Jairaj: The quiet one

All my friends and most people who know me are aware of my fascination with the work, life and ethos of Bruce Springsteen. I am also very passionate about the life and times of a George Harrison. The quiet one, he was called. It was clear from the beginning that he was a supremely talented guitarist. Saddled with a group that included songwriting geniuses Paul McCartney and John Lennon, George struggled to develop and nurture his songwriting talents. Being the youngest of the lot did not help either.

But as the years went by, this struggle culminated in Abbey Road’s ‘Something’. Frank Sinatra called this song as the greatest love song ever written (some disagree, and say that Sinatra said that it was best of the last 50 years). This has been voted by many as also the best Beatles song.
Being a singer-songwriter is a gift. You write songs and make music, and in the process, create magic. Guthrie, Dylan, Lennon-McCartney, Springsteen, Cash, Clapton, Orbison, Morrison (Van. Not the drunken buffoon), and of course Harrison…

I was a fan of the Beatles since I can remember. My dad had a copy of Abbey Road made for my brother and me on a Paul Mauriat cassette. And I slowly discovered the ballads of the Beatles and other classics thanks to my old man. I became a fan of George after I watched ‘A Hard Day’s Night’. It’s a classic. Its humorous, its sexy and it straight forward and it has probably the best soundtrack in the history of cinema. In the film, one can see the sense of humor George lived by.

The opening chord on the title track just wakes you up man.

As a poet and songwriter, Harrison broke out of the huge influence of the leading duo with tracks like ‘Taxman’, ‘Here comes the Sun’ and ‘I want to Tell You’. After the Beatles broke up, Harrison found his best lines. ‘My Sweet Lord’ was a grand invocation to the supernatural, with a deeply Indian philosophy of wanting to ‘know’ and ‘see’ God.

The reason of writing this today, however, is got to do with a particular song I heard last night. It was the nth time, but it was different because I watched an interview of Guitar God Eric Clapton in which he said that ‘Isn’t it a pity’ was probably the most honest of all Harrison’s songs. Harrison’s songs were simple messages from the heart – pretty straight forward. And it did not get straighter than ‘Isn’t it a pity’.

Imagine a few deft guitar movements by the genius while reading this:

Isn't it a pity
Now, isn't it a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity

Some things take so long
But how do I explain
When not too many people
Can see we're all the same
And because of all their tears
Their eyes can't hope to see
The beauty that surrounds them
Isn't it a pity

Isn't it a pity
Isn't is a shame
How we break each other's hearts
And cause each other pain
How we take each other's love
Without thinking anymore
Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity

Forgetting to give back
Isn't it a pity
Forgetting to give back
Now, isn't it a pity