It’s no small secret that tension was building amongst the Fab Four in their final years as a band, and one could argue that no Beatle was more familiar with these feelings than George Harrison, who repeatedly butted heads with Paul McCartney and John Lennon for creative input. While the latter musicians’ compositions comprised most of the Beatles’ records, Harrison normally only got one song, if any, per album side.
Given this growing animosity, many listeners have speculated whether Harrison’s contribution to Side No. 4 of the Beatles’ eponymous album from 1968 included a not-so-subtle dig at McCartney. If there was a jab to be found, Harrison did an excellent job sugar-coating it—literally.
A Candy-Coated Dig At A Different Musician
Each side of the Beatles’ “White Album” features one song that George Harrison wrote. Side No. 1 features Harrison’s melancholy ballad, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” Side No. 2 features “Piggies,” Side No. 3 closes with Harrison’s “Long, Long, Long,” and finally, Side No. 4 features an apparent candy-themed dig at Eric Clapton, “Savoy Truffle.”
Harrison and Clapton developed a close relationship over the years, leading to Clapton’s sole guest appearance on the same Beatles album. (Yep, he’s the guitarist behind “While My Guitar Gently Weeps,” not Harrison.) According to the “Quiet Beatle” in his memoir, I, Me, Mine, he wrote “Savoy Truffle” after a mid-1960s hangout sesh with Clapton.
“At that time, he had a lot of cavities in his teeth and needed dental work,” Harrison wrote (via BeatlesBible). “He always had a toothache, but he ate a lot of chocolates. He couldn’t resist them. Once he saw a box, he had to eat them all. He was over at my house, and I had a box of Good News chocolates on the table and wrote the song from the names inside the lid.”
Some consider “Savoy Truffle” to be Harrison’s attempt to distance himself from his headier, more mystical works. Others view the D-side as a comical way to poke fun at a pal. But some attentive listeners caught a whiff of a subtle jab toward Harrison’s bandmate, Paul McCartney.
Was George Harrison Actually Making Fun Of Paul McCartney?
George Harrison’s many references to candy seem obvious enough in the first half of “Savoy Truffle.” But the song seems to take a more layered turn in the second bridge when Harrison sings, You know that what you eat you are, but what is sweet now turns so sour. We all know Ob-La-Di-Bla-Da, but can you show me where you are? That last line, of course, references the iconic track by McCartney on the A-side of the “White Album.”
While Harrison was never one to openly air his grievances (he was the “quiet Beatle,” after all), his bandmate John Lennon certainly was. Lennon was outspoken on his disdain for McCartney’s “Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da,” which became the fourth track on the Beatles’ 1968 release. EMI recording engineer Geoff Emerick quoted Lennon decades later as calling McCartney’s easygoing number “granny music s***.” Other publications made it clear Harrison wasn’t a fan, either.
Given the tensions brewing among the band, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that Harrison was directly challenging McCartney by subtly (and incorrectly) name-dropping his song. While the official story might be that Harrison was poking fun at Eric Clapton’s sweet tooth, we can’t help but think the Quiet Beatle had other people on his mind when he wrote the last half of his song.
