5 of George Harrison’s Most Religious Songs
It’s hard to choose five of George Harrison‘s most religious songs because the former Beatle incorporated his spirituality into almost every tune he wrote. When George sang a love song, he wasn’t just singing about his devotion to a woman; he was singing to God too.
George’s songs always had a deeper meaning, whether he meant for to happen or not. Sometimes, he started a song with one specific inspiration, but by the time he finished it, the tune had a completely different meaning. Either way, here are five of George’s most religious songs.
“The Inner Light”
George wouldn’t have written “The Inner Light” without Juan Mascaró, the Sanskrit teacher at Cambridge University. After seeing George on The Frost Programme, the professor wrote to the Beatle about his appreciation of “Within You Without You.” He also sent George a copy of his book Lamps of Fire, an anthology of religious writings he translated. In it is a translation of the Tao Te Ching, where George got the lyrics for “The Inner Light.”
The lyrics are extremely religious. George is singing about connecting with God without having lifted a single finger. He sings, “Without going out of my door/ I can know all things of earth/ Without looking out of my window/ I could know the ways of heaven/ The farther one travels/ The less one knows/ The less one really knows.”
“Long, Long, Long”
On George’s White Album tune “Long, Long, Long,” it might seem that George is talking to a loved one, perhaps his then-wife Pattie Boyd. However, that’s not exactly the case. The tune is a love song, and George is talking to a loved one, just not a person living in the material world. George is talking to God, saying he’s thankful to have found him again.
“How could I ever have lost you/ When I loved you?/ Now I’m so happy I found you/ How I want you/ How I love you/ You know that I need you,” George sings. In Martin Scorsese’s documentary, George Harrison: Living in the Material World, George’s wife, Olivia, said, “They say in this life you have to perfect one human relationship in order to really love God. You practice loving God by loving another human and by giving unconditional love.”
“My Sweet Lord”
“My Sweet Lord” is one of George’s most obvious religious songs. It stemmed from George’s desire to show younger generations that it was O.K. to like spirituality. Initially, he felt releasing the song was like having his neck out on the chopping block, but eventually, George pushed through. Many journalists commended him for his daring move in releasing such a religious song.
“The point was, I was sticking my neck out on the chopping block because now I would have to live up to something, but at the same time I thought, ‘Nobody’s saying it; I wish somebody else was doing it,'” George said in his memoir, I Me Mine.
“Awaiting on You All”
The melody of “Awaiting on You All” came while George brushed his teeth one night. However, religious lyrics followed. In I Me Mine, George wrote that the spiritual song is about Japa Yoga meditation, which is “repetition on beads (mala) of mantras.” However, the song has just as much yearning for the younger generations to open their eyes to God as “My Sweet Lord.” He tells listeners that they don’t need anything except God.
“You don’t need no love in/ You don’t need no bed pan/ You don’t need a horoscope or a microscope/ To see the mess that you’re in/ If you open up your heart/ You will know what I mean/ We’ve been polluted so long/ Now here’s a way for you to get clean/ By chanting the names of the Lord and you’ll be free/ The Lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see/ Chanting the names of the Lord and you’ll be free.”
“Art of Dying”
In “Art of Dying,” George is giving his most important warning. He’s no longer urging listeners to open their hearts ot God. He’s warning people that if they make large ripples in the material world, they’ll be doomed to walk the Earth for millions of years, living out each reincarnation.
In I Me Mine, he wrote that you don’t want to create significant reactions because “everything comes bouncing back and ties you up forever, or for as long as it takes to untie it.”
“The ‘art of dying’ is when somebody can consciously leave the body at death, as opposed to falling down dying without knowing what’s going on,” he explained. “The Yogi who does that (Maha-samadhi) doesn’t have to reincarnate again.”
It’s worth pointing out that most of the songs on this list come from All Things Must Pass. That’s because George was heavily engrossed in spirituality at the time. He cared more about spiritual matters than anything else. He even left his then-wife, Pattie Boyd, in the dust and any of his friends who weren’t as spiritual.
There are many more religious songs in George’s catalog, but these songs tell the story of George’s spiritual journey. Into the 1980s, George stopped writing religious songs because he mellowed out. He still chanted, meditated, and studied the art of dying, but he didn’t want to preach anymore.
