"While My Guitar Gently Weeps by George Harrison
IMHO, the most talented, grace filled and compassionate of all the Beatles, the Beatles'
phenomenon and their entourage. (Keep in mind I have reached the age where I no longer have any fear whatsoever of being wrong, and I gladly accept alternate opinions.)
Wikipedia, AKA, my brain, provides what I find an extremely interesting analysis of how the song came to be and is borrowed from the following site.
Inspiration for the song came to Harrison when reading the I Ching, which, as Harrison put
it, "seemed to me to be based on the Eastern concept that everything is relative to
everything else... opposed to the Western view that things are merely coincidental."
Taking this idea of relativism to his parents’ home in northern England, Harrison committed to write a song based on the first words he saw upon opening a random book.
Those words were “gently weeps”, and he immediately began the song. As he said:
"I wrote "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" at my mother's house in Warrington. I was thinking about the Chinese I Ching, the Book of Changes... The Eastern concept is that whatever happens is all meant to be, and that there's no such thing as coincidence - every little item that's going down has a purpose. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps" was a simple study based on that theory. I decided to write a song based on the first thing I saw upon opening any book - as it would be relative to that moment, at that time. I picked up a book at random, opened it, saw 'gently weeps', then laid the book down again and started the song."
The initial incarnation was not final, as Harrison said: "Some of the words to the song were
changed before I finally recorded it.” A demo recorded at George's home in Esher includes
an unused verse:
I look at the trouble and see that it's raging,
While my guitar gently weeps.
As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but ageing,
Still, my guitar gently weeps.
As well as an unused line in the very beginning:
The problems you sow, are the troubles you're reaping,
Still, my guitar gently weeps.
This line was eventually omitted in favour of the one appearing on The Beatles.
An early acoustic guitar and organ demo of the song featured a slightly different third
verse:
I look from the wings at the play you are staging,
While my guitar gently weeps.
As I'm sitting here, doing nothing but ageing,
Still, my guitar gently weeps.
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