Day #4 of Beatles’ Week …

This was the only song written by George Harrison released as a single by The Beatles.  Harrison wrote this during a break while they were working on The White Album. It was not recorded in time for the album, so Harrison gave this to Joe Cocker, but Cocker didn’t release it until after The Beatles did.

This seemed to be inspired by Harrison’s wife, Pattie, but he claimed he did not have anyone in mind when he wrote it. In her 2007 book Wonderful Tonight: George Harrison, Eric Clapton, and Me, Pattie Boyd wrote:

“George wrote a song called ‘Something.’ He told me in a matter-of-fact way that he had written it for me. I thought it was beautiful and it turned out to be the most successful song he ever wrote, with more than 150 cover versions. George’s favorite version was the one by James Brown. Mine was the one by George Harrison, which he played to me in our kitchen. But, in fact, by then our relationship was in trouble. Since a trip to the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s ashram in India in 1968, George had become obsessive about meditation. He was also sometimes withdrawn and depressed.”

Harrison came up with the title and the first line after listening to a James Taylor song called Something In The Way She Moves.

There are over 200 cover versions of this song on record, making it The Beatles’ 2nd most covered song, after Yesterday, which has … wait for it … over 1,600!!!  The question here becomes, is there anyone who hasn’t covered Yesterday?

Frank Sinatra called this “The greatest love song ever written.” He often performed it in the ’70s.  High praise indeed!

The video is from the promotional clip for Something that was shot in late October 1969, not long after Lennon privately announced that he was leaving the band. By this time, the individual Beatles had grown apart and so the film consisted of separate clips of each Beatle walking around his home, accompanied by his wife, edited together. The four segments were edited and compiled into a single film clip by Neil Aspinall.

Something
The Beatles

Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover
Something in the way she woos me

I don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don’t need no other lover
Something in her style that shows me

Don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

You’re asking me will my love grow
I don’t know, I don’t know
You stick around, now it may show
I don’t know, I don’t know

Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her
Something in the things she shows me

I don’t want to leave her now
You know I believe and how

Songwriter(s) George Harrison
Producer(s) George Martin