Comprehending the Musical and Lyrical Brilliance of the George Harrison Song ‘While My Guitar Gently Weeps’

In celebration of the 50th Anniversary of The Beatles’ legendary White Album, the fast talking musician 12Tone, who happily uses doodles to explain difficult concepts, shares exactly what makes the George Harrison song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” so incredibly brilliant. He points out the descending bass line cliché in the intro, the initially passive voice of the lyrics leading to the active voice of the title phrase, the use of functional harmony within the tonal centers, parallel modulation of the scales and the heterophony within the vocal tracks.

It’s the 50th anniversary of the White Album! The Beatles’ most famous (and infamous) release is probably one of the most important albums in the history of popular music, and certainly one of the most important in rock and roll, so to celebrate its 50th birthday, we teamed up with Apple Corps, the record label that released it, to take a look at one of its most enduring classics, While My Guitar Gently Weeps. It’s arguably one of the best songs the Beatles ever wrote, so there’s plenty of cool stuff to dig into!