1 Overlooked Gem Song From Every Beatles Album
4. Long, Long, Long - The White Album
The epic rock of While My Guitar Gently Weeps is often pointed to as one of Harrison’s finest contributions to The Beatles’ catalogue, but this achingly gentle ballad from the same album might be even better.
Long, Long, Long immediately follows the raucous proto-metal of Helter Skelter and is so quiet by contrast as to feel barely there. It’s a spectral, wisp of a song that forced the listener to lean in and really focus on its aching beauty. It ends on the ghostly sound of a wine bottle vibrating against a studio speaker.
Long, Long, Long set a template for much of Harrison’s music going forward both lyrically and musically. It’s his first song that explores a lyrical ambiguity between romantic and spiritual love, a theme he would return to time and again.
George Harrison’s solo career kicked off with the over the top bombast of a Phil Spector-produced triple album, and his '80s comeback record featured the distinctive production touches of ELO’s Jeff Lynne. In between, his self produced music often returned to the gentle, quiet, subtle approach of Long, Long, Long, particularly his second album Living In The Material World.