1 George Harrison Song Knocked Paul McCartney’s ‘My Love’ From the No. 1 Spot
Paul McCartney‘s “My Love” doesn’t sound much like George Harrison’s songs. Despite this, “My Love” and one of George’s songs battled for chart supremacy. Notably, Paul called “My Love” “a bunch of roses” for someone he loved.
Paul McCartney compared ‘Maybe I’m Amazed’ and ‘My Love’
During a 2002 interview with Hot Press, Paul contrasted his song “Maybe I’m Amazed” with “My Love.” “Well, y’know, it’s not all roses,” he opined. “As you say, that one [‘Maybe I’m Amazed’] was written early days with [Linda McCartney] and just being so in love and so chuffed at this idea of starting a family.
“If it’s going well, that’s a great, great moment in your life,” he added. “And it was for us. But, yeah, there is a bit of that sort of, ‘Here’s a little disclaimer here,’ I’m not going the whole way here whereas ‘My Love’ is. That’s roses: here’s a bunch of roses for you.”
George Harrison called 1 of his most famous songs ‘a prayer’
According to The Billboard Book of Number 1 Hits, George’s “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” knocked “My Love” off the top of the chart. In his 1980 book I, Me, Mine, George discussed the origin of “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth).” “Sometimes you open your mouth and you don’t know what you are going to say, and whatever comes out is the starting point,” George wrote. “If that happens and you are lucky — it can usually be turned into a song.”
Subsequently, George described “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” as a prayer. “This song is a prayer and a personal statement between me, the Lord, and whoever likes it,” he wrote.
How Paul McCartney’s ‘My Love’ and George Harrison’s ‘Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)’ performed on the charts in the United States
“My Love” became a huge hit for Paul. For four weeks, the song topped the Billboard Hot 100. It stayed on the chart for 18 weeks altogether. Paul released the track on the album Ruby Rose Speedway, which reached No. 1 for three of its 32 weeks on the Billboard 200.
“Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” became a more modest hit for George. The song reached the summit of the Billboard Hot 100 for a single week, remaining on the chart for 16 weeks in total. George included “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” on his album Living in the Material World. The album topped the Billboard 200 for five of its 26 weeks on the chart.
“My Love” and “Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)” are both classic songs about love even if the former outperformed the latter.
