This lyric seems to sum things up.........one of his last. On the day that OXFORD bans Christmas I find these words prophetic.

BRAINWASHED
Brainwashed in our childhood
Brainwashed by the school
Brainwashed by our teachers
and brainwashed by their rules

Brainwashed by our leaders
By our Kings and Queens
Brainwashed in the open and brainwashed
behind the scenes

God God God
A voice cried in the wilderness
God God God
it was on the longest night
God God God
An eternity of darkness
God God God
Someone turned out the spiritual light

Brainwashed by the Nikkei
Brainwashed by Dow Jones
Brainwashed by the FTSE
Nasdaq and secure loans
Brainwashed us from Brussels
Brainwashing us in Bonn
Brainwashing us in Washington
Westminster in London

God God God
You are the wisdom that we seek
God God God
The lover that we miss
God God God
Your nature is eternity
God God God
You are Existence, Knowledge, Bliss

The soul does not love, it is love itself
It does not exist, It is existence itself
It does not know, It is knowledge itself
"How to Know God" Page 130

They brainwashed my great uncle
Brainwashed my cousin Bob
They even got my grandma when she was
working for the mob
Brainwash you while you're sleeping
While you're in a traffic jam
Brainwash you while you're weeping
While still a baby in your pram
Brainwashed by the Military
Brainwashed under duress
Brainwashed by the media
You're brainwashed by the press
Brainwashed by computer
Brainwashed by mobile phones
Brainwashed by the satellite
Brainwashed to the bone

God God God
Won't you lead us through this mess
God God God
From the places of concrete
God God God
Nothing's worse than ignorance
God God God
I just won't accept defeat

God God God
Must be something I forgot
God God God
Down on Bullshit Avenue
God God God
If we can only stop the rot
God God God
Wish that you'd brainwash us too

Namah Parvati Pataye Hare Hare Mahadev
Namah Parvati Pataye Hare Hare
Namah Parvati Pataye Hare Hare

Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva
Hare Hare Hare Hare Mahadeva
Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva
Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva

Namah Parvati Pataye Hare Hare
Namah Parvati Pataye Hare Hare
Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva
Shiva Shiva Shankara Mahadeva

What!?

We had this last year with certain tabloid publications calling on the Winter Light debacle and claiming that Christmas was being faded out blah blah blah.

For the record 'Winter Light' is a phrase to envisage all of the magic of the Xmas season. Oxford City and County Councils HAVE Xmas trees; Xmas cards, Xmas puddings; Xmas decorations; Xmas holidays; Xmas...

It is actually a matter of creating something that brings the community together and creates a real event. Bob the Builder (not the 'real' one of course) turning on the lights with a former member of steps is where the phrase 'Christmas Lights' comes in...

Speaking of Christmas, I do find it disturbing and ridiculous that Christmas is no longer referred to as that in America... everybody now says "Happy Holidays" instead of "Happy Xmas" which suggests to me the PC brigade have been creating more senseless damage.

As for Harrison's lyric, it does say a lot. However, I offer some lines from "Drift Away" a track from the last Kinks album "Phobia" released in 1993. Ray Davies wrote the lyrics in 1991 or 1992 and these parts I'm quoting make for very eerie reading today...

"Back in the real world
There's tension everywhere
And the smell of fear
Keeps hanging around and polluting the air
The man on the news is going over the top
Now he'll say anything so his show don't flop
Wall Street's down, so what
And according to astute market analysis
The world's gonna stop
they shout the story to the nation
Pass on the panic to the population
This is the end of civilization
It's all over now "

and...

"Newsmen winding up the nation
A little bad news helps circulation
Pass on the panic to the population
It's all over, it's all over
It's all over now "

Sounds familiar?

very familiar agreed......we seem to be like Hamsters on the Wheel......worrying.

Christians hijacked old pagan winter festivals in the first place.

It's high time the infidels took it back.

George Harrison was right about a lot of things over the years - but, as ever, many heard but few actually listened.