There were several factors at play that led to The Beatles‘ eventual break-up. There was the bond between Paul McCartney and John Lennon, which steadily withered as their creative directions changed, as well as general tension throughout the band as a result of changing mindsets and attitudes towards the band. However, the main factor for George Harrison was simply that he didn’t feel like he could express himself well enough in the band.
Harrison was a prolific songwriter. He had a unique ability to scrutinise the world around him and could put various emotions into music in a truly beautiful way. However, despite his ability as a songwriter, many of his songs were pushed aside because they didn’t fit the Lennon-McCartney sound that the band had made famous.
This meant that when George Harrison started making his own solo music, he already had a number of songs that he was ready to release. Many of these tracks were well received, as Harrison had excellent musicians working with him, and his lyricism talked about love, loss, and the spiritual journey he had been on throughout his time with The Beatles.
If you were ever going to pick your favourite George Harrison lyric, you would have plenty to choose from given the array of beauty he was responsible for both in The Beatles and throughout his solo career. One of his best outings came in the form of ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’, released in 1968, with lines like “I look at the world, and I notice it’s turning, while my guitar gently weeps.”
The 1970s ‘All Things Must Pass’ also stands out for Harrison, as the titular song from his debut solo album spoke about loss in general, reflecting on his life and, particularly, his time with The Beatles. “Sunset doesn’t last all evening, a mind can blow those clouds away, after all this, my love is up, and must be leaving.”
However, when Ringo Starr was asked about some of his favourite George Harrison lyrics, they were from a song that the world never got the chance to hear. They are less of a reflection of Harrison as a musician and instead one of him as a person, full of love and whimsy, someone who got along with those around them and had a big heart. The lyrics that Starr refers to remind him of that side of Harrison, the side that a friend would miss the most.
“I mean, ‘cause you can’t hug him any more, you know what I mean? I think of him, but you can’t hug him,” said Starr, reflecting on Harrison and reminiscing about his former bandmate. As such, because he missed Harrison so much, it’s only rational that Starr would enjoy the lyrics Harrison wrote to him personally as a bit of fun.
It is more like a poem from a birthday card than a song lyric; when Olivia Harrison was clearing out some papers from an old piano seat, she found paper that includes the lines, “Hey Ringo, now I want you to know that without you, my guitar plays far too slow.”
As a gift, Olivia framed the lyrics and gave them to Starr, which is when he first laid eyes on them and decided they were the guitarist’s best lyrics. He said, reflecting on the gift, “I was so moved”.
