"This Song" is a song by English rock musician

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

from his 1976 album '' Thirty Three & 1/3''. It was released as the first single from the album and reached number 25 on the American pop charts but failed to chart in the UK. Harrison wrote the song as a response to the copyright infringement suit launched against him over his early 1970s hit "

My Sweet Lord "My Sweet Lord" is a song by the English musician George Harrison, released in November 1970 on his triple album ''All Things Must Pass''. It was also released as a single, Harrison's first as a solo artist, and topped charts worldwide; it was ...

". The lyrics use terminology associated with the court case and mention other song titles as a satirical comment on the notion of plagiarism in popular music.

Composition and recording

George Harrison wrote "This Song" in March 1976 after spending a week in a New York courtroom, trying to convince a judge that his 1970 song "

" did not infringe the copyright of

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' 1963 hit "

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". According to Harrison, the plaintiff's witnesses got ridiculously in-depth, breaking "My Sweet Lord" down into several melody lines, or "motifs", as they referred to them. The plaintiff's expert also drew up several charts with large musical notes on it to prove the point. Harrison said in his autobiography, ''

I, Me, Mine ''I, Me, Mine'' is an autobiographic memoir by the English musician George Harrison, formerly of The Beatles. It was published in 1980 as a hand-bound, limited edition book by Genesis Publications, with a mixture of printed text and multi-colou ...

'', that after several days, he "started to believe that maybe they did own those notes". Harrison wrote "This Song" to express his frustration at the infringement case in the form of an uptempo, piano-driven track. The song addresses the issue of musical plagiarism and also mocks serious analysis of a pop song. In his lyrics, Harrison states that the new composition came to him "unknowingly",Inglis, p. 61. discusses its key and main riff, and asserts that he has his "expert's" approval. With reference to Bright Tunes, the company that owned the copyright to "He's So Fine", he declares, "This tune has nothing 'Bright' about it". In musicologist Thomas MacFarlane's description, Harrison includes "musical jokes" and "familiar musical phrases" to further convey his view of a pop song's originality. The opening riff recalls that of

the Four Tops ''The'' is a grammatical article in English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The ...

' "

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", a similarity that Harrison soon acknowledges. He sings that it might be recognisable from his 1975 single "

You In Modern English, the word "''you''" is the second-person pronoun. It is grammatically plural, and was historically used only for the dative case, but in most modern dialects is used for all cases and numbers. History ''You'' comes from ...

"; other voices then interject, disagreeing over whether the song sounds more like "I Can't Help Myself" or

Fontella Bass Fontella Marie Bass (; July 3, 1940 – December 26, 2012) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter best known for her number-one R&B hit " Rescue Me" in 1965. She was nominated for a Grammy Award twice. Early life Fontella Bass was bor ...

's " Rescue Me". The recording includes

Billy Preston William Everett Preston (September 2, 1946 – June 6, 2006) was an American keyboardist, singer, and songwriter whose work encompassed R&B, rock, soul, funk, and gospel. Preston was a top session keyboardist in the 1960s, backing Little Richa ...

on piano and organ, a horn arrangement by Tom Scott, and

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providing the "ratbag" interjections about the song's originality.

Release and reception

Writing for '' Goldmine'' magazine in January 2002, Dave Thompson described "This Song" as "a brilliantly constructed commentary on Harrison's more recent travails". ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

'' described the track as "irresistible" due to its cheerfulness and the way "the words so cleverly play on the concept of trying to write an entertaining non-controversial song". ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', is an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' said "a jazzy piano and organ take off on the lead" and "a firey sax played by Tom Scott spits across the

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

." ''

Record World ''Record World'' magazine was one of three major weekly music industry trade magazines in the United States, with ''Billboard'' and '' Cashbox''. It was founded in 1946 as ''Music Vendor''. In 1964, it was changed to ''Record World'' under the ...

'' said "What if every time you wrote a song you had to run it through a computer to test its originality? That's the theme here, inspired by George's legal rift. The bright sound could make it his biggest yet."

Music video

Harrison directed a music video for the song, which was filmed in a Los Angeles courthouse and satirised the 1976 plagiarism hearing. The clip was first shown on the 20 November 1976 episode of ''

Saturday Night Live ''Saturday Night Live'' (''SNL'') is an American Late night television in the United States, late-night live television, live sketch comedy variety show created by Lorne Michaels and developed by Michaels and Dick Ebersol that airs on NBC. The ...

'' hosted by

Paul Simon Paul Frederic Simon (born October 13, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter known for his solo work and his collaborations with Art Garfunkel. He and Garfunkel, whom he met in elementary school in 1953, came to prominence in the 1960s as Sim ...

, in which Harrison was a special musical guest. It features Harrison in a courtroom along with a cast of many of his friends (dressed up as the jury, bailiff, defence experts). Drummer

Jim Keltner James Lee Keltner (born April 27, 1942) is an American drummer and percussionist known primarily for his session work. He was characterized by Bob Dylan biographer Howard Sounes as "the leading session drummer in America". Howard Sounes. ''Do ...

appears as the judge and

the Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

Ronnie Wood Ronald David Wood (born 1 June 1947) is an English rock musician, best known as a member of the Rolling Stones since 1975, and a member of Faces and the Jeff Beck Group. Wood began his career in 1964, playing lead guitar with several Brit ...

(dressed as a " Pepperpot" character) mimics Idle's falsetto words; Harrison's girlfriend (later wife), Olivia Arias, appears between the people of the jury. The clip ends with Harrison playing guitar, with one hand handcuffed to a courtroom guard, portrayed by

Harry Nilsson Harry Edward Nilsson III (June 15, 1941 – January 15, 1994), sometimes credited as Nilsson, was an American singer-songwriter who reached the peak of his success in the early 1970s. His work is characterized by pioneering vocal overdub experi ...

. Chicago radio station WLS, which gave "This Song" much airplay, ranked it as the 72nd most popular hit of 1977. It reached number 7 on their survey of 15 January 1977.

Personnel

– vocals, electric guitars, tambourine, backing vocals * Tom Scott – saxophones *

– piano, organ *

Willie Weeks Willie Weeks (born August 5, 1947) is an American bass guitarist. He has gained fame performing with famous musicians in a wide variety of genres. He has been one of the most in-demand session musicians throughout his career. Weeks has also ga ...

– bass * Alvin Taylor – drums *

– spoken voice

Chart performance

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

Sources * Dale C. Allison Jr, ''The Love There That's Sleeping: The Art and Spirituality of George Harrison'', Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; ). * Alan Clayson, ''George Harrison'', Sanctuary (London, 2003; ). * George Harrison, ''I Me Mine'', Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA, 2002

980 Year 980 ( CMLXXX) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Julian calendar. Events By place Europe * Peace is concluded between Emperor Otto II (the Red) and King Lothair III (or Lothair IV) at Margut, ending the Franco-Germa ...

). * Ian Inglis, ''The Words and Music of George Harrison'', Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; ). * Simon Leng, ''While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison'', Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI, 2006; ). * Thomas MacFarlane, ''The Music of George Harrison'', Routledge (Abingdon, UK, 2019; ). * Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, ''Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium'', 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; ). * Robert Rodriguez, ''Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980'', Backbeat Books (Milwaukee, WI, 2010; ). *

Gary Tillery Gary Tillery is an American writer and artist known for his biographies focusing on the spiritual lives of famous figures, and for his public sculptures. His 2009 book, ''The Cynical Idealist'', was named the official book of the 2010 Theatre Wi ...

, ''Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison'', Quest Books (Wheaton, IL, 2011; ).

External links

An article on the plagiarism suit
* {{George Harrison singles 1976 songs 1976 singles Dark Horse Records singles George Harrison songs Songs written by George Harrison Song recordings produced by George Harrison Music published by Oops Publishing and Ganga Publishing, B.V.