The George Harrison Song That He Wrote During His ‘Bender’ After Splitting From Pattie Boyd

George Harrison wasn’t afraid of revealing the vulnerabilities and flaws in his music. In 1974, his marriage to Pattie Boyd was unraveling, and he struggled with alcoholism and drugs. While Harrison didn’t speak about this time often, he did write a song that expressed what he went through during this period. 

George Harrison said ‘Simply Shady’ represents his life during his ‘bender’

Pattie Boyd and George Harrison married in 1966. Boyd experienced Beatlemania’s highs and lows and the band’s eventual downfall. She left Harrison in 1974, but the pair didn’t officially divorce until 1977. She then married Harrison’s friend, Eric Clapton, in 1979. 

After Harrison and Boyd’s marriage unraveled in 1974, the former Beatle was in a dark place where he dealt with drinking and drug use. In an interview with Rolling Stone, Harrison admitted he went on a “bender” after he split from Boyd, and many of the songs on Dark Horse, including “Simply Shady”, are manifestations of his experience during this period. 

“After I split up from Patti, I went on a bit of a bender to make up for all the years I’d been married,” Harrison said. “If you listen to ‘Simply Shady,’ on Dark Horse, it’s all in there – my whole life at that time was a bit like Mrs. Dale’s Diary [a now-defunct British radio soap opera].”

“I wasn’t ready to join Alcoholics Anonymous or anything – I don’t think I was that far gone – but I could put back a bottle of brandy occasionally, plus all the other naughty things that fly around,” he continued. “I just went on a binge, went on the road . . . all that sort of thing, until it got to the point where I had no voice and almost no body at times.”

Pattie Boyd said he left George Harrison because he was ‘being a different George’

In addition to Harrison’s drinking problem, the “Something” singer had developed a habit of using cocaine and wasn’t remaining faithful. In an interview with The Telegraph, Boyd said deciding to leave him was difficult, but she felt he was different from the man she had married. 

“It was an extremely difficult decision of mine to make,” Boyd expressed. “I felt that I had to leave George because things were getting really out of hand. George was just being a different George. We had gone in different directions, basically. But we still loved each other. It’s just that I think he wanted to spread his wings and take advantage of being the handsome, famous, rich guy that he was and see how the girls feel about him. A hot-blooded boy – why not, I suppose.”

‘Dark Horse’ was smothered by negative reviews from critics

Dark Horse is not a bright spot in George Harrison’s career. It received the worst reviews of any album from his career or for any solo album by a former Beatle. While many considered “Simply Shady” a highlight, the rest was trashed by a majority of critics. It also didn’t help that Harrison was amid his disastrous 1974 American tour with Ravi Shankar, where his voice was ravaged by overexertion and laryngitis. Rock fans were also frustrated by his setlist. 

It did fare better on the charts as Dark Horse reached No. 4 on the U.S. Billboard 200. Still, George Harrison wasn’t in a great place after Pattie Boyd left, and Dark Horse reflects the inner turmoil he went through.