LONG, LONG, LONG
“Long, Long, Long” is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1968 album The Beatles (also known as “the White Album”). It was written by George Harrison following the group’s attendance at Maharishi Mahesh Yogi’s Transcendental Meditation course in India in early 1968. Although Harrison later stated that he was addressing God in the lyrics, it is the first of his compositions that invites interpretation as both a standard love song and a paean to his deity. His musical inspiration for the song was “Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands” by Bob Dylan, while the understated arrangement reflects the influence of the Band’s 1968 album Music from Big Pink. The otherwise gentle and meditative track ends with a partly improvised segment, which was inspired by the eerie sound of a wine bottle vibrating on a speaker in the recording studio. “Long, Long, Long” has received praise from many music critics for its lilting, expressive qualities. Ian MacDonald described it as Harrison’s “touching token of exhausted, relieved reconciliation with God” and considered it to be his “finest moment on The Beatles”. (More from Wikipedia)
The other George Harrison songs on The Beatles are all standout cuts on the album and illustrate the variety that George has brought in his songwriting all along: “Piggies”, “Long, Long, Long”, and “Savoy Truffle”.
Many rock critics have noted that the sheer length of All Things Must Pass – the triple LP (including the bonus disk Apple Jam) that George Harrison released after the Beatles broke up – showed the volume of excellent Harrison compositions that never made it onto any Beatles albums. Eric Clapton was one of the key musicians in those recording sessions; the two also co-wrote one of my favorite songs by Cream, “Badge”.
(June 2015)
