George Harrison Was Annoyed That Celebrities Had to Do the Government’s Work
George Harrison was annoyed that celebrities had to do the government’s work. He took it upon himself to organize the Concert for Bangladesh to raise money for refugees.
George called out the government’s work in ‘Piggies’
In his song “Piggies,” George sings about men in “starched white shirts” who rule the world with their own selfish intentions.
George told Mark Rowland in 1989 (per George Harrison on George Harrison: Interviews and Encounters), “It was a much sort of gentler thing, and it was before that kind of consciousness. It was just an awareness that the big guys up there, they’re the ones who are in the stuffed white shirts–’starched white shirts.’ [Laughter] It was a social comment because it’s still the same.
“Like Phil Collins has that song [‘Another Day in Paradise‘] about people sleeping in the streets, but still everybody else is all tucked away cozy in their big government offices. It’s just a portion of the money that’s being just squandered on ridiculous things like the military…
“See, we should have like a big international, I suppose it would be the United Nations Army, who would go around and instead of bullying innocent people, they go around and bully guilty people, you know—like the people who are damaging the environment.”
George would only continue to be angry with the government’s work. Later, he felt compelled to organize the Concert for Bangladesh. No one else was doing anything about the humanitarian crisis.
George was angry that celebrities had to do the government’s work
It’s safe to say George was unhappy about the government’s work over the decades.
He told Rowland, “But the basic problem there is the agrochemical industries have got a stranglehold on the government. They’re all in cahoots, and they’re probably all Freemasons as well. And that’s it. So what we really need is an honest army that goes around busting all them guys.
“… And this madness that like Reagan and Thatcher together created, where they say, ‘Everybody is much better off now.'”
George said if you have a platform to speak, then speak, and that’s what he did. However, he hated doing the government’s work.
“It’s a hell of a problem, but … without the government [helping]. That’s what annoys me, it’s always the people who start these organizations who raise people’s awareness, and the people with the power and the ability to change enormous things very quickly don’t want to do it, they want to drag their feet.
“It’s the same thing with any of those charities, you know, like going back to Band Aid [singer-songwriter Bob Geldof’s 1984 charity-driven supergroup —Ed.] and all that kind of stuff.
“And now there’s millions of charities, and it’s always musicians or film people who are doing the work that government really is supposed to do. They collect taxes to take care of everybody, but instead they’re all off, there, playing their little games with missiles and stuff.”
The closest George came to politics
In his 1980 memoir, I Me Mine, George said he didn’t think there should be any politicians. “They seem to be the ones who mess everything up,” he said. “I never understood politics, personally.”
There was just as much division in mysticism as there was in politics. George continued, “I never voted for anybody in my life. I don’t see why you have to be left or right. It’s the same thing I experienced when I got into mysticism—’My guru’s better than your guru.’
“I don’t like any of that stuff.”
The closest George came to politics was supporting the political party called the Natural Law Party. The LA Times reported that George played his first British concert in 23 years to help support the party.
George “turned down a request from the head of the Natural Law Party to run for a Parliament seat from Liverpool.”
“That was bit over the top,” George said. “I wouldn’t really want the karma of being in Parliament for four years. It would be fun if the lot of them made a government–then we could actually do something. But to be one of just a few seats and to have to go and hang out with all that crowd down there… I’ve got better things to do with my life, I think.”
It would’ve been interesting seeing George get involved in the Natural Law Party or any other form of politics.
