Sometimes, You Just Can’t Get Back

I love watching documentaries. When I heard about the new documentary now streaming on the Disney channel about The Beatles, I knew I had to see it. Get Back is a film of the group as they wrote, rehearsed, and performed what would be their last public performance – the famous rooftop show above their studio – and final album, Let it Be. Clocking in at six hours total – three episodes that are each about 2-hours long – watching it does take a certain level of commitment. But I highly recommend it to anyone interested not just in the group, but also in music and the musical process.

So a bit of a spoiler alert: at the end of the first episode George Harrison abruptly leaves the group. His reasons are not clearly shown or discussed, but by the end of the second episode, Harrison has agreed to come back and the show does go on.

This left me curious about Harrison and what he had to say about The Beatles, so I did a little online searching and found a few interviews. And what I learned was that this man had some interesting wisdom to share.

“That’s what happened and it was good, but it was also good to carry on and do something else”

George Harrison, on the breakup of the Beatles

No Regrets

In this interview on The Dick Cavett show in 1971, Cavett questioned Harrison about his relationship with John and the other members of the group and asked “Do you regret any of it?” Harrison stated that he didn’t regret any of it. He explained that many people couldn’t understand why anyone would give up something that was such a “big deal” like The Beatles, and why they would “actually enjoy splitting up.” He goes on to say,

“There’s a time when people grow up, and they leave home or whatever they do, and they go for a change. And it was really time for a change.”

No Replacements

Years later, in 1990…in this interview on the Dutch show Countdown, Harrison describes the serendipitous circumstances that led to the making of the first Traveling Wilburys album and the formation of the band. When the interviewer asks Harrison whether or not the band considered replacing Roy Orbison, aka Lefty Wilbury, after he passed away, Harrison replies that they did not. He states, 

“…you can’t replace him..we could get any number of other people if we wanted…but the way it happened, as I just explained it, is how it happened.”

When the interviewer presses on, asking Harrison what other musicians would “make a good, proper Wilbury,” Harrison replies,

“There’s a lot of musicians I’d like to work with, but the thing about the Wilburys was..it just happened…and the moment you start to try and contrive, well, we could have this person, it’d be easier just to make a new group. You know, in fact…if you wanted to work with other musicians, rather than put them in the Wilburys, [it] would be easy just to invent a new name and make a new, different kind of album.”

What’s the Wisdom

What struck me about these two conversations, and the inherent wisdom I hear, is that Harrison is describing a similar outlook in both circumstances – a brilliant combination of acceptance, appreciation, and willingness. 

Acceptance, in the sense of allowing what is, or was, to be as it stands.  Accepting, without creating suffering by wishing things were different, or holding onto some resentment because things did or did not go a certain way. Harrison accepts that The Beatles are broken up, and accepts that a member of another band has passed away and cannot be replaced. These are facts that can’t be changed, and as he implies, when you try to “contrive” a different scenario, you begin to lose the essence of what you had to begin with.

Appreciation, in the sense of experiencing and expressing enjoyment and gratitude for something that he had. Appreciating, by looking at what was good about something, not what may have been not so good, or even bad. Because what he had was good, and when it was no longer good, or no longer served him, he and the others moved on. End of story. No need to dwell on what happened or place blame on anyone or anything.

And willingness, in the sense of being willing to keep moving forward. Harrison had a phenomenal career and made some incredible music after the breakup of The Beatles. That wouldn’t have happened if he hadn’t been willing to move on. The Traveling Wilburys made a great second album after the passing of Roy Orbison. And they honored him by NOT replacing him, because his unique voice and contribution to the band were of a place and time that could not be changed – the past.

Inspiration can come at any time and from many different people and places. I found Harrison to be inspiring and interesting, and learned that in addition to great music, he had some excellent wisdom to share.