George Harrison
Brainwashed

In 1999, a delusional drug addict named Michael Abram stealthily entered George Harrison's house, stabbing him just a few inches from the heart and piercing one of his lungs. George was miraculously saved, but it is thought that the clinical consequences of this senseless attempted murder had a tragic impact on George's life just two years later: in 2001, he fell ill with lung cancer, in a fulminant form that metastasized to the rest of his body. Despite treatment, George was soon declared terminally ill and unfortunately died on November 29, 2001, at the age of only 58. A living legend disappears: it seems like a cruel joke of fate that a man of such fervent religious faith was swept away so prematurely. Tears flow copiously at the mere thought.

During the last months of his life, George decided to record what would be his final album, a sort of farewell to all his fans, Brainwashed. This posthumous album, which would see the light almost a year after his death (November 18, 2002), is simply heart-wrenching and evokes emotions that verge on melancholy, in a fusion of beautiful acoustic arrangements, twilight atmospheres, and raga sounds from his beloved India. Accompanying George Harrison was his son Dhani, who played guitars alongside his father, and his longtime friend Jeff Lynne, the mastermind behind the Electric Light Orchestra (ELO) project at the time.

It starts with the ukulele: Any Road, a wonderful ballad, whose words slightly echo the saying "all roads lead to Rome," although in this case, it would be "every road will get you there," to the kingdom of God. P2 Vatican Blues (Last Saturday Night) is a cheerful and amusing little blues that pokes a bit of fun at Catholicism. Pisces Fish is one of the masterpieces of the album, simply spine-tingling, with the chorus' Indian-style choir truly extraordinary and the verse's words moving. Harrison's voice, though that of a gravely ill man, still manages to amaze. Looking For My Life is another great piece, with a chorus very much in the Beatles style, in the best Harrison fashion. Rising Sun once again reaches the peak of Pisces Fish, where ukulele, slide guitar, lyrics, and everything else blend to interact with the magnificent phrasings of the strings. We dive back into Indian mysticism with the passionate instrumental track Marwa Blues, where the guitars literally sing a sweet lament: the usual melancholic slide guitar, the one that cries, one of the hallmarks of Harrison's music.
Stuck Inside A Cloud, as well as Run So Far and Never Get Over You are magical ballads, again with the slide guitar prominently featured.  Another ukulele in another nice little blues, this time folkloric, named Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea. Rocking Chair In Hawaii is perhaps the least successful track, with exotic atmospheres somewhat distant from George Harrison's Indian universe.
Closing the album is Brainwashed, the title track, where Jon Lord plays keyboards as a guest, in addition to the talented Sam Brown providing backing vocals. All the religious themes converge here, in a summation, a declared declamation (God God God / You are the wisdom that we seek/ God God God / Wish you’d brainwash us too). The piece is well-structured, with the first interlude having a Yoga aphorism by Patanjali read aloud, then ending with the sitar accompanied by the tabla, in an homage to the Lord sung in Indian.

From the Beatles' days, George was always fascinated by the world’s oldest religion, often blending his Christian faith with Hindu beliefs, so much so that he wished his body to be cremated and the ashes scattered in the Ganges. In essence, the journey in search of a cosmic consciousness, of personal fulfillment, and realization of God as the consciousness underlying everything concludes here, with this piece of Indo-raga music leaving us breathless and a tear gliding down the face. George Harrison was an extraordinary person, not only as a musician but also, above all, as a man, with a gentle and sensitive character, the victim of a rather unfortunate destiny, shrouded by the veil of maya. Brainwashed is the culmination of a career that produced not always excellent albums but also birthed flashes of genius like All Things Must Pass and Living In The Material World. This way the “quiet” Beatle departs, but the message this wonderful record wants to leave is that it actually isn’t a farewell, but simply a see you later.