“He (George) picked a novel off the shelf with the intention of writing a
“song based on the first words that he came across. The words were ‘gently
weeps’ and so George began to write” (Turner, 155).
While My Guitar Gently Weeps
(Harrison)
I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
I look at the floor and I see it needs sweeping
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don't know why nobody told you how to unfold your love
I don't know how someone controlled you
They bought and sold you.
I look at the world and I notice it's turning
While my guitar gently weeps
With every mistake we must surely be learning
Still my guitar gently weeps
I don't know how you were diverted
You were perverted too
I don't know how you were inverted
No one alerted you.
I look at you all see the love there that's sleeping
While my guitar gently weeps
Look at you all...
Still my guitar gently weeps.
This song has to be one of my top ten favorite Beatles songs. It’s such an
original concept. There are two main writing techniques used in this song.
The first is once again imagery. I really believe that the Beatles have a
gift for creating pictures in your mind. There are many beautiful images in
the song like : “I look at you all see the love there that’s sleeping”. I
think that is such a beautiful visual, to see love sleeping. If you really
think about it though, it could be sad, and that’s why his guitar is
weeping. To me when I think of the guitar weeping I hear sad music and the
person who is playing is crying.
The other writing technique that is used is personification.
Personification is “to give animals, inanimate objects, and abstractions
human characteristics” (applying, 1). George Harrison is saying that his
guitar is crying, a guitar is an inanimate object, and crying is a human
emotion.
My favorite lyric in this song would have to be: “I look at the
world and I notice it’s turning, while my guitar gently weeps, with every
mistake we must surely be learning” They are two very factual statements
that really make you look at what’s going on around you. I think it has to
do with the fact that people forget that life goes on. The world keeps
turning, and even though we make mistakes we are learning from them.
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