The Beatles’ legacy is rich with timeless masterpieces, and among them is “Here Comes the Sun,” a song cherished by fans worldwide. However, even the most iconic tracks can have hidden secrets and subtle mistakes. In the case of “Here Comes the Sun,” George Harrison’s exceptional composition, a small but intriguing error went unnoticed by many.
George Harrison’s Serendipitous Garden Melody
As the Beatles were nearing their end, tensions within the group reached their peak. George Harrison, feeling undervalued as a songwriter, eventually decided to depart briefly, seeking solace and creative freedom. One fateful day, he skipped a tiresome business meeting and found himself in the company of Eric Clapton, sitting in his garden. It was in this serene setting that Harrison strummed his guitar, crafting the exquisite beginning of “Here Comes the Sun.”
According to Harrison’s recollection:
“After attending one monotonous business meeting after another, Harrison decided to skip one of his meetings to hang out with Eric Clapton, basking in his garden while the rest of the band were in town.” [Source: The Beatles Anthology]
Complex Melodic Weaving
Although the final version of the song sounds deceptively simple, Harrison’s musical craftsmanship is anything but. Having been influenced by Indian music during his time with Ravi Shankar, he skillfully incorporated various odd time signatures into the composition. This complexity initially puzzled Ringo Starr when trying to learn the song.
As Harrison himself remarked:
“The song also features the welcome addition of the Moog synthesizer. With Harrison testing out the parameters of what the software could do on his experimental album, Electronic Sound, the gentle strains of the synthesizer provided a nice retort to the restrained acoustic guitar playing. In The Beatles Anthology, Harrison remarked about how rudimentary the synthesizer was, saying, ‘When you listen to the sounds on ‘Here Comes the Sun’, it does some good things, but they’re all very kind of infant sounds’.” [Source: The Beatles Anthology]
Harrison’s Vocal Slip-Up
Within the lyrical simplicity of “Here Comes the Sun,” an intriguing vocal slip-up lies concealed. In the final verse, Harrison couldn’t decide between two lines, “it seems like years” and “It feels like years.” Rather than choosing one, he inadvertently sang a combination of both, resulting in “It seels like years.” Although this minor error went unnoticed during mixing, it adds a touch of human imperfection to an otherwise flawless track.
The Beatles and Their Unintentional Blunders
Interestingly, this was not the first time the Beatles experienced word mix-ups in their songs. In the early days, during the recording of “Please Please Me,” both John Lennon and Paul McCartney sang different lines for the final verse before spontaneously correcting each other. Even on more refined albums like Rubber Soul, a subtle error can be heard in “Drive My Car,” where Lennon and McCartney simultaneously sing “that” and “the.”
Listen to the song below: