Post-Beetles Work: Beatle George Harrison Memorial Tree to Be Replaced

Insects destroyed the musician's Griffith Park memory tree in 2014.

"No one I think is in my tree" is among the most memorable lines from The Fab Four's colossal canon, but the '60s-era "Strawberry Fields Forever" lyrics didn't predict that one day, far in the future, something would definitely be in George Harrison's tree.

That something? Beetles, in a rather humorous twist that the Beatle, who produced some of Monty Python's funniest films, might have found ironic.

Headline writers absolutely found the beetles-Beatle connection ironic when it was announced in 2014 that the Griffith Park pine was destroyed, and all fans found dismay that the peaceful symbol would be no longer.

But the George Harrison Memorial Tree, which isn't far from Griffith Observatory, will live again, at least in the form of a replanted tree. The tree replanting will happen on Wednesday, Feb. 25, says the LA Times, which is timely indeed: George Harrison was born on February 25, 1943.

The memorial tree wasn't the only tree ever to meet with beetle damage at the park, but it is, for certain, the most legendary.

The new tree be planted near the plaque that commemorates Mr. Harrison, who passed away in Los Angeles in 2001. (The plaque reads "In memory of a great humanitarian who touched the world as an artist, a musician, and a gardener.")

Will the new tree stand far, far longer than a decade, which is just about how long the first tree lasted? Here's hoping.

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Will LA City Councilmember Tom LaBonge, a longtime friend to the park, be at the afternoon ceremony? Of course, along with Beatles-cool radio host Chris Carter.

One of the musician's most famous solo hits remains "All Things Must Pass." It's a fine philosophy for approaching the non-permanence and flow of life. And a reminder that if one pine ends, another sapling can be planted with the same moving message in mind.

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