The Top 20 Beatles Songs, #7: “Here Comes The Sun”

“Here Comes the Sun”

Album: Abbey Road (1969)

Composer: George Harrison

George’s capoed acoustic imparts the tune’s easy, peaceful mood, while his then-innovative Moog synthesizer lends it a degree of progressiveness (often mistaken as overproduction) that is typical of the Abbey Road LP. Down to three with the temporary absence of John, who was recovering from a car accident, the band sounds no worse for the wear. The polarity audible in the track was similar to a lack of cohesion playing out within the band at the time. While this song marks George Harrison’s debut as a writer on our countdown, “Here Comes the Sun” was one of George’s last great contributions to the crumbling band.

While he saw the group politics “getting like school, where we had to go and be businessmen,” George’s personal struggles and sense of suppressed creativity put a damper on the experience of being a Beatle. “Here Comes The Sun” is the product of a day when George decided “to sag off Apple [Records]” and enjoy some stress-free collaboration with Eric Clapton. “The relief of not having to go and see all those dopey accountants was wonderful, and I walked around the garden with one of Eric’s acoustic guitars and wrote “Here Comes The Sun.” A recent run-in with the law, a growing distance from his band mates, and perhaps a clearer conscience prompted George to create this beauty amid such unpleasantries.