Let’s get this out of the way: “Something” is firmly planted in the top tier of Beatles songs — top five, easily. Disagree? That’s fine, just don’t expect me to take you seriously if you’re rocking a perm and cradling a pet snake. Some truths are non-negotiable.
This track doesn’t just flirt with romance — it dives headlong into it, eyes closed, heart first. It’s tender without tipping into saccharine, yearning without being desperate. Harrison threads sincerity into every note, and the result is so emotionally disarming, it could probably make a houseplant blush. Then comes that bridge — that soaring, aching middle eight — a few seconds of music so perfect it could unlace Gandhi’s sandals.
Behind the song was a real muse: Pattie Boyd, Harrison’s then-wife. In her memoir, she recalls the moment with a kind of quiet fondness: “George wrote a song called ‘Something.’ He told me in a matter-of-fact way that he had written it for me.”
She adds, “I thought it was beautiful and it turned out to be the most successful song he ever wrote, with more than 150 cover versions. George’s favourite version was the one by James Brown. Mine was the one by George Harrison, which he played to me in our kitchen.”
That intimate kitchen performance — raw, personal, unforgettable — has been echoed in countless homes, through countless speakers, ever since. The song transcended its original heartbreak and became something universal.
Jeff Lynne of Electric Light Orchestra is one of many who found his life permanently altered by The Beatles’ work. Introducing a tribute performance of “Something” — with none other than Dhani Harrison, Joe Walsh, and Ringo Starr’s All-Starr Band — Lynne reflected on his surreal introduction to the Fab Four:
“The Beatles changed my life,” he said. “In 1968, while working on my first album, I somehow ended up inside Abbey Road Studios, watching them record. I don’t know how I got in, but I didn’t sleep for days. They were otherworldly. I never imagined I’d one day produce them. That still feels like the greatest thrill of my career.”
Their tribute version — a heavier, more muscular take on Harrison’s featherlight original — swaps out the soft ache for a bit more grit. It doesn’t try to imitate the original’s whispered vulnerability, but it honors its legacy with skilled musicianship and heartfelt reverence.
“Something” isn’t just one of Harrison’s best. It’s one of music’s best.
A love song written on the edge of goodbye, immortalized on tape, and echoed through generations.
