Faster (George Harrison song)
"Faster" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his self-titled 1979 studio album. The song was inspired by Harrison's year away from music-making in 1977, during which he travelled with the Formula 1 World Championship, and by his friendship with racecar drivers such as Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda. Although equally applicable to other professions, the lyrics address the difficulties of achieving and maintaining success in the field of motorsport, particularly Formula 1.

In Britain, "Faster" was issued as the third single from George Harrison, and was available on a picture disc depicting the faces of several past world champion drivers. The single raised funds for a cancer fund set up following the death of Swedish driver Gunnar Nilsson in 1978, and also commemorated Nilsson's countryman Ronnie Peterson, who died as a result of injuries sustained during the 1978 Italian Grand Prix. Harrison made a video of the song, during which he performs the track in the back of a car chauffeured by Jackie Stewart.

History

During 1977 Harrison attended many of the races on the Formula 1 calendar as a break from songwriting and recording. Over the course of that season, he befriended racing drivers such as Niki Lauda, Emerson Fittipaldi and Jody Scheckter, as well as retired triple world champion Jackie Stewart, who continued to be associated with the sport as a commentator. After the United States Grand Prix in October 1977, a conversation with Lauda encouraged Harrison to resume songwriting; he wrote "Blow Away" as a song "that Niki-Jody-Emerson and the gang could enjoy". In addition to attracting further media attention to Formula 1, Harrison's presence at the grands prix led to constant questions about whether he intended to write a song about the sport. He subsequently wrote "Faster" – the original lyrics of which are dated 20 November 1977 – drawing inspiration from Lauda's successful comeback from his near-fatal crash at the Nürburgring the previous year. He titled the new composition after Stewart's autobiography.

Harrison wrote the majority of the lyrics in such a way that the message is not limited solely to motor racing, the only car-related word being "machinery". In the view of author Robert Rodriguez, the lyrics to "Faster" are as applicable to a Formula 1 driver as they are to "anyone embarking on a career in the limelight, say, a rock star". Harrison acknowledged, however, that the inclusion of sound effects on the recording, taken from the 1978 British Grand Prix, provide an obvious link to motor racing. He also stated: "I have a lot of fun with many of the Formula One drivers and their crews – and they have enabled me to see things from a very different angle than the music business I am normally involved with."

Release

George Harrison was released on the artist's Dark Horse record label on 14 February 1979, with "Faster" sequenced as the opening track on side two of the LP.
In the album credits, Harrison dedicated "Faster" to "the Entire Formula One Circus" and to the memory of Ronnie Peterson, who had died in September 1978 following his opening-lap crash in the Italian Grand Prix. Harrison continued to be associated with Formula 1 through much of the 1979 season. While attending the Brazilian Grand Prix in February, he corrected journalists who assumed that the whole album was inspired by Formula 1, and correctly predicted that Jody Scheckter would win the 1979 drivers title for Ferrari.

Backed by "Your Love Is Forever", the song was released as a single in the UK on 13 July, to assist in the fundraising for the Gunnar Nilsson Cancer Fund. This fund was started after the death of the Swedish driver Gunnar Nilsson in 1978, caused by cancer. The single was also available as a limited-edition picture disc, marking the first time that a Beatles-related release had been issued in this new format. The A-side of the disc depicted the faces of former drivers Stewart, Jochen Rindt, Jim Clark, Graham Hill, Stirling Moss and Juan Manuel Fangio, and contemporary competitors Lauda, Fittipaldi and Scheckter.

In his album review for the NME, Harry George recognised "Faster" as a song that "breaks new ground for Harrison, focussing on the twin pressures of motor racing: danger and public acclaim". George admired the track as "compassionate yet unpretentious, cruising chunkily in third gear". AllMusic critic Lindsay Planer praises Harrison's acoustic and electric guitar playing on "Faster". He describes the song as an "upbeat and driving" rocker.

Music video
Harrison made a promotional film for the single, which includes footage he had shot at the Brazilian Grand Prix in São Paulo in February 1979. The film alternates between these and other racing scenes and clips of Harrison miming to the song while seated in the back of a limousine, with Stewart acting as his chauffeur. The latter scenes were filmed on 28 May, following the weekend of the 1979 Monaco Grand Prix, which Harrison attended with Ringo Starr. In 2004, the "Faster" video was included on the DVD accompanying Harrison's Dark Horse Years reissues.

Personnel
According to author Simon Leng:

George Harrison – vocals, 12-string acoustic guitars, slide guitars, electric guitar, bass, backing vocals
 Neil Larsen – piano
 Andy Newmark – drums
 Ray Cooper – tambourine
 Del Newman – string arrangement