Lost George Harrison song finished by U.K. writer
Last Updated: Tuesday, November 3, 2009 | 12:00 PM ET
CBC News
It's believed that George Harrison, seen in 1972, wrote Silence (Is Its Own Reply) about fellow Beatle John Lennon. (Canadian Press)A British songwriter has completed an unfinished song that George Harrison began 40 years ago.
Harrison, who died in 2001, scribbled 10 lines of a new song entitled Silence (Is Its Own Reply) on the back of a scrap sheet of paper bearing the directions to Beatles manager Brian Epstein's Sussex country home.
The scrap, discovered on the floor of Abbey Road Studios in the late 1960s, was given to Beatles biographer Hunter Davies when he asked for a sample of each band member's handwriting.
Davies, who is set to republish his 1968 biography The Beatles in December, recently rediscovered the lyrics while combing through his archives.
Though initially thought to explore unrequited love, Harrison's incomplete song was about his tenuous relationship with fellow Beatle John Lennon, Davies now believes.
During an interview with BBC Radio's On The Beat, the biographer discussed the unfinished song and host Spencer Leigh suggested that perhaps a contemporary songwriter could attempt to complete the tune.
Leigh contacted songwriter-musician Dean Johnson with the task.
"I found it unbelievable, tremendously exciting and above all a complete honour," Johnson says in a post on his website.
"The words were both brutally honest and compassionate and Harrison was obviously writing from the heart."
Johnson appeared on On The Beat last month to play his completed version of Silence (Is Its Own Reply). The original scrap of paper bearing Harrison's lyrics are now part of the British Library's display of Davies's Beatles archives.
After receiving permission from Harrison's estate, Davies has also included the lyrics to Silence (Is Its Own Reply) in the forthcoming new edition of his Beatles biography.
