Chords for The Beatles' "Piggies" - George Harrison's Missing Lyrics

_ Everywhere, there's lots of piggies, playing piggy pranks.
You can see them on their trotters, at the piggy banks, paying piggy thanks to the pig [C] brother. _ _
[Em] Hello, hello, I'm Lance and I'm back with another story about the Beatles.
This one's about George Harrison's piggies.
I know it may not be a standout track on the [Am] White Album, and I know I'll hear some dissent
in the comments, but let's be real, this is not even George's top song on that record.
That would be Savoy Truffle.
_ _ _ _ _ Why am [G] I so _ [D] dreadfully weak?
_ [E] _
_ Seriously though, I do love piggies, and I can't imagine the White Album without it.
As a young fan, I loved the animal songs throughout the album.
The piggies were [Gb] sandwiched between Blackbird and Rocky Raccoon.
But it's meant to be more than a cutesy kids' tune.
It doesn't take much reading between the lines to understand that George Harrison was
commenting on society.
The big pigs versus the little piggies represent wealth and class divisions.
For a thorough breakdown of the song, check out Dave Rybaczewski's work on BeatlesEbooks.com.
I've linked to his site in the description below.
If you head that way, get ready to dig into some middle school memories.
Do you remember reading George Orwell's Animal Farm?
All animals are equal, _ but some animals are more equal than others.
There were some lyrical differences between the finished piggies on the White Album and
the version that came before it.
It first appeared in recorded form on the Esher demos.
In 1968, George mentioned that the song was written years prior to the lyric, apparently,
that he put away and rediscovered.
In other words, unlike so many of the Esher tracks, Piggies is not a song from the India trip.
The lyrical difference between the Esher version and the final track on the White Album is
small but noticeable.
The piggies eating bacon [A] versus pork chops.
_ [Em] _ _ [Am] _ _ _ [Dm] _
_ _ _ _ [Eb] _ _ _ [Gb] _
_ [Ab] _ But there's [Eb] another line that was [Abm] originally written for the song, which George edited
out in all versions from The Beatles' years.
Check out the lyric sheet included in the 2018 White Album box set.
It's also in George's 1980 autobiography, I Me Mine.
Again, here's the missing verse. _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
_ _ George never said why he deleted the line.
In his book, he simply called it an extra verse that was written but not used.
I mentioned George Orwell's Animal Farm, and in this unearthed verse, the nod from
Harrison to Orwell continues with the pig brother bit.
This of course is an allusion to Orwell's classic book, 1984, and its big brother theme.
_ While these lyrics never made the record, they were eventually sung by George Harrison on stage.
He performed this extended version [G] of Piggies at the 12 concerts in Japan from 1991, and
to end his final full concert in London on the 6th of April, 1992.
_ Available video recordings of these performances are rough.
They were all shot by members of the audience.
But it's worth including a clip here.
So here's the verse from the 1991 Japan show, re-synced with officially released audio.
_ [D] _
_ [G] _ _ _ [D] _ _ _ [G] _
_ _ [D] _ _ _ [Em] _ _ [A] _
_ _ [Em] _ _ _ [A] _ _ _
[D] _ _ [Em] _ _ _ [G] Perhaps we'll see an [E] official video release from the Harrison estate [Ab] someday.
Those in the know have said, unfortunately, there was no pro film crew for any of these
shows with the exception of a few songs captured in Japan.
But you never know.
Interestingly, around the same time as these performances, George commented on the then
current political climate in the UK.
The system we have now is obsolete and not fulfilling the needs of the people.
Times have changed, and we need [N] a new approach.
Perhaps it was this thinking that encouraged George to include the missing Piggies verse,
since it further illustrated the gap between the haves and have-nots.
_ So that's it on the missing verse from Piggies, but here's a long afterword on the link to George Orwell.
From what I can tell, George Harrison never spoke publicly about an admiration for Orwell.
But as with most Beatles stories, curious overlaps aren't hard to find.
In this case, it has to do with the Goon Show.
Dahlhard Beatles fans will already know, but the show was a popular 1950s BBC comedy program.
As adolescents, the Beatles absolutely loved it, and it clearly influenced their humor
and their onstage presence.
The show also forever endeared producer George Martin to the band in the early days, since
Martin produced some of the Goon's records.
Now about this impact on the Beatles, Lennon said in 1973, _ _ _
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_ _ _ _ The first Goon Show episode of 1955, when John Lennon was just 14 years old, was a send-up
of Orwell's 1984, titled appropriately, 1985. _
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_ _ Now Peter Sellers and Spike Milligan, founding members of the Goons, were featured heavily
in this program, written by Spike Milligan.
This episode was a standout performance in the Goon's fifth season, and it's noted
as one of the first major parodies of 1984.
_ _ [Ab] _
_ _ _ _ [Abm] _ _ _ _
Besides the Goon influence on the Beatles, Spike Milligan and Peter Sellers became good
friends with the band, with Sellers even sitting in on get-back rehearsals in 1969.
_ George Harrison was especially close with these two.
For instance, after an early 70s visit and jam session with the duo at George's Friar
Park estate, [D] George gifted a guitar to Spike Milligan.
Thinking about these visits, I wonder what the guys discussed, and if the topic of Orwell
ever came up.
_ _ _ Alright, that's it for this one.
Thank you so much for watching.
Feel free to give this video a thumbs up if you enjoyed it.
And if you're into [G] Beatles stories like this and you want to see more, [D] please check out
my other videos and subscribe [G] to this channel.
[Dm] One final Orwellian [Am] rabbit hole to consider.
There's another link between George Orwell and the Beatles, [D] this one dating to the 1940s.
Just for fun, comment below when you find [Dm] it.
Alright, see y'all [G] next time.
_ _ [D] _ _ [Dm] _ _ _ [G] _