This Song

George Harrison wrote "This Song" in March 1976 after spending a week in a New York courtroom, trying to convince a judge that his 1970 song "My Sweet Lord" did not infringe the copyright of the Chiffons' 1963 hit "He's So Fine".Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium, 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; {{ISBN|0-615-11724-4}}), p. 453. According to Harrison, the plaintiff's witnesses got ridiculously in-depth, breaking "My Sweet Lord" down into several melody lines, or "motifs", as they referred to them.{{cite AV media notes |title=Thirty Three & 1/3 |title-link=Thirty Three & 1/3 |others=George Harrison |year=2004 |page=3|type=CD booklet |publisher=Dark Horse Records }} The plaintiff's expert also drew up several charts with large musical notes on it to prove the point. Harrison said in his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, that after several days, he "started to believe that maybe they did own those notes".

Harrison wrote "This Song" to express his frustration at the infringement case in the form of an uptempo, piano-driven track. The song addresses the issue of musical plagiarism and also mocks serious analysis of a pop song.Lindsay Planer, [https://www.allmusic.com/song/this-song-mt0012452626 "George Harrison 'This Song'"], AllMusic (retrieved 2 March 2021). In his lyrics, Harrison states that the new composition came to him "unknowingly",Inglis, p. 61. discusses its key and main riff, and asserts that he has his "expert's" approval.Tillery, p. 117. With reference to Bright Tunes, the company that owned the copyright to "He's So Fine", he declares, "This tune has nothing 'Bright' about it".Clayson, pp. 353, 355.

In musicologist Thomas MacFarlane's description, Harrison includes "musical jokes" and "familiar musical phrases" to further convey his view of a pop song's originality.MacFarlane, p. 104. The opening riff recalls that of the Four Tops' "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)",Allison, p. 157. a similarity that Harrison soon acknowledges. He sings that it might be recognisable from his 1975 single "You"; other voices then interject, disagreeing over whether the song sounds more like "I Can't Help Myself" or Fontella Bass's "Rescue Me".Clayson, pp. 355–56. The recording includes Billy Preston on piano and organ, a horn arrangement by Tom Scott,Madinger & Easter, p. 454. and Monty Python's Eric Idle providing the "ratbag" interjections about the song's originality.Clayson, p. 356.

Writing for Goldmine magazine in January 2002, Dave Thompson described "This Song" as "a brilliantly constructed commentary on Harrison's more recent travails".Dave Thompson, "The Music of George Harrison: An album-by-album guide", Goldmine, 25 January 2002, p. 18. Billboard described the track as "irresistible" due to its cheerfulness and the way "the words so cleverly play on the concept of trying to write an entertaining non-controversial song".{{cite news|title=Top Single Picks|newspaper=Billboard|accessdate=2020-07-13|page=70|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-Billboard/70s/1976/Billboard%201976-11-20.pdf|date=20 November 1976}} Cash Box said "a jazzy piano and organ take off on the lead" and "a firey sax played by Tom Scott spits across the bridge."{{cite news|title=CashBox Singles Reviews|date=November 27, 1976|page=20|accessdate=2021-12-11|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Cash-Box/70s/1976/Cash-Box-1976-11-27.pdf|newspaper=Cash Box}} Record World said "What if every time you wrote a song you had to run it through a computer to test its originality? That's the theme here, inspired by George's legal rift. The bright sound could make it his biggest yet."{{cite magazine|magazine=Record World|date=November 20, 1976|page=1|accessdate=2023-03-03|title=Hits of the Week|url=https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-All-Music/Record-World/70s/76/Record-World-1976-11-20.pdf}}

Harrison directed a music video for the song,The Editors of Rolling Stone, Harrison, Rolling Stone Press/Simon & Schuster (New York, NY, 2002; {{ISBN|0-7432-3581-9}}), p. 132. which was filmed in a Los Angeles courthouse and satirised the 1976 plagiarism hearing. The clip was first shown on the 20 November 1976 episode of Saturday Night Live hosted by Paul Simon, in which Harrison was a special musical guest. It features Harrison in a courtroom along with a cast of many of his friends (dressed up as the jury, bailiff, defence experts). Drummer Jim Keltner appears as the judge and the Rolling Stones' Ronnie Wood (dressed as a "Pepperpot" character) mimics Idle's falsetto words; Harrison's girlfriend (later wife), Olivia Arias, appears between the people of the jury. The clip ends with Harrison playing guitar, with one hand handcuffed to a courtroom guard,Allison, p. 37. portrayed by Harry Nilsson.

Chicago radio station WLS, which gave "This Song" much airplay, ranked it as the 72nd most popular hit of 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.oldiesloon.com/il/wls89of77.htm |title=WLS Musicradio "Big 89 of 1977" |publisher=oldiesloon.com}} It reached number 7 on their survey of 15 January 1977.{{cite web|url=http://www.oldiesloon.com/il/wls011577.htm |title=WLS MUSICRADIO 89 |website=Oldiesloon.com |date=1977-01-15 |accessdate=2020-01-30}}

• George Harrison – vocals, electric guitars, tambourine, backing vocals
• Tom Scott – saxophones
• Billy Preston – piano, organ
• Willie Weeks – bass
• Alvin Taylor – drums
• Eric Idle – spoken voice

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Sources

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• Dale C. Allison Jr, The Love There That's Sleeping: The Art and Spirituality of George Harrison, Continuum (New York, NY, 2006; {{ISBN|978-0-8264-1917-0}}).
• Alan Clayson, George Harrison, Sanctuary (London, 2003; {{ISBN|1-86074-489-3}}).
• George Harrison, I Me Mine, Chronicle Books (San Francisco, CA, 2002 [1980]; {{ISBN|0-8118-3793-9}}).
• Ian Inglis, The Words and Music of George Harrison, Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; {{ISBN|978-0-313-37532-3}}).
• Simon Leng, While My Guitar Gently Weeps: The Music of George Harrison, Hal Leonard (Milwaukee, WI, 2006; {{ISBN|1-4234-0609-5}}).
• Thomas MacFarlane, The Music of George Harrison, Routledge (Abingdon, UK, 2019; {{ISBN|978-1-138-59910-9}}).
• Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium, 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; {{ISBN|0-615-11724-4}}).
• Robert Rodriguez, Fab Four FAQ 2.0: The Beatles' Solo Years, 1970–1980, Backbeat Books (Milwaukee, WI, 2010; {{ISBN|978-1-4165-9093-4}}).
• Gary Tillery, Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison, Quest Books (Wheaton, IL, 2011; {{ISBN|978-0-8356-0900-5}}).

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• [https://web.archive.org/web/20081221135306/http://abbeyrd.best.vwh.net/mysweet.htm An article on the plagiarism suit]
• {{YouTube|T0i9rjTxhpY|George Harrison - This Song}}

{{Thirty Three & 1/3}}

{{George Harrison singles}}

Category:1976 songs

Category:1976 singles

Category:Dark Horse Records singles

Category:George Harrison songs

Category:Songs written by George Harrison

Category:Song recordings produced by George Harrison

Category:Music published by Oops Publishing and Ganga Publishing, B.V.