George Harrison

by Peter Saint-Andre

2001-11-30

I'm sad about the death of George Harrison. His songs with the Beatles have always impressed me -- there is a twist to them, a style of words and melody that sets them apart from those of Lennon and McCartney. It's hard to put my finger on what makes "You Like Me Too Much" different from "The Night Before", "Think For Yourself" different from "Another Girl", "Something" different from "Because" (to choose some songs at random), but to me a Harrison song has always been distinctive (even aside from a song like "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", which is sui generis). I also admire songs like "For You Blue", "Old Brown Shoe", and even his Indian-influenced songs (especially "The Inner Light" with its lyrics from Lao Tzu). And this is not to mention his guitar-playing, which as a sometime guitarist myself I've always appreciated.


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