How Could He Crack Jokes at a Time Like This?

On this day (Dec. 30) in 1999, a mad man broke into George Harrison’s house and nearly killed him.

The attacker stabbed the former Beatle more than 30 times.

If not for his wife, Olivia, joining the fight, George probably would have died.

Gruesome, terrible, serious business…

…and soon after, George was cracking jokes.

After the fight but before an ambulance took him to the hospital, police arrived with two of George’s employees who were new on the job.

Lying in a pool of blood, the guy who wrote “Here Comes the Sun” turned to the employees and said, “What do you think of the job so far?”

Then, in the ambulance on the way to the hospital, George said, “This sort of thing never happens to the Rolling Stones.”

I heard about this from Eric Idle who tells the story in Judd Apatow’s book, “Sick in the Head.”

Idle was a founding member Monty Python.

He’s the one hanging from a cross at the end of “The Life of Brian” who turns to Brian (also crucified) and says, “Cheer up…”

And then he sings a song he wrote: “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”

Idle tells Apatow the song began as a joke: “The people singing it are being crucified… So that, in its first context, is heavy irony.”

He called it “an insanely cherry-uppy song. Like a Disney song, maybe with a whistle.”

But over time, the irony has melted away. Idle gets letters from fans who say the song cheers them up. It even “saves them from depression.”

Which brings us back to George Harrison…

…and you.

We all experience bad times and challenges. We’ve been attacked. Wounded. Maybe even on the edge of death. Literally or figuratively. It doesn’t matter.

Idle says he thinks of the song as something “our fathers would have sung in World War Two. They’re the bluebirds over the white cliffs of Dover, or there’s always the nostalgic longing for these bad times that are going to end, when the sun will come from behind the silver lining, you know. Optimistic in the middle of real nastiness.”

So, as you prepare for 2026. Brace yourself for some setbacks.

And remember George Harrison and Eric Idle — guys who wrote songs about the sun coming from behind the silver lining.

Look on the bright side of life.

Crack a joke.

Carry on.