george harrison wrote the song something for the beatles.
who did george harrison wrote the song something for?
the beatles
george harrison wrote "sunshine life for me (sail away raymond)" while on holiday in ireland with his wife, pattie boyd. the couple stayed with scottish singer donovan, a friend of the beatles since the mid 1960s and a fellow student on the band's 1968 transcendental meditation course in india. the visit took place over the easter holiday weekend in april 1971, when donovan, having recently become a tax exile in ireland, hosted a party for his musician friends at the castle martin estate in kilcullen, county kildare.damian smyth, "george harrison's irish easter egg hunt!", i96 radio, 19 march 2016 (retrieved 2 september 2016). while discussing the song in his autobiography, "i, me, mine", harrison recalls composing the melody on an open-tuned guitar, and adds that he wrote it "like an old irish folk song, a bit like country music".
sunshine life for me (sail away raymond)
harrison then went to hana on the hawaiian island of maui in february 1978, where he finished the song during a fruitful period for his songwriting. he titled it "soft-hearted hana" after the town of hana, and as a play on the title of "hard hearted hannah (the vamp of savannah)". the latter was a 1920s ragtime standard that harrison had become familiar with through a 1961 recording by the temperance seven, which was produced by george martin, the beatles' producer. harrison's inspiration for the "crazy" lyrics came from ingesting magic mushrooms, which he said was his first experience of hallucinogenic drugs for perhaps ten years. he also wrote "here comes the moon" during this time, drawing inspiration again from the lush natural surroundings on maui and from the magic mushrooms.timothy white, "george harrison – reconsidered", "musician", november 1987, p. 55. another new composition was "sooty goes to hawaii", a comedy song that harrison wrote about sooty, the popular glove puppet character from british television.dave thompson, "the music of george harrison: an album-by-album guide", "goldmine", 25 january 2002, p. 18. olivia harrison – harrison's girlfriend at the time, and soon to be his wife – recalls that this visit represented the start of their "love affair with hawaii", as well as providing the inspiration for "soft-hearted hana" and other songs on the 1979 album "george harrison".
soft-hearted hana