What do you think of this song? I love and prefere it to Lennon/McCartney songs. I'd like to hear your opinions and where it ranks among your favorite songs.

It's alright. Acoustic is better.

in my opinion, one of the most beautiful songs ever written. The acoustic bootleg version and the original alike. George at his very best   I never get bored of hearing it.

It's definately my favourite song from the White Album, above any of the Lennon/McCartney tracks (though not by far- I love stuff like Happiness is a Warm Gun, Julia etc. a LOT) so hmmm because the Beatles songs vary so much, I honestly don't think I can analyse whether I prefer it to all Lennon/McCartney songs over their career. But it's definately up there in the top section of my list

It isn't a secret that I think that the song is ruined on the White Album. Eric's solo kills it, really. But you will find enough fans of the song on this forum.

My favourite on the White Album, it could well be my fav
George song in the Beatles along with Something. I personally thought
he was writing better than Lennon & McCartney by the end (before the break-up).
THe acoustic Anthology 3 version is stunning as well but i hated what
George Martin did to it on the Love soundtrack

I only have the acoustic from the Anthology, and I love it: I listen to it when I'm in a thoughtful mood. Really beautiful. I think this is definitely one of the most brilliant songs George wrote, alongside Within You Without You.

Quoted from Bobber

It isn't a secret that I think that the song is ruined on the White Album. Eric's solo kills it, really. But you will find enough fans of the song on this forum.

oohh really? hang on so you mean it would be better without Eric's solo? Sorry don't quite get you  

Almost everybody can see how great and marvellous this song is ... acoustic, ballad or rock ... in every style, flamenco included! ... and so it's always said to be one of the best of the White Album (if not the best one) The bass and drums are awesome and the harmonies too!!!

I really enjoy listening to the 'Love' version - I just think the score that was wrote by Sir George is fantastic, and the vocals seem alot more heart felt.
Saying that, the White Album version still has a place in my heart - with Mccartney's thundering piano introduction and Clapton's intense solo.
Electric or acoustic - it is a beautiful song.

Quoted from tangerine

oohh really? hang on so you mean it would be better without Eric's solo? Sorry don't quite get you  

The acoustic version is far better.

George has so many beautiful songs, I can't possibly pick a favorite. This one would probably be in the top 20 though!

The acoustic version on Anthology 3 is my definite favorite. George sounds so very vulnerable there, and I think some of his strongest songwriting came out when he exposed his vulnerability to the world.

My next favorite version is the one that Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney did live for the Concert for George. I think it captures the excitement of the electric version while retaining the emotional potency of the solo acoustic performance. That whole concert was awesome.

The live version on 'Live in Japan' is an amazing performance as well,
(& with Eric!)  

i like the version on love his voice just seems so pure and sexy

One of the best Harrison songs in my opinion. I stil want to know who does he refer to when he says "you" in the song. You know "i look at you all..." "Nobody told you" etc.

Quoted from Kaleidoscope_Eyes

One of the best Harrison songs in my opinion. I stil want to know who does he refer to when he says "you" in the song. You know "i look at you all..." "Nobody told you" etc.

Hmm interesting!

I suppose I've always thought of it as 'you' being just people- people in the world in general. Sort of George feeling so small and insigificant and can see and the lack of love in the world, but feels that as he is just a musician, all he can do is play his guitar.

But then perhaps it is also talking indirectly about the other Beatles and the state their relationships were in- and the fact that he felt pushed aside and ignored a bit by John and Paul perhaps. But then that doesn't really explain 'I don't know why nobody told you, they bought and sold you'

well, thats just my thoughts on it- I would love to know what George actually had in mind though!

By the way, I once heard on the radio an excellent version of this song my Todd Rundgren but havent been able to find it since. But it was a great version in my opinion

Quoted from tangerine

I suppose I've always thought of it as 'you' being just people- people in the world in general. Sort of George feeling so small and insigificant and can see and the lack of love in the world, but feels that as he is just a musician, all he can do is play his guitar.

Could be. I actually like the your interpretation.

Quoted from tangerine

But then perhaps it is also talking indirectly about the other Beatles and the state their relationships were in- and the fact that he felt pushed aside and ignored a bit by John and Paul perhaps. But then that doesn't really explain 'I don't know why nobody told you, they bought and sold you'

well, thats just my thoughts on it- I would love to know what George actually had in mind though!

I also though it was about the other 3 (or 2) but like you say some sentences dont really make sense.

To tell the truth I thought it was about prostitutes. I suspect I saw Moulin Rouge at the time... But y'know it made sense.. "you were perverted" "bought and sold"  

Quoted from tangerine

well, thats just my thoughts on it- I would love to know what George actually had in mind though!

In I Me Mine all that George says is that he felt like writing a song and he went to his mom's house and opened  the dictionary at a random place. The first word he saw was "weeping" he went to the piano and from then on the words just flowed on paper (more freely than wine, mind )

Wow, this is a great masterpiece. Surely that John and Paul envied George for having composed this one. I would!

Quoted from tangerine

in my opinion, one of the most beautiful songs ever written. The acoustic bootleg version and the original alike. George at his very best   I never get bored of hearing it.

Precisely how I feel about this song.  Each time I listen to the song, it's like hearing it for the first time.  It's a very moving piece, electric and acoustic.

Quoted from Bobber

It isn't a secret that I think that the song is ruined on the White Album. Eric's solo kills it, really. But you will find enough fans of the song on this forum.

That's because for a long while, the White Album version was all that some of us had.

Quoted from Hello Goodbye

[...]Each time I listen to the song, it's like hearing it for the first time.  It's a very moving piece, electric and acoustic.

"Each time ... it's like ... the first time" is a well form of describing the sensation most of us share   ...

I've always said that this masterpiece is much more than Eric's guitar work (that fits with the rock mood of the released version): amazing piano riff to introduce it all, dRingo's rums are awesome and Paul's bass is so good that sounds modern nowadays ... the harmonies (spicealley in the last minute) are gorgeous and that tambourine break in the middle is sooo powerful ... and there's still much more: lyrics, wonderful sequence of minor chords and more and more ...

Quoted from raxo

... and there's still much more: lyrics, wonderful sequence of minor chords and more and more ...

Yes raxo.  It's interesting to read the various interpretations mentioned here.  While My Guitar Gently Weeps can mean different things to different listeners at different times and at different ages.  It's taken on different meanings for me since I first heard it as a teenager.  That's what I meant when I said that each time I listen to this piece it's like hearing it for the first time.

Quoted from raxo

"Each time ... it's like ... the first time" is a well form of describing the sensation most of us share   ...

i feel exactly the same... i can't say it any better. my favourite beatle song. by far. and my favourite song of all. whenever i listen to something my friends don't like they put while my guitar gently weeps in... becaues they know exactly i can't turn it off...

In regard to the comments about Eric Clapton, at the time of the White Album's release Cream had just broken up.  Though he wasn't credited, we all knew it was Clapton doing the solo.  No one else played like that at the time.  We dismissed the various critics' comments that George asked Eric Clapton to play the solo because he doubted his own ability.  It was a wonderful collaboration and it remains one of the finest tracks on The Beatles.

I was equally delighted to hear the acoustic version for the first time several years ago.  It provided greater insight into the writer's personality and his feelings at the time.

The organ on the rock is good, adds something extra to it. Who played that?

Those who know what they played on each track and what instrument should tell us and illustrate it with picture. People would appreciate that.

I think the song tanks personally. Its just too damn long and boring anymore for me.

I knew that a lot of people love it (there are more thread here showing it) but I think that not so many people had esplained so well what this masterpiece means for them. Thanks, Hello Goodbye, for those comments.

Quoted from komakino

i feel exactly the same... i can't say it any better. my favourite beatle song. by far. and my favourite song of all. whenever i listen to something my friends don't like they put while my guitar gently weeps in... becaues they know exactly i can't turn it off...

LOL! Glad that it's your favourite song. It's powerful, isn't it   ...

Quoted from tkitna

I think the song tanks personally. Its just too damn long and boring anymore for me.

I feel that the White Album is great for diverse reasons.
It has a wide range of sounds, styles, textures and moods.
Some songs are short, experimental and bizarre. Others are more conventional, poppy and catchy.
Such is the juxtaposition of a blank canvas. The conflict of sixties morality is embodied in the desolate obscurity of the White Album; a record that projected a pure white culture now tarnished by the complexities of drugs, politics and war.

The song although indulgent, is a heavy and crooked outlook on life & love.
The enslaved guitar and harrowing harmonies only help the desperate lyric.
As the Mccartney backing vocals of "yeah, yeah, yeah" fade out .... the bitter song 'Happyness Is A warm Gun' begins.

Personally - I think this segment of the White Album is one of its finest moments.
Two full bodied songs that aurally project the Beatles talent during 1968.

Interesting point of view, Indica.

I think it's a very beautiful song and a great piece of work from George.

Quoted from 366

The organ on the rock is good, adds something extra to it. Who played that?[...]

It's said that Paul played a hammond organ ...

Macca did (i think ) play on the Antholgy 3 demo version.
He played piano on the master recording.

Quoted from Andy Smith

Macca did (i think ) play on the Antholgy 3 demo version.
He played piano on the master recording.

Right, but he played the organ too ...