From the start this song welcomes you in. It opens with a simple acoustic guitar rift and soon other instruments being to play along. Almost two minutes in, the song really picks up. The drums become quite apparent and a listener cannot help but tap along with it. For me, I love to sing along with it, for the song contains some very important noteworthy lyrics. Harrison sings about his desire to connect with God. He uses both Christian and Hindu phrases. And that is why this song really matters. It charts the spirituality of a man born into a Christian England but blossomed in a Hindu India. Harrison was already inspired by the sound of the sitar by the time The Beatles visited India in 1968. Following the pilgrimage, Harrison was for all intents and purposes a confirmed Hindu. He would explore his new found faith for the rest of his career. And this song is a perfect example of this exploration. The song begins with using "hallelujah" as the words of praise sung in the background. But following a mid song vocal break/ highlight of George's guitar playing, "hare krishna" can be heard. Now initially I believed that this shift was permanent and only Hindu phrases were heard throughout the rest of the song, but last week while doing a close listen of the song I discovered that "hallelujah" is heard a few last times before a full cornucopia of terms from Harrison's new faith are chanted. Interestingly enough, I would say that the spirituality Harrison exhibits in this song reminds me of Rumi. Rumi was a mystic Islamic poet who aligned the love of God with romantic love. Many of his religious poems can be read as romantic. The same can be said about Harrison's words here. He very easily could had used them in a love song from his days in The Beatles. Instead they comprise this spiritual song from early on in his solo career.
I was unable to find a link for the album version so please enjoy this very popular live version from George's Concert for Bangladesh.
Please enjoy,
Nick Howard
No comments:
Post a Comment