Remembering the Song George Harrison Wrote in 1970 Because He Was Fed up With The Beatles

We’ve all heard a thing or two about the infamous Get Back/Let It Be sessions that The Beatles suffered through in 1969. Whether it’s Yoko Ono’s being there, Paul McCartney’s attitude, or John Lennon’s h*roin addiction, you’ve likely heard different interpretations of what exactly went wrong and why.

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Needless to say, the band was at a bit of a breaking point, and everybody was about ready to give up. It was so bad, apparently, that George Harrison had to write a song about it.

That song was “Wah-Wah”.

In the song, which would later appear on Harrison’s solo album, All Things Must Pass, he expresses a desire to be free from the band and the stress that came with it. When Harrison sings “Wah-Wah”, as explained in his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, he’s singing about the foot pedal musicians use, but also having a headache.

Wah-wah
I don’t need no wah-wah
And I know how sweet life can be
If I keep myself free, wah-wah
I don’t need no wah-wah.

This song was the first of a few that Harrison eventually wrote about The Beatles. He would also reference the band and its members in songs like “When We Was Fab” and “All Those Years Ago”.

Harrison Said It Was “A Stressful Time”

The Get Back/Let It Be sessions were a point of high tension for The Beatles. So much so that after a “heated exchange” with Paul, Harrison decided to walk out of the session.

He detailed the moment in I, Me, Mine. “Anyway, after one of those first mornings—I couldn’t stand it; I decided this is it! It’s not fun anymore, it’s very unhappy being in this band—it’s a lot of crap—thank you, I’m leaving.”

According to him though, the others, if they hadn’t already, were on the brink of walking out themselves. It was only a matter of time.

“Everybody had gone through that. Ringo had left at one point. I know John wanted out. It was a very, very difficult, stressful time, and being filmed having a row as well was terrible,” Harrison admitted in The Beatles Anthology. “I got up and I thought, ‘I’m not doing this any more. I’m out of here.’ So I got my guitar and went home and that afternoon wrote ‘Wah-Wah’”.

Photo by: KMazur/WireImage