11 Songs Where George Harrison Was Venting
There were many songs where George Harrison was venting his frustrations, starting with the first song he ever wrote. Here are the top 11 songs George used to vent.
11. ‘Don’t Bother Me’
“Don’t Bother Me” was the first song George ever wrote. He used it to experiment to see if he could write a tune, but he also vented in the lyrics. George was sick while The Beatles played a gig in Bournemouth, England, and the doctor treated his symptoms with morphine. He was exhausted and vented about wanting to be left alone in the song.
10. ‘Taxman’
George dared to call out the tax man on the Revolver track. He was so sick of how much money they took from him that he had to release “Taxman.” In The Beatles Anthology, George said he was so happy when he finally started making some money for doing what he loved. However, he discovered he had paid the taxman 19 shillings and sixpence out of every pound. “That was a big turn-off for Britain,” he said. “Anybody who ever made any money moved to America or somewhere else.”
9. ‘I Me Mine’
In “I Me Mine,” George is venting about the ego problem. After watching a high-society European ball on television during the Let It Be sessions, he wrote the song. George, who had become very spiritual by that point, was sick of everyone caring about themselves. That also extended to The Beatles. George felt Paul was being too domineering and thinking of himself. So, George briefly quit.
8. ‘Wah-Wah’
George was very nonchalant about quitting. He went home, wrote in his diary that he left The Beatles, and wrote “Wah-Wah,” a word for headache. George was sick of his bandmates fighting and hurting his head. George released the song on his first post-Beatles solo album, All Things Must Pass.
7. ‘Awaiting on You All’
On top of despising the ego problem, George disliked how removed people were from God. In “Awaiting on You All,” George is venting about how horrible it was that everyone lost their spiritual way. George waited for everyone to catch on and said you don’t need this or that in life. Only God. During this time, George stopped hanging out with friends who weren’t as spiritual as him. He even started leaving his wife, Pattie Boyd, behind. Many saw him as uptight about it, but he just really believed in God and couldn’t understand the people who didn’t care.
6. ‘Sue Me, Sue You Blues’
On “Sue Me, Sue You Blues,” George vented about being sued by Bright Tunes for copyright infringement. Bright Tunes claimed George stole the melody of The Chiffon’s “He’s So Fine” on his hit “My Sweet Lord.” The judge ruled that George had unconsciously copied the tune. Understandably, George was very upset by the lawsuit.
5. ‘So Sad’
In “So Sad,” George is venting about his failed marriage to Pattie Boyd. In his 1980 memoir, I Me Mine, George wrote that he liked this song’s melody and lyrics. However, his only problem with the song was that it was depressing. He’s not wrong. George really conveyed his sorrowful feelings well in “So Sad.”
4. ‘This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Crying)’
George wrote “This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Crying)” as a sequel to his Beatles song, “While My Guitar Gently Weeps.” However, it’s more somber than its predecessor. George revealed that the song came about because the press and critics tried to nail him on his Dark Horse 1974 tour of the U.S., and it got nasty. He wrote the song about “being stuck on a limb, and being down, but not out.”
3. ‘Not Guilty’
“Not Guilty” was another song George wrote about being done with his bandmates. In I Me Mine, George explained he wrote “Not Guilty” when The Beatles recorded The White Album. “Paul-John-Apple-Rishikesh-Indian friend, etc.,” he wrote. More specifically, George vented about the “grief” Paul and John Lennon were giving him then.
“I said I wasn’t guilty of getting in the way of their careers,” George wrote. “I said I wasn’t guilty of leading them astray in our all going to Rishikesh to see the Maharishi” George was sticking up for himself. He later released “Not Guilty” on his 1979 album, George Harrison.
2. ‘Blow Away’
George wrote “Blow Away” after venting to himself. During a rain storm, he went to a hut in his garden to escape his home’s leaky problem. George was already feeling down. “The problems start when you get attached to the problem!” he wrote in I Me Mine. When the mind gets involved too much, you start to doubt yourself.
George was feeling this the day he wrote “Blow Away.” He was feeling “rotten, a bit ratty; not feeling good in myself,” and it was getting to him. He had to remind himself that that wasn’t him. All the rattiness he felt was him attaching himself to the mind, which “plays tricks” and “trips you over.” Ultimately, George knew he didn’t have to feel ratty. All he had to do was manifest love, and he went inside to write the song.
1. ‘Blood From a Clone’
George vented about the music business on “Blood From a Clone.” In I Me Mine, he said the industry went into “a weird slump” in the late 1970s. The oil crisis started a recession, making record executives fearful of what to release “in case it turned out not to be compatible with what the sponsors of some radio program wanted.” George wanted to make the music he wanted, not what the record companies wanted. “Blood From a Clone” comes from how they wanted everyone to sound the same.
George Harrison used his music to vent about many things. However, by the time he released 1987’s Cloud Nine, he’d mellowed and was finished ranting about the things that frustrated him. He made peace with his demons.
