“Eh up!”

The Beatles - “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (Bass, Isolated)

Like I say. Amazing bass line.

So deceptively simple. So fat. So totally in the pocket for what the song never knew it wanted.

But, just for a second, imagine how this song would sound without it. Totally different. Likely not for the better.

I think “WMGGW” is a good song; I wouldn’t call it a great song. Not by itself. Some of the rhymes are asinine, and most of the changes are the sort of meat-beating thing you write 2 weeks after taking up guitar. It’s definitely no “Something.”

But, for me? The players and arrangement just transform the tune. In particular, Clapton’s fills and solo + Paul’s pretty-perfect choice for the bass line1 make George’s little ditty about life or the I Ching or Boethius’s Wheel or whatever into something unexpectedly menacing.2

The Beatles - “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (Clapton Guitar, Isolated)

Yep. Slowhand and Macca make this song sound dangerous. So good.

The Beatles - “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” (The Beatles, 1968)

  1. Well. Conceptually perfect. Paul hits a clam and a frequently misattributed non-clam along the way. But nothing’s out of keeping with the slacker-sloppy style and tone of the part he’s playing. ↩

  2. In other news, fucking Chicago owes Paul a coke. ↩

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  4. yourfriendmax reblogged this from soupsoup and added:
    It’s its own song. Jesus.
  5. ybot reblogged this from soupsoup and added:
    This is a favorite song of mine, but I’m reblogging this so that I can mention how much I like Jeff Healey’s take on it:...
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    ripped off by Green Day, but I...until now. merlin:
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    But… but… but...song.. Merlin Mann can’t say it’s...hurts my...
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    Merlin Mann. So right about so many things,...that with great conviction. And yet, so...