"My Sweet Lord"- George Harrison

I have already spilled a far amount of ink about this jam, but still I feel the need to discuss it further and include here in this space I am dedicating to my musing on music.

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9qdKZBXMX5E&feature=related

Please enjoy,

Nick Howard

But are they just simply songs? Welcome to the blog

While conceiving of the blog, I came down to central question about music: But are they just simply songs? Internally I answered resoundingly "No!" For me music is like literature. And for those who do not know, I am an English major, so I spend a good amount of my time considering the worth of the written value. I consider if it has an value that contributes to the greater story of humanity? Does it capture something that is both rooted in a time and timeless? Is it said by one person but speaks for all of us?

And those are the same questions I ask of music. Now I do enjoy a good pop song now and again. They are fun to sing along to while driving or hanging out with friends. But when I want to put to use my mind's full intellectual functions, I listen to music that satisfies some of the same requirements I have for literature. Mainly, does it make me think? Am I left to ponder it after it concludes. The next time I hit play on my ipod or computer, am I doing so because I want to enter back into a world of its own and bask in its glory?

As for this blog, I envision it being a few things. Inspired by the website "1000 Awesome Things", I will catalog songs I believe that others must know about/ give a listen. These songs will be both classic and current. Also, I will offer commentary on various other musical thoughts of mine. For example, things I would love to see happen in music but will probably never happen. Or share an album review for a new release by a modern band. Compare it with what has come before and what I believe is to come. I only ask that my readers are open to my words and the music they attempt to do justice to. For if a person has an open ear, then his or her mind will follow suit.

Please enjoy,
Nick Howard