"Something" is a Beatles song written by George Harrison, originally released on The Beatles' penultimate release, the album Abbey Road by Apple Records in 1969. The song is the most recorded Beatles song by other artists, approximately one thousand times, surpassed only by Yesterday, which has been recorded three times as often. Broadcast Music Incorporated (BMI) has certified Something as the 17th most played song of the 20th century, with more than five million plays.
According to most sources, "Something" is a tribute to Harrison's then wife, Pattie Boyd. Harrison took the first stanza of James Taylor's song "Something in the Way She Moves" and used it to write a temporary lyric: "Something in the way she moves / Attracts me like a pomegranate", which may be reminiscent of the first lyric to 'Yesterday' where the working title was 'Scrambled Eggs'. Later in 1969, Harrison gave his story of how he composed the song:
I wrote the song "Something" for the album before this, but didn't finish it until very recently. I usually write both the first few lines of lyrics and the musical notes together at the same time... and then the rest of the melody. Then I write the whole lyric. It's like another song that I wrote when we were in India. I wrote the whole first verse and said exactly what I needed to say, and then I needed to write a couple more verses, but I found it very difficult. But John gave me a handy tip, he said; 'When you start a new song, try to finish it straight away while you're in the right mood. Because when you later go back to it, you're in a completely different mood. So now I always try to finish the songs right away.
It is later revealed that Harrison did not really have his wife in mind. In his own words: "Everybody thinks I wrote Something about Patti, but actually while I was writing it I was thinking about Ray Charles."