George Harrison wanted to evoke the good times he had with The Beatles in his song, “When We Was Fab.” However, not all of the tune’s lyrics stem from fond memories. There’s a dark lyric that speaks about one of the things George hated about being a member of the Fab Four.
George Harrison performing at the Prince's Trust Concert in 1987.
Being Beatle George was hard. It was a constant push and pull between screaming fans and not being able to stretch his creativity to its fullest. Beatlemania aged him and made him paranoid. John Lennon and Paul McCartney often pushed him and his songs aside. However, on top of it all, George desperately wanted to break free and explore spiritualism. He didn’t want to be a glorified session man or a teen idol. George wanted to be God-conscious.
However, years after The Beatles split and everything settled, George came to terms with being a Beatle. When he entered the studio in 1987 to record Cloud Nine, he suddenly wanted to create a song that evoked the spirit of his old band. What resulted was “When We Was Fab,” a song (and music video) that had more Beatles Easter eggs than “Glass Onion.”
Source: Hannah Wigandt/cheatsheet.com