@@ROOTSMUSICHISTORY in the coffee I invited you, I pasted the best version of the song. It’s incredible the performers present in that concert for that song 👇🏻 ua-cam.com/video/0y1m4s1rbK4/v-deo.htmlsi=r_-FbwMwcw-rLmUl
Although when I was young Paul was my favorite Beatle but after I started writing myself George became my favorite. I feel like his songs were so much deeper I also liked his personality best. Good job! 🎼🎸🎤🎼
Most of George's songs were NOT joyously melodically memorable. I had to force myself to sit through them. I know it's shitty to say since he's gone but the truth is true !!!
Thanks for an insightful analyses of this great song. I learned a lot from it As a “Boomer” born in ‘54, I am absolutely locked in to the music of The Beatles.
George had more to say than you know if you listen carefully to his songs. In "While my guitar gently weeps", George is talking to Paul and John. "I don't know how you were diverted You were perverted too I don't know how you were inverted No-one alerted you" George is telling them that they have lost their way. This line is to tell John and Paul that George is no fool and knows they are laughing behind his back: " I look at the world and I notice it's turning" This is to tell them that he knows that they think he (George) is The Fool On The Hill. It is a direct reply to: " But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down And the eyes in his head see the world spinning 'round" Listen to what Paul and John think about George in Fool On The Hill: " Well on the way Head in a cloud The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud But nobody ever hears him, or the sound he appears to make And he never seems to notice" Translated: George is the quiet one, but when he talks, he wants to talk about his Far East religion. Indian religion is called the religion of one thousand Gods. "The man of one thousand voices talking perfectly loud. But nobody ever hears him or the sound he appears to make, and he never seems to notice." Paul and John are basically saying, "Nobody wants to listen to you talk about your religion, dude." George was treated as an outsider by Paul and John and that's why they didn't respect his song writing for more than one song per album. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was George letting Paul and John know he's nobody's fool.
In London, 1997, a mutual Friend of Introverted George Harrison, Insisted, that I should "write to George!!" In spite of my being In the Interesting and enlivening Company of my Incredibly Talented Brother, Crispian Mills, Lead Singer In his own Immortal Psychedelic RockBand, which Is In Sanskrit, Kulasekhara.and In Phonetic English, KULASHAKER. She Insisted that I should get In Touch w/ the Ex-Beatle, following my Impromptu Live Performance at this Interesting Soul-SisStar's own Home ~ an Incubatory Ashram/House/Garden, located In the Vicinity of the Temple of the Cult, ISKCON, housed and hosted there, Inside 'The Manor' where successfully, I have also performed Live, Singing/Chanting In a Trance State, for more than 3 Intense Hours, leading Kirtan Live, In George Harrison's Donated Mansion
I’ve heard this song 1000 times but listening to the lyrics this time, I realized George is talking about John. John who was spiraling out of control and taking the band with him.
@@dawnchristine George is also talking about Paul. Paul was being controlled by Linda and her father. Paul was even talked into saying to the band that his Father in law should take control of the management of the band (in the end, the rest said No, so Paul's father in law only managed Paul's part of the band.) At that time Paul was secretly buying up shares of Northern Songs which controlled the rights to the Beatles' songs. Paul wanted to own all rights to the Beatles' songs by himself.
George didn’t audition for the Quarrymen at Rory Storm’s house. He interviewed on the empty top deck of a double decker bus. Both Paul and George have described this audition location in interviews.
Thanks! - recently discovered your channel and podcasts. This was a song I used to jam to with my friends. I thought about the music and the cord progression which was soloed over, and never realized the significance of the lyrics. Thanks for the enlightenment- today I try to live a spiritual existence so this Video struck a chord - no pun intended.
🎸 I don't believe he is talking to an individual person in the song, I always had the impression he was speaking to humanity as a whole. George always had a big picture view of the world, he stepped back and observed. His observations became his music. George wanted to save the whole world. He was the first of the four to truly understand the value of humility which is what allowed his spiritual side to thrive. Enjoyed the video, thank you!
George often did both...spoke generally then focused in one person. The verses sound general but the I don't know how chorus he is talking to McCartney. Same with Ob-La-Di verse in Savoy Truffle... he starts song lecturing Clapton about sweets or drugs or women but he ends up pointing at McCartney that his happy songs may bev sweet now but the reality of being a commercial songwriting success will end badly.
@@melamineflorentine8134 Don't think George was lecturing Clapton but poking fun at his addiction to sweets. After all it was the box of Good News Choclates Clapton enjoyed at Geprges house that supplied the lyrics. Thanks though for mentionikng Ob-La-Di though. I never made that connection. i know the other three Beatles were bitter over the many takes on that song which none of them really cared for.
The White Album is 4 separate artist contributing to a double album. This is not a “Beatles” song but a George Harrison composition on a Beatles album. Thank-you George. Oh yeah, it’s not “qwerrymen” but Quarry Men, like a place where stone is quarried.
Thank you for this. I to am in Nashville and am from Detroit and lived the 60’s and 70’s there, which I now realize was a special time. You do a great job here. Tks for that. 😉
As a teen in the 60's I experienced Beatlemania first hand. But this is the first time I have heard this song in such a deep light. I am going to play your podcast to my granddaughters who are Beatles fans. Thank you!
Thank you Roots for a beautiful and well-researched video of the Gorge Harrison’s “Best Rock & Roll Song.” Please keep performing your in-depth analysis and commentary.
Superb job providing so many nuggets of info about George's many sources of inspiration. I believe John in one of his songs John states "doesn't believe in I Ching'... Around '69 I also was found by an I Ching book while in college, same period George heard his guitar gently weep, We don't require belief to experience 'influence'...circa 1700s I Ching found Leibnitz the famous mathematitician while developing a binary algebra; Without this algebra machine languages (ones and zeroes) would never have evolved into LLMs (large language models) and xGPTs would never have become able to create verse (lyrics) or musical scores. Yet no machine is capable of the obvious affinity (love) evident in the first podcast I've seen created by you... Thank you so much for investing so much of your spirit into that wonderful gift to us all- allan collins
In Beatle's Anthology, Paul tells a different rendition of how George auditioned; on the top of a double decker bus; George played the lead from "Raunchy" and George was IN. I'd have to believe Paul knew how it went down.
Hello, young lady. This is my first visit to your channel. I am impressed and pleased with the way you interpret George's beautiful, soulful song. I have loved this song since it's release in 1968, when I was just eight years of age. All my life, I'd hoped to meet a woman who loved music and the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment, as I did. Alas, I'm an old man now, nearer the end than the beginning. Perhaps, if I've lived rightly in this life, I will be rewarded with such a partner in the next. But I have not always stayed on the path. Ah, but I digress. This beautiful song is, to me, more like a prayer. I am so glad you have found it. Namaste.
Hi Steppenwolf, 666, first time here as well, also same age, born 6-6-60, so you see have spiritual convictions to be positive about, lol. Because I am just now meeting the first lady of my life that makes me feel like no other...so young and youthful. I would like to say don't look to the next life when you may still have plenty of life left, and by the straying from the path is all in perfect sequence to "Being" in harmony with truth and love for it.
Further to my previous comment, I think you have understood the essence of this beautiful song. I bought All Things Must Pass when I was young, all the songs were deeply influenced by Harrison's spirituality. It is one of my treasured albums. Thanks for your work.
I enjoyed this. You provided a good history of George and his music. Very well done. One thing ... the original band was the QUARRYMEN not the QUERYMEN as you pronounced it.
Good job! I love the same things and you get it done brilliantly. Can't wait for the Tom Petty episode. Looking forward to delving in to your "back issues." I am a relatively new viewer/listener. Love it. Keep up the great work, friend in music, Jeffrey...
don't know who you are darling, i am 78yrs old and love what you do, the beatlles were everything once upon a time and your ananalysis of george was spot on. while my guitar is quite possibly the greatest song in living memory,,, bless you both
This song sings to humanity, calling softly to awaken to our true purpose. Thank you for this thoughtful presentation on this wonderful song and the soulful artist who brought it out into the world.
normally - when a songwriter writes a song - they are writing about something they have observed or experienced - or sometime just something they made up - but - they also write about their feelings and their inner struggles. As you stated, George was a couple of years into a journey of self-discovery and introspection. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - strikes me more as a song that is introspective as if George is having a conversation with himself - about himself
Thank you for your sharing of this insight. I always wondered about it. I played in bands during my jr and sr years in HS and my first 3 years of college. We mainly played Beatles music. George is my favorite Beatle. I still have my White Album with all the inserts and poster. I graduated from high school in 1968.
Good video. I appreciate the background on Indian music especially. One correction, according to George, Paul and John were not interested in recording While My Guitar, which is why he brought Clapton in to get them to change their mind. Clapton's clout won the day, thank God. I agree with another commenter that the song was likely written to humanity.
nicely thorough. even as i'm already a fan of the band and the song, you showed me more. it is my theory that patty boyd has more songs written about her than any other woman in history after mary, mother of jesus.
I appreciate how you established the literary, cultural, religious, and musical influences that led to the Harrison transformation. The song itself is made self referential by the heavy use of Clapton's slide vibrato and Harrison's moaning vocals, but it works. The bass parts are particularly well arranged imo and are either mic'ed close, direct into the board, or possibly doubled on guitar. (Somebody might be able to comment on that). It seems to me that Harrison grew as a person at a rate appropriate for the extraordinary conditions he found himself in and perhaps the other members did not. I always felt like his material from that era was a bit preachy but we could certainly use more of that message in the mainstream today. I also appreciated your heartfelt response and interpretation of the lyrics.
I don't know howww-nobody told you, the bridge ain't the chorus, wood isn't porous... haha. Thank you for your videos and musical presentations. You are awesome. So you know!
I hate pointing this out to our dear hostess and narrator who is very kind and gracious but it's pronounced "QUARRY men". As in a you're having Quarrel with your parents or you have a Quarter in your pocket to spend. It's so named after a Rock Quarry. The Quarrymen". But really great in depth look at the song! Thank you so much.
Your enthusiasm is awesome and the video very interesting. Perhaps some of those original videos you had access to would show how Quarrymen is pronounced by the Beatles themselves. A quarry is an open cut mine where stone is extracted.
“I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping” is not just a poetic rhyme. May I submit that the floor is a metaphors for ones path in life, and in this case the person whom can't share this love has cluttered their path with things that get in the way of sharing love, maybe material stuff or resentment or unable to let go of the past, holding on to some sort of anger or pain. Sweep that anger and pain off your floor.
Excellent analysis. You are showing me how much I missed because of only focusing on the music composition and production, not at all on lyrics. Except Beach Boys songs, they were all about fun.
This led to him discovering Paramahansa Yogananda the author of " Autobiography of a Yogi " . He moved to the US in 1920 and introduced the Us to the practice of meditation, which, spiritually influenced both him and Steve Jobs. Yogananda started the spiritual group, Self Realization Fellowship which is still active today.
I wish they had left the last stanza on the original demo, on the final. Most people don't even know it existed. Both beautiful, sadness, and perhaps tragic. "I stand in the wings, see the play you are staging, While my guitar gently weeps..... I sit here alone, doing nothing but aging, While my guitar gently weeps......'"
My first time on your channel. I've actually never looked at the lyrics of this song anything like as closely as you have. I think I have always looked on the lyrics mostly as wordplay, just as George's dear friend, Bob Dylan, sometimes likes to do. Now you've got me thinking! When I first started listening to this song, I soon began to feel that it was The Complete Rock Song - it had everything, both musically and lyrically. As you have it that this is the greatest R & R song ever written, do I take it that 'Here Comes the Sun' and 'Something' do not fall into the category of R & R? Certainly, the latter is a much-loved ballad. May I point out two things in your account? 1. George's father, Harry, was actually a bus driver and not a conductor. 2. Before the group became The Beatles (with an A), they called themselves The Silver Beetles (with an E). Thanks very much for all your work in preparing and presenting this video.
I always thought of the lyrics and the song where he just keeps talking about different things going on in the world and keeps repeating while his Guitar Gently Weeps as sort of meaning he has all these things going on inside of him whilst all the external things in the world continuing and he has to deal with that and just sort of summarizes this human struggle..... that seems rather simplistic but there's Beauty in that and sometimes it's the obvious things we overlook and it's basically just an extraspective perspective conveyed in a beautiful song. It's really just an extraordinary piece of music that will stand the test of time. Music is just an expression of what's going on inside of us, and very few people can bring all of those things together and convey them in such a profound and beautiful way. George Harrison was one of those unique musicians who could do that in an epic way. What a blessing George Harrison was to all of us! RIP
Thanks, this video was a nice piece of work. The line "I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping" makes me think of the saying: Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water. To me it is the very ordinariness of the image, in your ordinary life enlightenment dwells. Be aware, live with clarity, in the moment, even amongst ordinary things.
George was a phenomenal musician and songwriter. Although he wrote some of The Beatle's most famous songs, ironically, he wasn't encouraged more by those around him. John, Paul, and George Martin all admitted Something and Here Comes The Sun were standout pieces on Abbey Road.
I think one or two of your early date lines are a little askew. I attended the institute and lived very close to Paul in Speke, where George also lived . I remember George coming at the end of term to practice with Paul thanks to our benevolent history teacher mr Edge. This was in 1956. It would have been nice if you had included the song in question in the video. However I enjoyed your story, well done.
Thanks for your excellent review. Listening to your explanation and registering, I think he is talking about the sleeping masses that have been enslaved and controlled. Thanks for opening it up for me. Love and Peace, Mike
Some day i hope you get to present the changes in 1966-67 in Paul's physical appearance, like how he got taller relative to bandmates and his girlfriend Jane Asher, his changed mouth and nose shape, and the way he held a guitar. Was it a rebirth or reinvention thing?
Are you really bringing up that tired old nonsense about Paul being dead? He was just barely into his 20s at that time. LOTS of people are still growing at that age. It's not the norm, and the rate of growth is pretty low, but it IS a fact. And people never grow such that every feature remains strictly identically proportional. They change. Not so radically as to be unrecognizable. But they continue to change, slowly and subtly, throughout the course of their lives. At that age many are still undergoing changes which are more pronounced than they will be for most of the rest of their lives.
A lot of things happen that didn't mix wel plagued the greatest band ever devolving dissipating. I love this stuff that they did till the end. They were Woodstock generation never expecting to fail.
Not to nit-pick... but because I am sure you appreciate accuracy - there were actually 3 verses originally... the last one being.. "I look from the wings, of the play you are staging...WMGGW.. while I'm sitting here, doing nothing but aging... WMGGW.." This might be my favorite song - not just Beatles song.. It is a work of art that will survive for centuries. Thank you for calling attention to Clapton's lead guitar - which is truly sublime. I also encourage everyone to look up Jake Shimabakuro's live version on ukulele that he recorded in Central Park.. it is sublime.
Thank you.. loved the video.. It is so cute you didnt know how to pronounce Ravi Shankar's name.. He was once (almost) a house-hold name. How times change.
This was a great analysis giving it the depth it deserved. I always felt George was the one who made the Beatles into something special, taking them to a higher level of meaning. I, like him have studied various faiths in the world searching not for what is different in cultures and faith but in what is universally common and connecting. When they got into psychedelic drugs they began experimenting with different themes. With each new album my college friends couldn't wait for what new road they would lead us down. Carlos Santana does an interesting cover of the song and with it's video it tells a tale of a prostitute trapped in a brothel who always had dreams of being a musician. A group of boys in a band shows up and invites her to join them, giving the story a happy ending. I can recall the title of the album but Santana does a tribute to the songs he enjoys playing.
Great job. George auditioned on an empty public bus riding home with Paul & John. The name Beatles was actually Stu Sutcliffe's idea. Stu wasn't even mentioned here, why? John loved Stu.
He got Eric Clapton to play guitar on the track, that's what really made it great! They then performed the song live at a Prince's trust concert in around 1988, it's on the Prince's Trust channel. It's a fantastic performance. Musicians that participated included Eric Clapton, Elton John, Phil Collins, Ringo Starr, etc. Look it up.
Great job, but you mentioned Phil Spector which is incorrect . The only Beatles album he produced was Let it be, and even then it was very controversial and not highly regarded. In fact George Martin was the genius behind the Beatles production,, the fifth Beatle, responsible for most of their early vocal arrangements and of course all the unbelievable strings, he had perfect pitch, & was the one who signed the Beatles, at that time, because they were charming and funny, not because they had good songs - which they didn't in 1962. He challenged them to write better songs. George Martin's classical music background transformed the Beatles sound, Phil spector's best days were long past by the time in produced Let it Be.
It’s an interesting theory that the song is about a man who never learned how to love, and was bitter and twisted in his outlook on others, because the one person he knew to whom this could be applied, was none other than John Lennon. Due in part to his history, Father left him as a child, being raised by a caring, but also stern Aunt, and his Mother dying as a result of being hit by a car, driven by an off-duty policeman under the influence of alcohol, shortly after John had reconnected with her, all contributed to his outlook on the world and people in general. John was abusive, both physically and mentally towards women; occasionally physically abusive towards men, but only if he thought he could win. He married Cynthia Powell, not out of his love for her, but because she was pregnant with their first child, Julian, and “Marriage was seen as the right thing to do” in that era. He had affairs and was a wife-beater, was a nasty tempered drunk, and sued for divorce, claiming Cynthia was unfaithful to him, despite her discovering John with Yoko Ono, a talentless heroin addict, in the kitchen of their home wearing bathrobes. The other three Beatles loved Cynthia; especially Paul and George, who coming from loving families, and growing up with siblings, could relate to Julian, and play games with him. Lennon was not the first target for Ono; apparently it was Paul. So that would fit in with your idea. But, I tend to believe the song refers to George’s growing dissatisfaction with being treated like he was unimportant compared to Lennon and McCartney, and only being allowed one or two of his compositions on every album, and the state of the world in general. The original lyrics suggest this to be the case: I look at you all, and the play you are staging While my guitar gently weeps And I’m sitting here doing nothing but aging While my guitar gently weeps
As always. You are Amazing. Thank you 🙏🏻
Thank you so much !!!
@@ROOTSMUSICHISTORY in the coffee I invited you, I pasted the best version of the song. It’s incredible the performers present in that concert for that song 👇🏻
ua-cam.com/video/0y1m4s1rbK4/v-deo.htmlsi=r_-FbwMwcw-rLmUl
Thanks for that. Funny to preach all this, but can't even pronounce the easy word properly...lol
@@ROOTSMUSICHISTORY
Lil tidbit of information. Ravi Shankar was the father of Nora Jones.
So somebody else said that his guitar gently wept because he didn't get any respect from John and Paul
George is a true Super Star. Thank you George for all the pleasure you have given the me and the world
George really did write the most insightful music. He was not given while with the Beatles the opportunity to expand their music to another level
Although when I was young Paul was my favorite Beatle but after I started writing myself George became my favorite. I feel like his songs were so much deeper I also liked his personality best. Good job! 🎼🎸🎤🎼
Most of George's songs were NOT joyously melodically memorable. I had to force myself to sit through them. I know it's shitty to say since he's gone but the truth is true !!!
Thanks for an insightful analyses of this great song. I learned a lot from it
As a “Boomer” born in ‘54, I am absolutely locked in to the music of The Beatles.
George had more to say than you know if you listen carefully to his songs. In "While my guitar gently weeps", George is talking to Paul and John. "I don't know how you were diverted You were perverted too I don't know how you were inverted No-one alerted you" George is telling them that they have lost their way. This line is to tell John and Paul that George is no fool and knows they are laughing behind his back: " I look at the world and I notice it's turning" This is to tell them that he knows that they think he (George) is The Fool On The Hill. It is a direct reply to: " But the fool on the hill sees the sun going down And the eyes in his head see the world spinning 'round" Listen to what Paul and John think about George in Fool On The Hill: " Well on the way Head in a cloud The man of a thousand voices talking perfectly loud But nobody ever hears him, or the sound he appears to make And he never seems to notice" Translated: George is the quiet one, but when he talks, he wants to talk about his Far East religion. Indian religion is called the religion of one thousand Gods. "The man of one thousand voices talking perfectly loud. But nobody ever hears him or the sound he appears to make, and he never seems to notice." Paul and John are basically saying, "Nobody wants to listen to you talk about your religion, dude." George was treated as an outsider by Paul and John and that's why they didn't respect his song writing for more than one song per album. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was George letting Paul and John know he's nobody's fool.
In London, 1997, a mutual Friend of
Introverted George Harrison,
Insisted, that
I should "write to George!!"
In spite of my being
In the
Interesting and enlivening Company of my
Incredibly Talented Brother, Crispian Mills, Lead Singer
In his own
Immortal Psychedelic RockBand, which
Is
In Sanskrit, Kulasekhara.and
In Phonetic English, KULASHAKER. She
Insisted that
I should get
In Touch w/ the Ex-Beatle, following my
Impromptu Live Performance at this
Interesting Soul-SisStar's own Home ~ an
Incubatory Ashram/House/Garden, located
In the Vicinity of the Temple of the Cult,
ISKCON, housed and hosted there,
Inside 'The Manor' where successfully,
I have also performed Live, Singing/Chanting
In a Trance State, for more than 3
Intense Hours, leading Kirtan Live,
In George Harrison's Donated Mansion
@@ion.t.veddinge108 sounds like a cool memory.
I’ve heard this song 1000 times but listening to the lyrics this time, I realized George is talking about John. John who was spiraling out of control and taking the band with him.
@@dawnchristine George is also talking about Paul. Paul was being controlled by Linda and her father. Paul was even talked into saying to the band that his Father in law should take control of the management of the band (in the end, the rest said No, so Paul's father in law only managed Paul's part of the band.) At that time Paul was secretly buying up shares of Northern Songs which controlled the rights to the Beatles' songs. Paul wanted to own all rights to the Beatles' songs by himself.
I am a long time Beatles freak. But this video really added a new perspective to this song. Great work!
I’m so happy you liked it ! Thank you for being here ♥️🎶
@@ROOTSMUSICHISTORY, your understanding of "Hinduism" is ALMOST as hilarious as your mispronunciations of Sanskrit terms, Slave.
George didn’t audition for the Quarrymen at Rory Storm’s house. He interviewed on the empty top deck of a double decker bus. Both Paul and George have described this audition location in interviews.
you are correct
Thanks! - recently discovered your channel and podcasts. This was a song I used to jam to with my friends. I thought about the music and the cord progression which was soloed over, and never realized the significance of the lyrics. Thanks for the enlightenment- today I try to live a spiritual existence so this Video struck a chord - no pun intended.
🎸 I don't believe he is talking to an individual person in the song, I always had the impression he was speaking to humanity as a whole. George always had a big picture view of the world, he stepped back and observed. His observations became his music. George wanted to save the whole world. He was the first of the four to truly understand the value of humility which is what allowed his spiritual side to thrive. Enjoyed the video, thank you!
she's wayyyyyyyy over thinking this
George often did both...spoke generally then focused in one person. The verses sound general but the I don't know how chorus he is talking to McCartney. Same with Ob-La-Di verse in Savoy Truffle... he starts song lecturing Clapton about sweets or drugs or women but he ends up pointing at McCartney that his happy songs may bev sweet now but the reality of being a commercial songwriting success will end badly.
@@melamineflorentine8134 Don't think George was lecturing Clapton but poking fun at his addiction to sweets. After all it was the box of Good News Choclates Clapton enjoyed at Geprges house that supplied the lyrics. Thanks though for mentionikng Ob-La-Di though. I never made that connection. i know the other three Beatles were bitter over the many takes on that song which none of them really cared for.
Deep Gratitude for this BEAUTIFUL ANALYSIS 🕉
The White Album is 4 separate artist contributing to a double album. This is not a “Beatles” song but a George Harrison composition on a Beatles album. Thank-you George.
Oh yeah, it’s not “qwerrymen” but Quarry Men, like a place where stone is quarried.
Thank you for this. I to am in Nashville and am from Detroit and lived the 60’s and 70’s there, which I now realize was a special time. You do a great job here. Tks for that. 😉
❤Great backstory. Mahalo nui loa for this. My other favorite is "Isn't it a Pity". Very melancholi wistful.
"Isn't it a Pity" is an alternate version of "Hey Jude".
As a teen in the 60's I experienced Beatlemania first hand. But this is the first time I have heard this song in such a deep light. I am going to play your podcast to my granddaughters who are Beatles fans. Thank you!
I heard George's mother listened to Indian music while she was pregnant with George because she thought it was calming.
This is a beautifull insight in the song and background. I have always loved the song, now I know why. Very touching and moving. Thank you
Clapton's lead guitar on the song makes you feel it in your soul.
It DOES
Thank you for the backstory, I was 21 when that song came out, you have given me a much better perspective of that song!!!
You've awoken a spiritual understanding and acknowledgement in me - very many thanks
I really liked this. Very informative and ENLIGHTENING.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thank you Roots for a beautiful and well-researched video of the Gorge Harrison’s “Best Rock & Roll Song.” Please keep performing your in-depth analysis and commentary.
Fabulous presentation! I was a Roots virgin until today. Your knowledge and related research taught me much more than expected. Great Work, Thanks ❤
Great job on this 🎥🎬 Love Your attention to detail 🎼❤️ Thank You for sharing with us. 🙏🕉️
Superb job providing so many nuggets of info about George's many sources of inspiration. I believe John in one of his songs John states "doesn't believe in I Ching'... Around '69 I also was found by an I Ching book while in college, same period George heard his guitar gently weep,
We don't require belief to experience 'influence'...circa 1700s I Ching found Leibnitz the famous mathematitician while developing a binary algebra; Without this algebra machine languages (ones and zeroes) would never have evolved into LLMs (large language models) and xGPTs would never have become able to create verse (lyrics) or musical scores. Yet no machine is capable of the obvious affinity (love) evident in the first podcast I've seen created by you...
Thank you so much for investing so much of your spirit into that wonderful gift to us all- allan collins
In Beatle's Anthology, Paul tells a different rendition of how George auditioned; on the top of a double decker bus; George played the lead from "Raunchy" and George was IN.
I'd have to believe Paul knew how it went down.
thats exactly how I heard it
Hello, young lady. This is my first visit to your channel. I am impressed and pleased with the way you interpret George's beautiful, soulful song. I have loved this song since it's release in 1968, when I was just eight years of age. All my life, I'd hoped to meet a woman who loved music and the pursuit of spiritual enlightenment, as I did. Alas, I'm an old man now, nearer the end than the beginning. Perhaps, if I've lived rightly in this life, I will be rewarded with such a partner in the next. But I have not always stayed on the path. Ah, but I digress. This beautiful song is, to me, more like a prayer. I am so glad you have found it. Namaste.
Hi Steppenwolf, 666, first time here as well, also same age, born 6-6-60, so you see have spiritual convictions to be positive about, lol. Because I am just now meeting the first lady of my life that makes me feel like no other...so young and youthful. I would like to say don't look to the next life when you may still have plenty of life left, and by the straying from the path is all in perfect sequence to "Being" in harmony with truth and love for it.
@@abelmcguire1951 Thanks for the encouragement, much appreciated!
Thankyou ..This is brilliant
An incredible explanation of this particular song.
Thanks!
Beautiful observations of a infinitely beautiful song ❤
Obla-di obla-dah!? Sounded so funny when you said it :) So nice what and how you enrich us! 👍👍👍
Further to my previous comment, I think you have understood the essence of this beautiful song. I bought All Things Must Pass when I was young, all the songs were deeply influenced by Harrison's spirituality. It is one of my treasured albums. Thanks for your work.
I enjoyed this. You provided a good history of George and his music. Very well done. One thing ... the original band was the QUARRYMEN not the QUERYMEN as you pronounced it.
Good job! I love the same things and you get it done brilliantly. Can't wait for the Tom Petty episode. Looking forward to delving in to your "back issues." I am a relatively new viewer/listener. Love it. Keep up the great work, friend in music, Jeffrey...
don't know who you are darling, i am 78yrs old and love what you do, the beatlles were everything once upon a time and your ananalysis of george was spot on. while my guitar is quite possibly the greatest song in living memory,,, bless you both
Extraordinary your explanation PC the song! Thank you so much!
This song sings to humanity, calling softly to awaken to our true purpose.
Thank you for this thoughtful presentation on this wonderful song and the soulful artist who brought it out into the world.
Great video. Thank You.
Thank you, really liked this one and looking forward to your Petty episode. I hope one day you will do an Albert King one.
normally - when a songwriter writes a song - they are writing about something they have observed or experienced -
or sometime just something they made up - but - they also write about their feelings and their inner struggles.
As you stated, George was a couple of years into a journey of self-discovery and introspection.
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps" - strikes me more as a song that is introspective as if George is having a conversation with himself - about himself
Thank you for your sharing of this insight. I always wondered about it. I played in bands during my jr and sr years in HS and my first 3 years of college. We mainly played Beatles music. George is my favorite Beatle. I still have my White Album with all the inserts and poster. I graduated from high school in 1968.
Thank you that was some Awesome information about George Harrison.
Great talk on George ,spiritual culture and awareness .
Thanks for your analysis, it was very informative.
Good video. I appreciate the background on Indian music especially. One correction, according to George, Paul and John were not interested in recording While My Guitar, which is why he brought Clapton in to get them to change their mind. Clapton's clout won the day, thank God. I agree with another commenter that the song was likely written to humanity.
Really good, thank you!
nicely thorough. even as i'm already a fan of the band and the song, you showed me more. it is my theory that patty boyd has more songs written about her than any other woman in history after mary, mother of jesus.
Gracias Roots por contarnos historias maravillosas, y a usted señorita por tan fina información.
Thank you. Great story
I appreciate how you established the literary, cultural, religious, and musical influences that led to the Harrison transformation. The song itself is made self referential by the heavy use of Clapton's slide vibrato and Harrison's moaning vocals, but it works. The bass parts are particularly well arranged imo and are either mic'ed close, direct into the board, or possibly doubled on guitar. (Somebody might be able to comment on that). It seems to me that Harrison grew as a person at a rate appropriate for the extraordinary conditions he found himself in and perhaps the other members did not. I always felt like his material from that era was a bit preachy but we could certainly use more of that message in the mainstream today. I also appreciated your heartfelt response and interpretation of the lyrics.
I don't know howww-nobody told you, the bridge ain't the chorus, wood isn't porous... haha. Thank you for your videos and musical presentations. You are awesome. So you know!
I’ve been looking forward to an upload all week! ROOOTS! 🫚🤘
More to come!!! 😀😀
@@ROOTSMUSICHISTORY I mean it!! Yes!!!!
I hate pointing this out to our dear hostess and narrator who is very kind and gracious but it's pronounced "QUARRY men". As in a you're having Quarrel with your parents or you have a Quarter in your pocket to spend. It's so named after a Rock Quarry. The Quarrymen". But really great in depth look at the song! Thank you so much.
Your enthusiasm is awesome and the video very interesting. Perhaps some of those original videos you had access to would show how Quarrymen is pronounced by the Beatles themselves. A quarry is an open cut mine where stone is extracted.
“I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping” is not just a poetic rhyme. May I submit that the floor is a metaphors for ones path in life, and in this case the person whom can't share this love has cluttered their path with things that get in the way of sharing love, maybe material stuff or resentment or unable to let go of the past, holding on to some sort of anger or pain. Sweep that anger and pain off your floor.
Excellent analysis. You are showing me how much I missed because of only focusing on the music composition and production, not at all on lyrics. Except Beach Boys songs, they were all about fun.
This led to him discovering Paramahansa Yogananda the author of " Autobiography of a Yogi " . He moved to the US in 1920 and introduced the Us to the practice of meditation, which, spiritually influenced both him and Steve Jobs. Yogananda started the spiritual group, Self Realization Fellowship which is still active today.
I wish they had left the last stanza on the original demo, on the final. Most people don't even know it existed. Both beautiful, sadness, and perhaps tragic.
"I stand in the wings, see the play you are staging, While my guitar gently weeps..... I sit here alone, doing nothing but aging, While my guitar gently weeps......'"
My first time on your channel. I've actually never looked at the lyrics of this song anything like as closely as you have. I think I have always looked on the lyrics mostly as wordplay, just as George's dear friend, Bob Dylan, sometimes likes to do. Now you've got me thinking!
When I first started listening to this song, I soon began to feel that it was The Complete Rock Song - it had everything, both musically and lyrically. As you have it that this is the greatest R & R song ever written, do I take it that 'Here Comes the Sun' and 'Something' do not fall into the category of R & R? Certainly, the latter is a much-loved ballad.
May I point out two things in your account? 1. George's father, Harry, was actually a bus driver and not a conductor. 2. Before the group became The Beatles (with an A), they called themselves The Silver Beetles (with an E).
Thanks very much for all your work in preparing and presenting this video.
I always thought of the lyrics and the song where he just keeps talking about different things going on in the world and keeps repeating while his Guitar Gently Weeps as sort of meaning he has all these things going on inside of him whilst all the external things in the world continuing and he has to deal with that and just sort of summarizes this human struggle..... that seems rather simplistic but there's Beauty in that and sometimes it's the obvious things we overlook and it's basically just an extraspective perspective conveyed in a beautiful song. It's really just an extraordinary piece of music that will stand the test of time.
Music is just an expression of what's going on inside of us, and very few people can bring all of those things together and convey them in such a profound and beautiful way. George Harrison was one of those unique musicians who could do that in an epic way. What a blessing George Harrison was to all of us! RIP
Good….BUT…..George is not singing/writing to “a person.” He’s singing to / addressing all of current humanity.
You are beautiful and talented 💕
Thanks, this video was a nice piece of work.
The line "I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping" makes me think of the saying:
Before enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
After enlightenment, chop wood, carry water.
To me it is the very ordinariness of the image, in your ordinary life enlightenment dwells. Be aware, live with clarity, in the moment, even amongst ordinary things.
Agreed! this is his best song
Your comments are so profound, going into every detail of the soul's nooks and crannies. This is certainly a masterpiece of literary criticism.
Comments like this make my day thank you!
George was a phenomenal musician and songwriter. Although he wrote some of The Beatle's most famous songs, ironically, he wasn't encouraged more by those around him. John, Paul, and George Martin all admitted Something and Here Comes The Sun were standout pieces on Abbey Road.
I think one or two of your early date lines are a little askew. I attended the institute and lived very close to Paul in Speke, where George also lived . I remember George coming at the end of term to practice with Paul thanks to our benevolent history teacher mr Edge. This was in 1956. It would have been nice if you had included the song in question in the video. However I enjoyed your story, well done.
Amazing analysis, wow!
The fab's had many great songs, however this is truly the most epic ✌🏻
Thanks for your excellent review. Listening to your explanation and registering, I think he is talking about the sleeping masses that have been enslaved and controlled. Thanks for opening it up for me. Love and Peace, Mike
Excellent story about George Harrison Miss Roots
Thank you
I thought something . Was one
Of his best work. And a lot of
Singers loved singing it. Like
Frank Sinatra. Beautiful song
Frank said cheers
You put so much work into this. How long did it take you to make this, from the very beginning to the final video ?
Great song. But greatest rock song? You really got me.
very well done
Some day i hope you get to present the changes in 1966-67 in Paul's physical appearance, like how he got taller relative to bandmates and his girlfriend Jane Asher, his changed mouth and nose shape, and the way he held a guitar. Was it a rebirth or reinvention thing?
Ahhh now I wish I had talked about that too!! Thank you for adding that!
Are you really bringing up that tired old nonsense about Paul being dead? He was just barely into his 20s at that time. LOTS of people are still growing at that age. It's not the norm, and the rate of growth is pretty low, but it IS a fact.
And people never grow such that every feature remains strictly identically proportional. They change. Not so radically as to be unrecognizable. But they continue to change, slowly and subtly, throughout the course of their lives. At that age many are still undergoing changes which are more pronounced than they will be for most of the rest of their lives.
Great work.
Thank you! Cheers!
I've always taken the lyrics to pertain to society, not an 'individual' person. Looked at that way, it becomes much more deep & meaningful.
And every bit of it that he speaks is just an honest truth about all of us. Our unenlightened parts.
A lot of things happen that didn't mix wel plagued the greatest band ever devolving dissipating. I love this stuff that they did till the end. They were Woodstock generation never expecting to fail.
Not to nit-pick... but because I am sure you appreciate accuracy - there were actually 3 verses originally... the last one being.. "I look from the wings, of the play you are staging...WMGGW.. while I'm sitting here, doing nothing but aging... WMGGW.." This might be my favorite song - not just Beatles song.. It is a work of art that will survive for centuries. Thank you for calling attention to Clapton's lead guitar - which is truly sublime. I also encourage everyone to look up Jake Shimabakuro's live version on ukulele that he recorded in Central Park.. it is sublime.
Thank you.. loved the video.. It is so cute you didnt know how to pronounce Ravi Shankar's name.. He was once (almost) a house-hold name. How times change.
Well said! Thx!
This was a great analysis giving it the depth it deserved.
I always felt George was the one who made the Beatles into something special, taking them
to a higher level of meaning. I, like him have studied various faiths in the world searching not
for what is different in cultures and faith but in what is universally common and connecting.
When they got into psychedelic drugs they began experimenting with different themes. With
each new album my college friends couldn't wait for what new road they would lead us down.
Carlos Santana does an interesting cover of the song and with it's video it tells a tale
of a prostitute trapped in a brothel who always had dreams of being a musician. A group
of boys in a band shows up and invites her to join them, giving the story a happy ending.
I can recall the title of the album but Santana does a tribute to the songs he enjoys playing.
Nice job on this one
Great job. George auditioned on an empty public bus riding home with Paul & John. The name Beatles was actually
Stu Sutcliffe's idea.
Stu wasn't even mentioned here, why?
John loved Stu.
He got Eric Clapton to play guitar on the track, that's what really made it great! They then performed the song live at a Prince's trust concert in around 1988, it's on the Prince's Trust channel. It's a fantastic performance. Musicians that participated included Eric Clapton, Elton John, Phil Collins, Ringo Starr, etc. Look it up.
❤❤❤❤...thank You
Here comes the sun is the most played Beatles song!
i’ve sung and played this song for fifty years and did not truly appreciate the poetry and insight in this song. doh! thank you
The way you explain it sounds like it could about John and or Paul and his preciveevd place in the band...
You spoke one of the greatest on religion.
WMGGW is my favorite Beatkes song!
My favourite Beatle song.
Your discussion of Hinduism and Indian music is much more relevant to his greatest composition "Within You, Without You" on Sargent Pepper.
How do you remember a song George says ‘ write the words down and remember the melody in your head
Great job, but you mentioned Phil Spector which is incorrect . The only Beatles album he produced was Let it be, and even then it was very controversial and not highly regarded. In fact George Martin was the genius behind the Beatles production,, the fifth Beatle, responsible for most of their early vocal arrangements and of course all the unbelievable strings, he had perfect pitch, & was the one who signed the Beatles, at that time, because they were charming and funny, not because they had good songs - which they didn't in 1962. He challenged them to write better songs. George Martin's classical music background transformed the Beatles sound, Phil spector's best days were long past by the time in produced Let it Be.
Meh!
Lennon recorded an album with Spector of old Rock and roll classics. But Soector would never give Lennon the tapes. Idt he ever did.
It’s an interesting theory that the song is about a man who never learned how to love, and was bitter and twisted in his outlook on others, because the one person he knew to whom this could be applied, was none other than John Lennon.
Due in part to his history, Father left him as a child, being raised by a caring, but also stern Aunt, and his Mother dying as a result of being hit by a car, driven by an off-duty policeman under the influence of alcohol, shortly after John had reconnected with her, all contributed to his outlook on the world and people in general.
John was abusive, both physically and mentally towards women; occasionally physically abusive towards men, but only if he thought he could win. He married Cynthia Powell, not out of his love for her, but because she was pregnant with their first child, Julian, and “Marriage was seen as the right thing to do” in that era. He had affairs and was a wife-beater, was a nasty tempered drunk, and sued for divorce, claiming Cynthia was unfaithful to him, despite her discovering John with Yoko Ono, a talentless heroin addict, in the kitchen of their home wearing bathrobes. The other three Beatles loved Cynthia; especially Paul and George, who coming from loving families, and growing up with siblings, could relate to Julian, and play games with him. Lennon was not the first target for Ono; apparently it was Paul. So that would fit in with your idea. But, I tend to believe the song refers to George’s growing dissatisfaction with being treated like he was unimportant compared to Lennon and McCartney, and only being allowed one or two of his compositions on every album, and the state of the world in general.
The original lyrics suggest this to be the case:
I look at you all, and the play you are staging
While my guitar gently weeps
And I’m sitting here doing nothing but aging
While my guitar gently weeps
❤Je t'aime ♥️