Continued Exploration: While My Guitar Gently Weeps Performance
"While My Guitar Gently Weeps"
Biographical Information:
While My Guitar
Gently Weeps, originally
written by George Harrison of the Beatles in 1968 is first, an epic song.
Second, this song helped George Harrison recommit to the guitar as his primary
instrument and declare his recommitment to rock and roll with the Beatles. In
2004, Harrison was inducted posthumously into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as
a solo artist. In his honor, While My Guitar Gently Weeps was played by
a large band that included Tom Petty, Prince, Lynne, Steve Winwood, Mann, Dhani
Harrison, and Steve Ferrone. Though many of these individual artists write
their own music, they made history when performing Harrison’s While My
Guitar Gently Weeps, especially the surprise ending with Prince’s highly
acclaimed guitar solo that shocked and awed many – even Tom Petty!
“The Day Prince’s
Guitar Wept the Loudest”
While this performance was
made possible by an entire team of talented musicians paying tribute to George
Harrison, Prince’s performance made history that night. With little practice within
the entire group, Prince told the producer, “not to worry.” No one knew what to
expect of him and his highly anticipated solo, there was worry leading up to
the actual performance. In the video, you can see the entire team of musicians
in awe as Prince stepped into the spotlight to debut his historical solo. “He just
burned it up. You could feel the electricity of ‘something really big is going
down here.’”
The night of this performance
was also important because Prince was also being inducted into the Rock and
Roll Hall of Fame in addition to George Harrison. He really made an impact and
memory for all!
The Original vs. The Cover:
This group didn't perform more than one time together, but I do think it is important to break down the significance of this song. I thought of instead showing two examples of the performer(s), I'd compare and contrast some musical elements from the original and the tribute to George Harrison.
The original While My Guitar Gently Weeps, as stated above was written by George Harrison of the Beatles in 1964. This song is one of Harrison's most popular sings and has such personal meaning behind it.
The Lyrics:
This song is one of Harrison's most popular sings and has such personal meaning behind it. It is said that Harrison stuck with the themes of universal love and love for mankind is in everyone, yet its unrealised. George had a Hindu spiritual awakening after his visit to India and this song is a lot of his realizations in that spiritual awakening. In some interpretations I've read, George meant for this song to reflect his realization of the material world, of everyday life and that is the source of everyones misery. He is observing the suffering around him. He brings power through the subtle lyrics and you almost feel as if the guitar is singing to you too with unsaid lyrics.
Timbre:
This song was mostly played in A Minor and it brings the perfect amound of sadness (weeping) to the song. While all the other instruments in the background are there, the guitar is the main player in this song. While George plays the solo towards the middle, he portrays such a sadness through long drawn out notes and vibrato and string bending. The end guitar solo is accompanied by moans of sorrow and I feel like that's such a significant part of this song. This isn't a happy song, this is George showing his pain of this sad world we have created for ourselves.
Rhythm and Dynamics:
This song is written in a 4/4 meter and holds the same largo tempo throughout the song. Though the dynamics change throughout, the song keeps the same steady pace. As you slowly walk along with the song, you feel like you're walking while sulking. The song starts with a peppy feel and gradually goes away as the song starts to get louder and more emotional.
The cover tribute of While My Guitar Gently Weeps, was performed in the 2004 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame posthumanous induction of George Harrison. Performed by many talented musicians. I'd like to focus on Prince's guitar solo in this element break down.
Rhythm and Dynamics:
The tribute song is still performed in a 4/4 meter, but starts at a much faster tempo. The band uses a lot of crescendos, diminuendo, and accents throughout the song that make the song really attention grabbing, especially in front of a large audience! It needed to be exciting! Prince comes in for his solo at 3 minutes and 30 seconds really punching the first note. He has taken influence from different styles of music, even including Van Halen's finger tapping. Prince uses a lot of accents on the down notes to keep the excitement as everyones jaws dropped to the floor. He builds a lot of his solo through the crescendo and decrescendo.
Timbre:
The entire song is played in a light hearted manner, it's not as whiney as the original, yet it still brings the sorrow George originally had for this song. Prince brought such a satisfying feeling to the ending through his emotional solo. He even mimics the sound of the moaning at the end of the original through his guitar in a unique way. He brought everything Prince to this song, you could feel him bleeding all of his purple magic into his solo. Prince added himself into this solo and made it his own. He OWNED it all while showing his respect and appreciation for George Harrison.
Texture:
Up until Prince's solo, the entire song was played monophonically with all the guitars in synch with each other. Once Prince's solo started, it was absolutely played in a homophonic texture with Prince's melody overtaking the supporting harmony behind him.
Role of the Performer:
The importance in this particular performance is the respect and admiration that musicians have for each other. It brought so much appreciation to Prince and really made others aware of how talented he really is, even if they knew before, they absolutely knew after this. Even after his death, he is still praised for this solo. Prince was a huge fan of George Harrisons and is said that he was Prince's favorite Beatle. He was excited to pay tribute to George Harrison in performing this song. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is such an honor and it brings attention to the talented individuals in the music industry and I think that's why these performances are so important. Especially for the younger generations who may not know who these legends are.
My Opinion:
I have always loved tributes, covers, and performances like this. I love Prince in general, but seeing him in this spotlight really gave me the chills. I also love Tom Petty, but Prince... PRINCE. I'm obsessed. I've listened to quite a few of some covers he's done of others music and he impresses and always brings his own flare to the song. A Case of You, originally written by Joni Mitchell was one of the songs Prince covered. Joni Mitchell was so impressed, she said Prince is her favorite of all the artists who have cited her as an influence. Overall, this post was more of my effort to bring attention to Prince and his talent. He is a talented musician, writer, and performer! Did you know he wrote, Manic Monday by the Bangles?!
Harrison, George. "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." The Beatles. Apple. 1968.
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. "Prince, Tom Petty, Steve Winwood, Jeff Lynne and Others -- "While My Guitar Gently Weeps." YouTube. Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, 10 April, 2012. https://youtu.be/6SFNW5F8K9Y.
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