Most songs in The Beatles’ repertoire were written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon. But in the later stages of the band’s life, George Harrison gained a prolific interest in songwriting too. In fact, the friction Harrison’s prominent songwriting ambitions caused, was one of many reasons why The Beatles eventually broke up. Harrison wrote Beatles songs such as “Taxman” and “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”. But the quiet beatle gained true recognition as a songwriter with the 1969 album release “Abbey Road”. An album on which Harrison contributed the popular songs “Something” and “Here Comes the Sun”. Let’s dive into the story and meaning of the latter!
The Story Behind the Song
George Harrison wrote “Here Comes the Sun” in Eric Clapton’s garden. Harrison and Clapton were good friends. He went there to escape the Beatles’ business meetings, which Harrison despised.
In George Harrison’s autobiography “I, Me, Mine”, he said: “Here Comes the Sun” was written at the time when Apple (The Beatles’ label) was getting like school, where we had to go and be businessmen: ‘Sign this’ and ‘sign that.’ Anyway, it seems as if winter in England goes on forever, by the time spring comes you really deserve it. So one day I decided I was going to sag off Apple and I went over to Eric Clapton’s house. The relief of not having to go see all those dopey accountants was wonderful, and I walked around the garden with one of Eric’s acoustic guitars and wrote “Here Comes the Sun”.
The business meetings caused Harrison to not pick up the guitar for weeks. After he arrived at Clapton’s house, he grabbed a guitar, walked into the garden, and “Here Comes the Sun” was the first thing that came out.
In the Documentary “George Harrison: Living In The Material World”, Eric Clapton recalled: “It was one of those beautiful spring mornings, I think it was April. We were just walking around the garden with our guitars and I don’t do that, you know? This is what George brought to the situation … And we walked around the garden. We sat down at the bottom of the garden, looking out, and the sun was shining. It was a beautiful morning, and he started to sing “Here Comes the Sun”, the opening lines you know. And I just watched this thing come to life.”
In Clapton’s garden, Harrison wrote the foundation for “Here Comes the Song”. He finished the song a few months later, while on holiday in Sardinia.
The Meaning of the Song
“Here Comes the Sun” is a song about the arrival of spring, and as a result, the end of a long, cold, lonely winter. The song can be interpreted as literal, since George Harrison wrote the song in the early spring of 1969.
But the song also carries a symbolic meaning. It seems that skipping out on business meetings with The Beatles, and seeking retreat in Eric Clapton’s garden, gave Harisson a sense of enlightenment. This was where he belonged as a musician, not in corporate meetings. The realization ended Harrison’s personal cold winter and made his sun shine again. “Here Comes the Sun” can be interpreted as being happy again after a time of sadness.
Read more: The Story Behind “Something” by The Beatles
The Song’s Legacy
The Beatles never played “Here Comes the Sun” live. But George Harrison performed the song several times as a solo musician. Most notably during “The Concert for Bangladesh” in 1971, and “Saturday Night Live” in 1976 together with Paul Simon.
The song wasn’t released as a single and never reached the US Billboard Hot 100. But over the years, “Here Comes the Sun” became one of the most popular songs in The Beatles’ repertoire. In fact, it is the most streamed Beatles song on Spotify.
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