Musical Gems - Faster

Here is a great song by George Harrison.  This is from his 1979 album simply entitled, George Harrison.  The song is called "Faster" and it's about Formula 1 racing.  Specifically, it is inspired by  Formula 1 drivers, Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda.  If you watch the video below, you'll see clips of George playing guitar and singing in the back of a limo; Jackie Stewart is the driver.

This is probably my favorite album by George Harrison; All Things Must Pass is a very close second.
George Harrison took a year off from music in 1977 and spent a great deal of time following the Formula 1 circuit.  He came back from this energized and produced a wonderful album with lots of really great songs, including another gem, "Your Love is Forever."  Every song on this album is well-written and the whole thing is a joy to listen to.

George was famously known as the "quiet" Beatle. His songwriting blossomed later than and was often eclipsed by that of his bandmates, John Lennon and Paul McCartney.  He had a huge backlog of songs that the Beatles passed on. After the band broke up he released a solo album, All Things Must Pass, and it was a triple album.  For those of you who don't remember vinyl records, this means it took three disks (each with a little over 20 minutes of music per side) to contain everything.

In my humble opinion, George ended up being the best songwritter of all the former Beatles and this album is exhibit A in defense of that thesis.  As a side note, Frank Sinatra once said that his favorite Lennon/McCartney song was "Something".  It was written and sung by George Harrison.

I like "Faster" partly because its about something other than love or romance.  The song has a nice melody and the mixing of the race car sounds with the music is a nice touch.  George was famously a master of the slide guitar and he shows it on this track.

Chose a life in circuses
Jumped into the deepest end
Pushing himself to all extremes
Made it, people became his friend

Now they stood and noticed him
Wanted to be a part of it
Pulled out some poor machinery
So he worked 'til the pieces fit

The people were intrigued
His wife held back her fears
The headlines gave acclaim
He'd realized their dreams

Faster than a bullet from a gun
He is faster than everyone
Quicker than the blinking of an eye
Like a flash you could miss him going by
No one knows quite how he does it
But it's true, they say
"He's the master of going faster"

Now he moved into the space
That the special people share
Right on the edge of do or die
Where there is nothing left to spare

Still the crowds came pouring in
Some had hoped to see him fail
Filling their hearts with jealousies
Crazy people with love so frail

The people were intrigued
His wife held back her fears
The headlines gave acclaim
He'd realized their dreams

Faster than a bullet from a gun
He is faster than everyone
Quicker than the blinking of an eye
Like a flash you could miss him going by
No one knows quite how he does it
But it's true, they say
"He's the master of going faster"

No need to wonder why
His wife held back her fears
So few have even tried
To realize their dreams

Faster than a bullet from a gun
He is faster than everyone
Quicker than the blinking of an eye
Like a flash you could miss him going by
No one knows quite how he does it
But it's true, they say
"He's the master of going faster"

No one knows quite how he does it
But it's true, they say
"He's the master of going faster"

Songwriters: George Harrison
Faster lyrics © EMI Music Publishing, The Bicycle Music Company

As I said, the album was released in 1979.  I bought a copy of the album on cassette tape in 1983 in Korea.  Back then, international copyright laws were poorly enforced in Korea and you could buy almost any record album at a local music shop on cassette tape for about a dollar.  So I bought quite a few.  I was in Korea originally for a Study Abroad trip sponsored by BYU.  I'd purchased a Walkman-style cassette player in Tokyo early on in the Study Abroad trip and I listened to my stash of albumn constantly, especially when riding the busses around town.

Study Abroad ran from April through June, as I recall.  We started in Japan for about a week, spent several weeks in Korea studying at Yonsei University's Korean Language Institiute, and finished up with trips to Taiwan and Hong Kong.

All during my stay in Seoul I worked at a small English language institute near the YMCA in downtown Seoul where we were staying.  I was on a student visa and did not have permisson to work and, of course, I got caught a week before we were set to leave for Taiwan.  I paid a fine, but they didn't deport me because I was leaving much earlier than they could've arranged anyway.

I liked the money I made teaching English conversation, but I couldn't teach in Seoul.  So after Study Abroad ended I altered my ticket and flew from Hong Kong back to Seoul.  I had some friends from my missionary days (Peter Faux, Richard Manning, Todd Glover and Keith McCormick) who were teaching English down in Busan and they told me that visa enforcement there was very lax, so I headed down there and ended up staying until the end of 1983.

I'm pretty sure this is when I bought the George Harrison album and began listening to it as I rode from class to class across Busan on the busses.  Good memories, but I'm glad that phase of my life has passed.

Anyway, this is a gem of a song.  So enjoy!