Blue Jay Way is a song by The Beatles, written by George Harrison, that appears on their 1967 album and film project Magical Mystery Tour.
The Story Behind Blue Jay Way
On August 1, 1967, George Harrison was staying at a rented cul de sac in the Hollywood Hills along a street called (you guessed it) Blue Jay Way. While waiting for Derek Taylor (the longtime Beatles publicist), George began to get impatient, and finally realized that Derek (who was miserably lost in the Hollywood Hills at the time) wasn't coming. So, in a downcast mood, Harrison turned to the organ in his house and began to write this tune.
The song more or less wrote itself; the day was foggy and the roads in the area were winding and confusing. George was heavily into Indian music at the time which is known for having a simple chord structure, so even though George was a complete novice at the organ, he was able to piece together the music of the song as well. Likely, George just held down certain keys as he wrote and developed the lyrics.
It didn't take long for the song to be recorded. Recording of the song commenced on September 6, 1967 early in the sessions for Magical Mystery Tour, and the song was nearly complete the next day. After a bit of final recording and then mixing, the track was completed on November 7, 1967 and appeared on the Magical Mystery Tour EP and American album at the end of the year.
Interestingly enough, Paul Simon leased the very same house the next year, and in that house while George Harrison was away in India studying transcendental meditation and in Britain working on the White Album and the Get Back project, Paul wrote the song Bridge Over Troubled Water there, using the very same organ.
The Lyrics
Here are the lyrics to Blue Jay Way, written by George Harrison in 1967:
There's a fog upon L.A.
And my friends have lost their way
We'll be over soon they said
Now they've lost themselves instead
Please don't be long please don't you be very long
Please don't be long or I may be asleep
Well it only goes to show
And I told them where to go
Ask a policeman on the street
There's so many there to meet
Please don't be long please don't you be very long
Please don't be long or I may be asleep
Now it's past my bed I know
And I'd really like to go
Soon will be the break of day
Sitting here in Blue Jay Way
Please don't be long please don't you be very long
Please don't be long or I may be asleep
Please don't be long please don't you be very long
Please don't be long
Please don't be long please don't you be very long
Please don't be long
Please don't be long please don't you be very long
Please don't be long
Don't be long - don't be long - don't be long
Don't be long - don't be long - don't be long
tes sitting here on Blue Jay Way
This song was on my "depression tape" when I was going through some rough times in my college years. I still have that tape in a small box of my personal artifacts.
This song is about questioning and losing friends, something I identified tightly with during my first year or so in college. I left behind a number of friends who at the time I figured would be a part of my life for a very long time. Now? I only know the whereabouts of four of them, and two of them are on the way to becoming part of my family.
I felt abandoned, and this song fed into those feelings of abandonment. I would walk about in the cold fall rain, listening to this song and others of the same vein, and wonder why I was so alone. I didn't see it then, but it was because I wouldn't even attempt to reach out. I stayed at home on my own Blue Jay Way.
But there is still hope here. Soon will be the break of day, George sings, and sure enough, things did break. A better life was just around the corner, but I wasn't able to see it yet.
This song is just another example of how songs by George Harrison are the basis for the soundtrack of my life.
If you'd like to read about the "depression tape" (or its sister "antidepression tape"), send me a /msg ... if I read enough /msg's on the subject, I may node about it.