The George Harrison Lyric That Borrowed from Longfellow

George Harrison developed a reputation as being the spiritual seeker in The Beatles, the one who was always looking for answers on another plane. And he also received credit for daring to speak his mind on accusatory songs like “Piggies” and “Taxman”.

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He didn’t get to show off his mischievous side much in his Beatles work. But that aspect of his personality came to the fore often during his solo career. Take, for example, “Wreck Of The Hesperus”, which borrowed its title from a Longfellow poem and found Harrison musing, in self-deprecating fashion, about getting long in the tooth.

“Wreck” Me

We are now accustomed to rock and roll musicians performing into what might be termed their “Golden Years”. For the first generation of classic rockers, however, it likely seemed odd that they were still playing this music of youthful rebellion, even as they reached the age where one might be considered the establishment.

That disconnect seems to play into George Harrison’s “Wreck Of The Hesperus”. Today, we wouldn’t think twice about a rocker aged 44 (the age Harrison was when the song arrived on his Cloud 9 album) blasting away like they did in their early days. Based on the lyrics, Harrison seems to be wondering about the optics of it all.

As for the title, you can give the 19th-century American poet Henry Wadsworth Longfellow some credit for that. He wrote the poem “The Wreck Of The Hesperus” in 1842, creating a sad narrative about a doomed ship. Harrison simply used the title as a jumping-off point, as there are no other references to Longfellow’s work in the song.

“Wreck Of The Hesperus” shares some common ground with the other material on Cloud 9 in that Harrison was surrounded by expert players on the track. Jeff Lynne, Harrison’s main collaborator on the album, plays bass. Meanwhile, luminaries Eric Clapton and Elton John contribute on guitar and piano, respectively.

Exploring the Lyrics of “Wreck Of The Hesperus”

Harrison has some fun with his advancing age throughout “Wreck Of The Hesperus”. On the one hand, he admits that he has some years behind him. “Ain’t no more spring chicken,” he concedes. But he refuses to be put out to pasture: “Been plucked but I’m still kicking.”

Throughout the song, Harrison refers to people and places that you might associate with age. That includes the famous Biblical greybeard Methuselah. And it also encompasses Big Bill Broonzy, a blues musician. Perhaps the layman wouldn’t know that latter reference, but Harrison delights in its inclusion.

The narrator here, whom we can assume is a stand-in for Harrison, balances out some of the worries about his age with boasts about strength. “Feel tall as the Eiffel Tower,” Harrison sings. Later, he puns away with brio: “But I can rock as good as Gibraltar.”

Interspersed among the verses are middle eights where Harrison turns his attention to knocking the press. While these parts might seem out of place, they suggest that others have been insinuating a dropoff by the rocker. He has no time for them, which perhaps explains Harrison’s leaving the public eye: “Got out of the line of fire.”

Musically, “Wreck Of The Hesperus” brims with crackling energy. On the lyrical side, George Harrison plays around with the notion that time might diminish his skills. But the overall effect is that of a songwriter and artist still very much at the top of his game.

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