The Beatles Rejected This Song Three Times Before It Became One of George Harrison’s Biggest Hits in 1970

When people think of The Beatles, they largely think of Paul McCartney and John Lennon. Because that pair delivered most of the band’s top-selling hits, they became the central songwriting force within the group. But, that being said, they weren’t the only successful songwriters in The Beatles. George Harrison also delivered his fair share of hits when given the opportunity by his fellow bandmates. There was one song that was rejected not once but three times by his fellow Beatles but ultimately became a hit for George Harrison in his solo career. Find out which song that was below.

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The Rejected Beatles Song That Became a Hit For George Harrison

One factor in The Beatles’ breakup was the fact that Harrison felt creatively pushed out of the loop by McCartney and Lennon. The pair all but steamrolled over everyone else in the room, at least according to some perspectives. Harrison managed to scrape a few songs through, but one that didn’t make the cut was “Isn’t It A Pity.”

“Isn’t it a pity? / Isn’t it a shame? / How we break each other’s hearts / And cause each other pain,” he sings in this somber track, touching on the breakdown of a relationship and heartache. Many listeners attribute this song to his feeling of being in a fracturing band, but it has endless applications.

“It was a chance to realize that if I felt somebody had let me down, then there’s a good chance I was letting someone else down,” Harrison once said of this track, adding, “It’s just an observation of how society and myself were or are. We take each other for granted — and forget to give back. That was really all it was about.”

Despite this song’s relatability and affecting musicality, “Isn’t It A Pity” was rejected three times for a Beatles record, only to find a home on Harrison’s landmark album, All Things Must Pass.

Harrison first brought this song to his bandmates during the Revolver sessions, but the band didn’t follow through with it. There isn’t much explanation out there as to why this song was passed over so many times, but Harrison was able to use it for his own purposes in his solo career.

On top of this song being a hard-won task to record, it’s also notable because Harrison tapped Ringo Starr to play on it post-Beatles breakup. The two most overlooked members of the band collaborated on this song, proving their innate talents beyond the McCartney-Lennon partnership.

Revisit “Isn’t It A Pity” above. You’ll start to wonder how The Beatles passed over such a stunning track. But perhaps Harrison’s solo career wouldn’t be what it was without this rejected song.

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