Long, Long, Long

"Long, Long, Long" is a song written by George Harrison, and first released by the Beatles on their 1968 album The Beatles, also known as the White Album.

Music analyst Alan Pollack said the song has "an off-beat mixture of styles typical of the times: a three-way cross between jazz waltz, folk song, and late sixties psychedelia."^[1] Critic Richie Unterberger wrote that "Long, Long, Long" is one of the most underrated songs in the Beatles' large discography.^[2] Ian MacDonald also argues that the song is Harrison's "finest moment" on The Beatles.^[3]

Composition

"Long, Long, Long" is a love song, though as Nicholas Schaffner notes, it was "the first of dozens of Harrison love songs that are ambiguous in that he could be singing either to his lady or to his Lord". This ambiguity became more prevalent during Harrison's solo career.

According to Harrison's autobiography, I, Me, Mine, the rattling heard at the end of the song was the result of a bottle of Blue Nun wine sitting on the Leslie speaker. When Paul McCartney played a certain note on the Hammond organ, the bottle began to rattle.^[3] To compound the sound, Ringo Starr recorded a fast snare drum roll.^[4]

Under the working title "It's Been a Long, Long, Long Time", recording for the song began on 7 October 1968.^[4] Without John Lennon, the Beatles recorded 67 takes of the rhythm track, with Harrison on vocals and acoustic guitar, McCartney playing a modified Hammond organ, and Starr on drums.^[4]

Musical structure

The Song is in the key of F but has a "floating feel" because Perfect cadences are avoided, the dominant (V) C7 chord refusing to anchor on the tonic I (F chord); for example, the Plagal changes (IV-I) (here B♭-F chord) in the chorus are fleeting.^[5] The role of the bass descending in a '4-3-2-1' pattern as the chords drop from IV-iii-ii-I is a way of establishing an almost subliminal tonic.^[6] A notable moment is the use of a minor triad 1st inversion on 'long time' (at 0.17 secs) in which in the triad formula ♭3-5-1, the 1st note (♭3) B♭ is heard as the lowest note in the chord, this being described as a Gm/B♭ 'slash' polychord.^[7] The lyrics reference to an extreme length of time ("It's been a long, long, long time. How could I ever have lost you, when I loved you?") is accentuated by the stretching out of an already slow 6/8 meter into 9/8 and by the appending of a measure-long instrumental tag (using a Gibson J-200 guitar or a Hammond B3 organ) after each two bars of vocal melody.^[8] The refrain beginning "Now I can see you, be you, how can I ever misplace you?" involves a IV (Bb)-ii(gm)- V(C)- I(F) progression with a pedal G in the bass.^[9] Everett notes that the Song is played with a D major chord shape but is in F key due to a capo on the 3rd fret and cites Harrison as admitting the "you" in the Song is "God".^[10] Everett finds this song more moody, meditative and evocative than Lennon's use of a similar poetic idea ("It's been a long time") as the opening lyric in "Wait".^[11] He also notes the close similarity between this song and Bob Dylan's "Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands".^[12]

Personnel

• George Harrison – double-tracked lead vocal, acoustic guitar
• Paul McCartney – backing vocal, Hammond organ, bass guitar
• Ringo Starr – drums
• Chris Thomas – piano

Personnel per Ian MacDonald^[3]

Cover versions

• The song has been covered by My Morning Jacket lead singer Jim James on his 2009 EP Tribute To.
• Kelly De Martino recorded a cover for her 2008 album Honest.
• Tanya Donelly covered the song on her 2006 CD This Hungry Life.
• Robert Deeble covered the song on his 2005 release "This Bar Has No One Left".
• Low covered it on their 2004 box set titled A Lifetime of Temporary Relief: 10 Years of B-Sides and Rarities.
• Daniel Amos frontman Terry Scott Taylor did a version on his "A Briefing for the Ascent" concept album in 1987.
• Elliott Smith had been known to play the song live in concert.

Notes

References

External links

• The Beatles Bible: Long, Long, Long