(Above) Picture courtesy British Library
There may be only two of them left alive, but the appetite for all things Beatles continues unabated at the British Library, where rare examples of the group's lyrics sit proudly beside the Magna Carta and Shakespeare's First Folio.
Now a newly-discovered precious manuscript - in the form of a previously unseen George Harrison lyric - has been added to the Library's popular Beatles collection after it was found by Beatles biographer and collector Hunter Davies during research for a new edition of their official biography.
Written in early 1967, when Harrison was aged 23 or 24, the untitled song was penned at a time when the group had stopped touring to spend more time in the studio working on their ground-breaking Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album.
Penned in blue ink, the lyrics actually read like the doodlings of an angst ridden teenager - perhaps unsurprisingly it's not a song that he ever recorded, or perhaps even put music to. The girl George was dreaming about remains a mystery, although it could have been his then-wife Pattie Boyd.
The discarded lyric was rescued from the floor of Abbey Road Studios by official Beatles biographer Hunter Davies. By Kind permission of the British Library
"George's words are all that is left of the song - we can only guess what it would have sounded like, so it is an invaluable and hugely interesting piece of Beatles memorabilia," said Jamie Andrews, Head of Modern Literary Manuscripts at the British Library.
"The nation loves the Beatles, so it's great to see George's lyrics reunited with those of his bandmates in the British Library, next to John Lennon's Help and Paul McCartney's Yesterday."
On the reverse side of George's lyrics are instructions on how to reach Beatles manager Brian Epstein's country house in Sussex, written by Epstein.
This predates August 1967, when Epstein was found dead at his London home following an accidental sleeping pill overdose - a tragedy that John Lennon later claimed signalled the beginning of the end for the band.
In the new edition of the biography Davies recalls how he collected Beatles lyrics discarded as scrap paper from the floor of Abbey Road studio and kept them as souvenirs.
"I can't believe I'd kept George's lyrics all these years but had forgotten about it until now," he lamented. "Although George is no longer around to tell us what the inspiration was for the song, I'm glad the lyrics will be on display at the British Library for generations of Beatles fans to enjoy."
Most of the Library's Beatles collection, which includes the lyrics to A Hard Day's Night, is on loan by kind permission of Davies, who plans to donate it to the institution after his death.
Also on display are concert tickets, a printed Christmas fanzine letter, a 45rpm single for A Hard Day's Night, an untitled verse written by John Lennon, the first issue of the Beatles magazine and an early photo of the iconic quartet.
Admission to the Sir John Ritblat Gallery is free. Visit www.bl.uk/whatson/permgall/treasures/index.html for more details.
The lyrics in full:
I'm happy to say that its only a dream
When I come across people like you,
It's only a dream and you make it obscene
With the things that you think and you do
Your [sic] so unaware of the pain that I bear
And jealous for what you can't do
There’s times when I feel that you haven’t a hope
but I also know that isn't true.
