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Fri 30 May 2025 18:00, UK
For George Harrison, every part of life was about preparing for what happens when we die. The former Beatle had always been subtly critiqued as the one who changed the most since their breakup, but looking at his spiritual beliefs in the days of Sgt Pepper and The White Album, it was only natural for him to start leaning into his beliefs by the time he started making his own records. He no longer had three other people to satisfy, but when he met his maker, he made sure that he made his final statement the right way.
Then again, Harrison wouldn’t be around to see his final album, Brainwashed, come out. There had been a lot of business dealings behind the scenes for years, and despite wrapping things up nicely with the Traveling Wilburys, this was going to be his chance to give his fans some last parting words from his spiritual side, which didn’t really fit in with Tom Petty and Bob Dylan’s material.
Although the album includes a handful of demos and performances from elsewhere in his career, some pieces point towards the kind of album he wanted to make. ‘Looking For My Life’ is a nice meditation on the legacy he wanted to leave behind and what awaited him on the other side, and ‘Any Road’ is a nice jaunty bit of fun as he reminds us that any road will lead us towards salvation.
‘Marwa Blues’ was enough to catch Paul McCartney’s ear when listening to his old mate’s swan song, but the title track closes off the album perfectly since Harrison knew it would be his last. He had been trying to get his message through for years, but now that he was on his deathbed and pleading with every breath he had yet to take, he figured that he would remind everyone about the kind of teachings he had known back in the day.
So, what does George Harrison’s final song say about the state of the world?
On every other occasion, Harrison’s religious teachings were either dismissed or taken lightly by the public, but here he gets everyone’s attention by telling us what was really going on in the background. From taking shots at the stock market to the televisions in every home in America, Harrison reminded everyone that everything that they coveted in the world was irrelevant, even subliminally telling us the answer to life in the background vocals when he sings ‘God, God, God’.
Then again, Harrison isn’t saying anything he hadn’t been saying for years, either. Since the days of ‘Beware of Darkness’, he was telling all within earshot to beware of maya, and now that the world had been overrun by even more spiritual distractions since his days in The Beatles, it was only natural for him to try his spiritual angle one more time in the hopes that someone would listen.
There are even a few potshots where Harrison could have claimed to be ahead of the curve in some respects. In an era when most people are in danger of becoming a virtual zombie when staring at that little device in their pocket, it’s fairly bold of him to say that we were “brainwashed by mobile phones” before Steve Jobs monopolised the market and everyone started having a computer in their pocket.
But despite being one of the most intense Harrison songs of all time, it was never meant to be him wagging his finger at the next generation by any stretch. He only wanted people to have their spirits set free through music, and by the time that the rest of the instruments give way to a single droning note, Harrison finally has his moment to lay himself down to rest in the way he would have wanted, chanting a mantra alongside his son, Dhani.
As his life was wrapping up and people were starting to hear Harrison finally come back down to Earth, his final goodbye on ‘Brainwashed’ is both a reminder of the important things in life. He knew that nothing mattered more than building a relationship with God, and by bridging the gap between Eastern and Western musical practices in the final seconds of the song, he also gave us the perfect example of how someone could reach that sense of peace.
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