The Quitting Song Of George Harrison For The Beatles

The Beatles’ recording sessions for Let It Be were famously tense. By 1969, the band members were no longer the fresh-faced lads who had taken the world by storm.

Years of touring, creative differences, and mounting pressure had taken their toll. In this climate of discord, the quiet George Harrison reached a breaking point.

On January 10th, 1969, Harrison walked out on the band, frustrated and feeling his songwriting contributions were overshadowed. This temporary departure proved to be a pivotal moment in the Beatles’ story.

But it also sparked inspiration for Harrison, who channeled his emotions into a song that would become a cornerstone of his solo career.

The Tensions Behind the Let It Be Sessions

The anxiety during the Let It Be sessions was perfectly displayed in the recent documentary by Peter Jackson called Get Back as it shed light on the internal conflicts that plagued the band at the time.

According to many, Paul McCartney’s strong vision for the album was a major source of tension.  Macca reportedly pushed his ideas relentlessly, sometimes overshadowing the creative input of his bandmates.

This approach proved particularly frustrating for Harrison, who felt his own work was being disregarded. The friction eventually reached a boiling point. 

Harrison famously walked out on the band and briefly left them as a trio. While he eventually rejoined them for the iconic rooftop concert, the cracks in the Beatles’ facade were becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.

A Song From Frustration

Following his temporary departure from the Beatles, George Harrison channeled his frustration into a powerful song “Wah Wah”. Released on his 1970 solo album All Things Must Pass, the track became one of his best solo works.

The lyrics themselves are seemingly simple: “Wah-wah / You’ve given me a wah-wah / And I’m thinking of you / And all the things that we used to do / Wah-wah, wah-wah.” However, within this apparent simplicity lies a deeper message. The repeated “wah-wah” can be interpreted as a lament for the breakdown in communication and the constant arguments that plagued the Beatles at the time.

George himself shed light on the origins of “Wah Wah” in a past interview. He recalled a specific scene from the filming of the Let It Be documentary, where tensions between him and Paul McCartney were evident. “There’s a scene where Paul and I are having an argument, and we’re trying to cover it up,” Harrison said.

He went on to describe the following scene, where John Lennon’s partner Yoko Ono was prominently featured: “Then the next scene I’m not there and Yoko’s just screaming, doing her screeching number. Well, that’s where I’d left, and I went home to write ‘Wah-Wah.’ It had given me a wah-wah, like I had such a headache with that whole argument. It was such a headache.”