Something

We wonder if It ever existed
If It lays nested among other thoughts
So we try to find if It does
In our each and own way

Some use science
Some use mathematics
They think It's logic
But really, It's what ever we think It is

And so It finds Its way out
Far from what we thought
And each time we think
It moves five paces back

And when we come back to Earth
From outer space, It comes back
But no one pays attention
So It cries and flies back
Into the sea

And each time It weeps
The volcanoes erupt with anger
But no one cares
So It turns up the volume
To cover Its tears

We try to call It back
And all It seems to do is come forward
But we don't care about It
All we care about is hanging up the phone
The next time someone calls

And when It calls you hang up immediately
Because that's all you care about
So It picks up a tooth brush
To clean the grit between Its teeth
But there's no teeth to clean
So It waxes the floor

It sleeps now
Tired from Its rested day
And dreams of tommorow

And you go to bed eating a fortune cookie
And you think about what the fortune cookie said;
You never thought of It before
But now you come to wonder
If that something is really nothing.

-- Shayne Kasai, 1997

As far as The Beatles song goes, Something is quite interesting.

It marks the first time that any Beatles song written by George was included as the a-side of a single. It didn't sell particularly well, but it did still make it to number one (as did almost all of The Beatles' singles). It is also one of the most covered songs in history. It is the second most covered song that The Beatles recorded (Yesterday is first), and Frank Sinatra, who didn't particularly like most of The Beatles' work, still called it "The greatest love song ever written," and he did his own cover of it.

Although in its final form the song is only about three minutes long, it was at one time as long as eight minutes because it had a long fade out, much like Hey Jude. This was eventually edited out (obviously). The guitar that George plays on this song is the same guitar that Eric Clapton used on While My Guitar Gently Weeps, Clapton had given it to George after While My Guitar Gently Weeps was recorded.

George contributed the lead vocal, lead guitar, and handclaps. John played guitar, Paul played bass, as well as contributing backing vocals and handclaps, and Ringo played the drums and contributed handclaps. In addition, Billy Preston played organ on the track. The orchestral instruments are uncredited, but are as follows: 12 violins, 4 violas, 4 cellos, and 1 double-bass

---

Sources:

• Revolution in the Head, by Ian MacDonald.
• The Beatle Brunch radio show.

The Beatles, Abbey Road (1969) back | forward

Perhaps the best known song by George Harrison and one of the most popular tunes from The Beatles. It has been covered hundreds of times, by the likes of Shirley Bassey, Ray Charles, James Brown, Smokey Robinson, and even Frank Sinatra. Sinatra called it "the greatest love song of the last fifty years". Unfortunately, in a famous illustration of how Harrison was in the shadow of his fellow bandmates, Sinatra also called it his favorite song written by Paul McCartney and John Lennon.

Harrison wrote this song during the sessions for The White Album, though by the time it was composed, it was too late to include on that record. "When I wrote it, I had Ray Charles in mind," he said. He initially offered it to Joe Cocker (who recorded it on 1969’s Joe Cocker! along with another Abbey Road tune, "She Came in Through the Bathroom Window") and Jackie Lomax, and then decided to record it himself for Abbey Road. Recorded on April 16, 1969, Allen Klein insisted it be released as the first single from that album, and it became Harrison’s first A-side, with "Come Together" as the B-side.

Harrison had an unfortunate tendency to be influenced by other songs, a tendency which would later get him sued. This time it was "Something In the Way She Moves", a song from the full length album debut of singer-songwriter James Taylor. Back in 1968, Taylor was the first artist signed to the Beatles’ label Apple Records. He was recording his album at the same time as The Beatles were recording The White Album, so it seems nearly impossible that Harrison didn’t hear Taylor’s song. It opens:

There's something in the way she moves,
Or looks my way, or calls my name,
That seems to leave this troubled world behind.

Ironically, Taylor originally wanted to call this song "I Feel Fine", but refrained because that was the title of an existing Beatles song, from the album Beatles For Sale.

It’s often thought that Harrison wrote this song for his first wife, Pattie. Harrison and Pattie Boyd married in 1966, though all wasn’t wine and roses, as she was unhappy, cheated on him, and used other men to make him jealous. One of them was Harrison’s close friend Eric Clapton, who fell in love with her. The album Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs was written about her, making her probably the most written about woman in the history of rock and roll. She ran off with Clapton and they were married in 1979, though they split in 1986. To Harrison’s credit, he said "I’d rather she was with him than some dope."

Something 3:03
(George Harrison)

Something in the way she moves
Attracts me like no other lover,
Something in the way she woos me.
I don't want to leave her now,
You know I believe and how.

Somewhere in her smile she knows
That I don't need no other lover,
Something in her style that shows me.
I don't want to leave her now,
You know I believe and how.

You're asking me will my love grow
I don't know, I don't know
You stick me around now, it may show,
I don't know, I don't know

Something in the way she knows
And all I have to do is think of her,
Something in the things she shows me.
I don't want to leave her now,
You know I believe and how.

John Lennon - electric guitar
Paul McCartney - bass guitar, harmony vocal
George Harrison - double-tracked lead vocal, lead guitar, organ
Ringo Starr - drums
Billy Preston - keyboards

Sources:
Bill Harry, The Ultimate Beatles Encyclopedia
Steve Turner, A Hard Day's Write

Some"thing (?), n.

1.

Anything unknown, undetermined, or not specifically designated; a certain indefinite thing; an indeterminate or unknown event; an unspecified task, work, or thing.

There is something in the wind. Shak.

The whole world has something to do, something to talk of, something to wish for, and something to be employed about. Pope.

Something attemped, something done, Has earned a night's repose. Longfellow.

2.

A part; a portion, more or less; an indefinite quantity or degree; a little.

Something yet of doubt remains. Milton.

Something of it arises from our infant state. I. Watts.

3.

A person or thing importance.

If a man thinketh himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceiveth himself. Gal. vi. 3.

 

© Webster 1913.

---

Some"thing

, adv. In some degree; somewhat; to some exrent; at some distance.

Shak.

I something fear my father's wrath. Shak.

We have something fairer play than a reasoner could have expected formerly. Burke.

My sense of touch is something coarse. Tennyson.

It must be done to-night, And something from the palace. Shak.

 

© Webster 1913.