 Typically of his songs over this period , Harrison was unable to commit to naming the new composition . At the start of the sessions for the Beatles ' Revolver album , Geoff Emerick , the band 's recording engineer , gave the song the working title of " Granny Smith " , after the variety of apple . The song was partly inspired by Harrison 's experimentation with the hallucinogenic drug LSD , which he credited as a catalyst for increased awareness and his interest in Eastern philosophical concepts . Author Ian MacDonald views the subject matter as " part philosophical " and " part love @-@ song " to Pattie Boyd , the English model whom Harrison married in January 1966 . 
