George Harrison – Think Bensonium

Song 2: A Northern Song, The Beatles (George Harrison)

Roderick Benson — Wed, 05 Jul 2023 19:22:25 +0000

So today I watched a very interesting video analysis of a song by the Beatles called A Northern Song. Post Covid Island Discs now usually records the death of famous musicians and of course poor old George Harrison passed away many years before the Covid-19 pandemic. So I guess this post is in memorandum to George Harrison even if he did pass away so many years before this website was even born. Yet there appears to be so much more to this song of Harrison’s than meets the eye as explained by James Hargreaves in his video which is also included under the Beatles Anthrology recording of Harrison’s clever song which I think, as Hargreaves argues, is a passive-aggressive dig at the way McCartney and Lennon treated him as an inferior member of the Beatles.

After watching Hargreaves excellent analysis of the Harrison’s song, along with his detailing of the complicated tensions that existed between the Beatles in the late 60s, it became obvious that the band was always in trouble and it was only a matter of time before the fab four would go their separate ways. Hargreaves analysis challenges the commonly held idea that the breakup of the band was solely down to Yoko entering the scene as clearly relational tensions in the Beatles were not just confined to John and Paul.

A less known version but better version (in my opinion) of the song before Lennon and McCartney fell into a possible trap set by Harrison (see Hargreaves analysis below).

Analysis of the song and its meaning by James Hargreaves

The mainstream version of the song as first published on the Yellow Submarine Album

Day 360: My Sweet Lord, George Harrison

Roderick Benson — Sun, 14 Mar 2021 00:00:24 +0000

Countdown to the year anniversary of Covid Island Discs T -7

Well we’ve made it to week 52 of Covid Island discs and coming up to the anniversary of when the UK first went into lockdown. I have decided that the songs of the final seven days of Covid Island Discs will consist of the same bands as the first week of Covid Island Discs working back in reverse order from day 7 to day 1. So on Day 7 of Covid Island Discs which was on the 27^th of March 2020 the song cited was Blow Away by George Harrison. This was cited as part of childhood memory I had in relation to convalescing in a UK hospital after being hit by a car (covered in Covid Island Discs Day 6). However, probably George’s most famous song was “My Sweet Lord”. I particularly like the acoustic and lead guitars in the song. I guess the Hare Krishan chant also finds its musicality in this Harrison classic.

Day 351: All those years ago, George Harrison

Roderick Benson — Sat, 06 Mar 2021 00:00:39 +0000

OK kicking off week 51 I think it is time for another George Harrison song. This song is quite touching as George looks back on the Beatle years and sings about his love for John Lennon who he “always looked up to.” Sadly, like John, he is no longer with us.

Day 7: Blow away by George Harrison

Rbenson — Sat, 15 Aug 2020 20:44:35 +0000

This little remembered tune was the other one that dominated the UK radio stations during my stay in hospital (see yesterday’s post). After returning to Australia, it was many years before I rediscovered the song. For some reason I thought it was a Bay City Rollers hit (sorry George). It was only many years later when I was over at Chris Thomas’ place, and it came over his sound system, that I finally knew the title and the author of the song I had heard so many years ago in a hospital far, far away …