I’m sticking with the “quiet Beatle” this weekend.
George Harrison wrote 22 of The Beatles’ 200+ songs and they run the gamut from totally forgettable (‘Blue Jay Way’) to some of the best songs in the catalog (‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps,’ ‘Here Comes the Sun’). He introduced the sitar into the band’s tool kit, putting it to good use on his own ‘Within You Without You’ and ‘The Inner Light’ and making John’s ‘Norwegian Wood‘ possible.
He penned ‘Something,’ a song that became a staple, covered by everybody from James Brown to Frank Sinatra. In fact, I knew only Sinatra’s version of that song until I first bought Abbey Road and was shocked to see it had been written by The Beatles.
‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’ is probably my favorite Harrison tune, but ‘Here Comes the Sun’ is another contender. This is a song that never faills to cheer me up and I imagine it’s had that effect on a lot of people. It’s just so buoyant and hopeful… a case of music perfectly capturing the message of a song’s lyrics.
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s alright
Little darling
It’s been a long, cold, lonely winter
Little darling
It feels like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s alright
Little darling
The smiles returning to the faces
Little darling
It seems like years since it’s been here
Here comes the sun
Here comes the sun, and I say
It’s alright
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Sun, sun, sun, here it comes
Little darling
I see the ice is slowly melting
Little darling
It seems like years since it’s been clear
Here comes the sun
It’s alright
It’s alright
Meet Me In Montauk 
It’s, quite simply, a perfect song. How many of those are there?
The other day, we were discussing the effectiveness of an extended metaphor in one song. Here, Harrison creates the simplest, most powerful symbol I can think of in any song I know. I read somewhere that he was writing about the Beatles themselves emerging from one of their darker moments, fighting and threatening to break up the band. But, of course, the sun can be whatever the listener wants it to be. Which is why it never fails to cheer you, or any sentient being who hears it, up.
For a time, this was the song that woke me up each morning (ironic, as the literal sun is usually a good hour + away when that alarm goes off). While I never tired of hearing those opening notes, I did hate having to turn it off before it woke others in the house. “Favorite songs” are nearly impossible to name. There are so many options, so many moods each appeals to. Still, there is no doubt this song would be one of the strongest contenders if I’m ever forced to name my favorite 🙂
A truly wonderful song. I echo each of your sentiments.