The Beatles Lyric That Was a Love Song to God

The White Album was the record where The Beatles felt emboldened to try anything. All the guardrails were removed, and the extra space provided by making a double LP meant pretty much everything was fair game.

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In the case of “Long, Long, Long,” that meant George Harrison penning an almost alarmingly quiet love song. The sneaky part of it is the intended target of that love wasn’t a person, but rather a higher power.

Going “Long”

If nothing else, the barely-a-peep sound of “Long, Long, Long” sets it apart from the rest of The Beatles’ catalog. You’d be hard-pressed to find another Fab Four song mixed in such fashion. The difference in loudness between it and the other songs immediately surrounding it on the album (“Helter Skelter” and “Revolution 1”) is striking.

Maybe that was appropriate, since George Harrison was already starting to separate himself from the other chief Beatles songwriters (John Lennon and Paul McCartney) in his preferred topics. Harrison’s songs were beginning to fall into two categories: snide and sarcastic (like “Piggies”) or questing and spiritual (like “While My Guitar Gently Weeps”).

On first listen, you might hear “Long, Long, Long” as just your typical song of devotion to a lover. But, as he explained in his autobiography I Me Mine, Harrison had something else in mind for the lyrics, while getting inspiration for the music from an epic from his buddy Bob Dylan:

“The ‘you’ in ‘Long, Long, Long’ is God. I can’t recall much about it except the chords, which I think were coming from ‘Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands’—D to E minor, A, and D—those three chords and the way they moved.”

Although the song is known for its hushed quality, a vibrating sound near the climax made its presence felt. What you’re hearing in that moment is a bottle of liquor that had been inadvertently left on top of a speaker. Always ready to incorporate happy accidents like that, The Beatles kept the sound in as a contrast to all the restrained noises that came before it.

Examining the Lyrics to “Long, Long, Long”

By this point in his career, George Harrison had often displayed his willingness to write and sing about otherworldly matters. “Long, Long, Long” is a relatively simple, short song, but the directness and the gentle vulnerability in Harrison’s vocal convey a ton of meaning.

The repetition of the word long implies the force of the feeling that envelops the narrator. He makes it clear he has gone astray in the past: How could I ever have lost you? When I love you. Later in the song, he uses the word misplace instead of lost, suggesting that other priorities distracted him.

It’s only in the middle eight when Harrison uncorks the melody a bit and breaks into a higher register. That’s also the point when he describes the time he’s spent in the spiritual wilderness. So many tears I was searching / So many tears I was wasting.

You don’t have to know George Harrison had God on his mind when writing “Long, Long, Long” to appreciate it. It works perfectly well as a heartfelt love song to a significant other. Then again, maybe subtle confusion about the meaning was what was intended all along for this intriguing song that says the loud part so quiet.

Photo by RB/Redferns