Log In
Register
Home
Topic RSS
1.04am
20 January 2012
Offline
I searched through the forum and couldn't find a topic on this song so here it is!
My favorite 'Beatles' song hands down. Not sure why really. I love the vibe, I love the solo (thanks Clapton), and I love that the lyrics make you think because honestly, what is George talking about….if he's talking about anything at all!
I love how simple, yet complicated it is. Everytime it comes on it just takes me to a relaxing place and boy what a title! I was intrigue by the song before I even heard it (although I thought it was Paul for some time when I first listened. I was still a noob then…). The version on Anthology 3 is beautiful and it shows that even without the whole band and Clapton it is still a wonderful song underneath it all and I loved how softly the guitar wept in that version
So my question is what do you folks think the song is about exactly? Are there any meaning behind the words or just words strung together that end with…'while my guitar gently weeps'? Where does it place in your favorite songs by George and if there was anything you could change about it what would it be?
For me the song is just saying how sad it is that we all, in essence, won't just love each other. How sad it is that the answer lies within all of us and yet many of us just don't (or choose not to) see it. Sometimes the answer is presented to us and we still choose to ignore growth. So many of us are traveling the wrong path and it's a sad thing that life just isn't perfect. Even though we sometimes learn from our mistakes it's still a sad fact that life is hard and the world just keeps on turning.'
So yeah that's a summary of what I got from it! Maybe I am looking to deep into things but the thing that I love about this song and many Beatles songs is that they're open to interpretation. It's a sad, thought provoking song, and one of my all time favorites! Let me see what you guys think!
3.10am
1 May 2011
Offline
There are a lot of things i love about, it is a sublime piece of work be it the acoustic or electric version,; the intro is fab as is when Ringo's drums kick in, eric's guitar work, and the stereo ending with Georges groans (i miss that a lot in the mono). However what blows me away every time i hear it is Paul and George s vocals together. Of all the songs that the beatles never sang live WMGGW would be very high up my list so i could see George and Paul sing it around the same mic. I can picture it in my mind but to see it for real!!
Where the heck were Yoko and John and their damn film crew when The Beatles were together in the studio?
3.10am
23 November 2011
Offline
From what I've read, no Beatle fit music to lyrics. George found a pleasing and heavy riff and later invented some lyrics to go with it. It's not exactly contrived, but the message is in the music, not the lyrics. And that's usually the case.
The lyrics are sparse. I looked here, I looked there. I was disappointed, I saw a floor that needed sweeping, I think we should all think about stuff. These are not stellar insights. It's not developed into a theme -- it's not describing what it's probably trying to describe, which is some Zen awareness that the floor is more "real" than the "love" he's looking for.
It's not one of my favorites. I find it boring. The riff is boring and found in other songs of the era (Chicago's "29 or 6 to 4"), and the lyrics hint at cosmic things but not, really.
7.16pm
31 March 2008
Offline
It's straying off topic a little, but the lyrics to All My Loving were written before the music. That was the first time Paul had done it, possibly the last. Lennon did it quite frequently though – listen to songs like Good Morning Good Morning and it's obvious he was fitting the meter of the song around words he'd previously written.
7.34pm
14 April 2010
Offline
BornInThe80s said:
So my question is what do you folks think the song is about exactly? Are there any meaning behind the words or just words strung together that end with…'while my guitar gently weeps'? Where does it place in your favorite songs by George and if there was anything you could change about it what would it be?
There is a very good article about the song in the "Songs" section of this site. /songs/while-my-guitar-gently-weeps/
This used to be my favorite Beatles song and remains in my top 5.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, Let it roll for all its worth.
9.56pm
1 December 2009
Offline
Great song indeed, but I've always felt the performance was lacking due to the leaden rhythm section. I've never liked what Paul & Ringo were doing, that lurching one-beat-at-a-time rhythm. (Is there another Beatles track in which I find both Paul & Ringo delivering a less-than-satisfactory performance? I highly doubt it!) Maybe George wanted to make the tune more dirgeful, in which case I can't really complain, but I'd still prefer something with a strumming flow like "My Sweet Lord" ended up with. (Also, the organ sounds weird and vaguely out-of-tune, but that doesn't bother me much.)
Is the "Anthology" version different? I haven't played it enough to remember.
1.59am
10 August 2011
Offline
The song is a reflection of Beatle genius.
Consider the Anthology version – the song in its plain, original form. Not bad, but somewhat stark and a bit of a downer without any special message.
Ask yourself: "If I were a producer, what could I do with this song?"
Would you ever come up with that devastatingly simple but effective opening?
Then of course, there's the invitation to Eric Clapton to furnish a solo. As Clapton says in his autobiography, this was a BIG moment in his life, and he gave it his all – and what a success!
Finally, as noted by meanmistermustard, the harmonies take the song to another level and IMHO (here I disagree with vonbontee) it's those vocals that keep the song from being dirge-like.
As with many Beatle songs, it's a good example of the total being greater than the sum of the parts.
[In fact, I think that THIS is what McCartney missed the most when the Beatles broke up: the opportunity to sink his teeth into songs he would/could never write himself but that he could produce up to a higher level]
8.38pm
4 December 2010
Offline
vonbontee said:
Is the "Anthology" version different? I haven't played it enough to remember.
Yes, totally. It is George and his acoustic guitar alone, with an extra verse ("I look from the wings at the play you are staging, as I'm sitting here doing nothing but ageing").
This is my most played Beatles song lately. Brilliant guitar, bass and piano, like Hey Bulldog. Just a real sense that all musicians involved (except maybe Ringo, he didn't perform to his best on either track) are playing at their absolute peak.
9.06pm
14 April 2010
Offline
vonbontee said:
…I've always felt the performance was lacking due to the leaden rhythm section. I've never liked what Paul & Ringo were doing, that lurching one-beat-at-a-time rhythm.
This is one of the aspects of the song that I really like – makes it stand out. Since it is such a different sound than most other songs they do, I have to believe George (Harrison and/or Martin) wanted it that way on purpose. I'm not saying that particular rhythm makes the song any better or worse than anything else they do, it's just my opinion.
As for the acoustic version on Anthology, I love that too. The extra verse The Walrus mentioned adds to that "haunting" feeling of the song.
To the fountain of perpetual mirth, Let it roll for all its worth.
2.31pm
18 January 2011
Offline
While My Guitar Gently Weeps is a good song, though far from being one of my favorites. I really think the final studio recording is too overloaded and that a more delicate arrangement would have suited the song much better. And, somehow, I don't like George's vocals on the track.
As for the song's meaning, my impression is that for George it was more important to put some meaning into his lyrics than for Lennon and McCartney. And I couldn't have explained better than BornInThe80s what I think the lyrics are about:
BornInThe80s said:
For me the song is just saying how sad it is that we all, in essence, won't just love each other. How sad it is that the answer lies within all of us and yet many of us just don't (or choose not to) see it. Sometimes the answer is presented to us and we still choose to ignore growth. So many of us are traveling the wrong path and it's a sad thing that life just isn't perfect. Even though we sometimes learn from our mistakes it's still a sad fact that life is hard and the world just keeps on turning.'
Most Users Ever Online: 597
Currently Online: mja6758, HeyTrud
36 Guest(s)
Currently Browsing this Page:
1 Guest(s)
Top Posters:
mr. Sun king coming together: 6972
meanmistermustard: 3545
MeanMrsMustard: 2794
Egroeg Evoli: 1630
vonbontee: 1427
Von Bontee: 1398
Member Stats:
Guest Posters: 87
Members: 1729
Moderators: 5
Admins: 1
Forum Stats:
Groups: 3
Forums: 33
Topics: 2434
Posts: 74765
Newest Members: jonnblaze, ZadeImHi, HiImZade, ThomRoxeb1, Mary Gaspard Mcmillan
Moderators: Joe (2707), skye (2295), Ellie (1), Zig (2769), mithveaen (4675)
Administrators: Joe (2707)
