Here Comes the Sun

Song and Lyrics: George Harrison

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The lyrics of the song, Here Comes the Sun are uplifting and give hope for better times. The melody is simple and catchy, but the rhythm is distinct. The verses and chorus are in a 4/4 beat, but in the middle section the rhythm jumps to 2/4, then to 3/8 and 5/8, and back to 4/4. Pretty complicated. The chords are D major chords, but Harrison played them with a clip on the seventh fret. There the song sounds in A major.

Positivity and optimism characterise Harrison's composition, but it is hardly in tune with the state of the band at the time the song was written. After Brian Ebstein's death, they had to do the business side themselves, and that probably wasn't good for them. George was bored with these business meetings. It didn't help the atmosphere that John and Paul were arguing over who to get to sort out business issues. George said that he once missed one of those unpleasant meetings. Instead, he visited his friend, Eric Clapton, who was living in Surrey, England at the time. In his backyard, he wrote the song on one of Clapton's guitars. He said the trigger for the song was a relief to be out there in the sun and not at the meeting. I think it's more likely that the sun was the motivation. We all know how the mood lightens up just by seeing the spring sun break forth after a long, dark winter.

At the height of the Beatle mania between 1961 and 1967, the collaboration between the four men was rumored. One of them came up with an idea for a song and the others refined the idea with their criticisms, comments, and suggestions. After 1967, this began to change. Here Comes the Su,n was recorded for the album Abbey Road at the Abbey Road studios in July and August 1969. John had nothing to do with the recording because he was either recovering from a car accident or just being stubborn because at this time he wasn't willing to play George's songs. Paul and Ringo, along with George, recorded bass, drums, and rhythm guitar on July the seventh, and on the eighth Paul helped with the singing. Then George did the rest.

I learned to play the song Here Comes the Sun years ago and for some reason I never get tired of it. I play the song fingerstyle, but George played it with a pick. In both cases, the melody is played all the time. I never thought about playing the song with a pick. Thought it might be good practice to try to master it also. Below is a recording of me playing Here Comes the Sun. Here I have a capo on the seventh band, but sometimes I just play it in D major.

I see that I credited the song to Lennon and McCartney in the video when it should have been credited to Harrison. Sorry for that.

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