George Harrison’s Wife Olivia Said He Faced Many Battles With ‘Spiritual Courage and Unwavering Conviction’
George Harrison‘s wife, Olivia, said he faced many battles with “spiritual courage and unwavering conviction.” One of his first battles came during his 1974 Dark Horse tour.
George Harrison dealt with spiritual battles on his ‘Dark Horse’ tour
The former Beatle embarked on his Dark Horse tour after a rejuvenating trip to India in early 1974. He suddenly felt he could do it. Plus, he wanted to show audiences that it was good to be spiritual and experience other genres of music. The music business had become a mess, and he thought he had an original idea for a show.
However, George’s Dark Horse tour was doomed to fail from the start. George had no idea his idea would bring one of his biggest battles. He unknowingly alienated audiences by starting each show with a lengthy performance from his musical guru, Ravi Shankar, and other Indian musicians. It left fans “yawning and restless,” according to Joshua M. Greene in Here Comes The Sun: The Spiritual And Musical Journey Of George Harrison.
Greene wrote, “He came across as overzealous, alienating much of his audience.” George further alienated audiences on his Dark Horse tour by initially not playing Beatles songs. He’d be a hypocrite if he did. That part of his life was over. George wanted to show fans a spiritual path, not revisit the past. Eventually, George played his Beatles songs but continued angering fans by changing the lyrics to reflect his spirituality.
George didn’t care if people liked him as long as he remained true to himself. Greene wrote, “He remembered a quote from Mahatma Gandhi: we should create and preserve the image of our choice. The image of my choice is not Beatle George, he thought. My life belongs to God. That’s how I feel.
“He was here in the world to do spiritual good, and playing the old hits would have felt hypocritical. How could he live with himself if he reinforced people’s material attachment to nostalgic tunes and images? But was this better—bad reviews and mountains of trash?”
George Harrison’s wife Olivia said he faced many battles with ‘spiritual courage and unwavering conviction’
In Harrison, Olivia said George faced many battles with “spiritual courage and unwavering conviction.” He did that during his Dark Horse tour and beyond.
“The silence of George’s absence in our lives is deafening,” she wrote. “Although he often renounced his role as an entertainer, my life with him was never boring. There were many comedies, and a few tragedies, but, most of all, deep love for all living things.
“He was a warrior who faced life’s battles with extraordinary courage. In the words of Bob Dylan, ‘He had the strength of a hundred men.’ The power of his convictions was as strong as a hundred men, all right. As Arjuna asked Krishna for guidance on the battlefield, so George faced the many battles before him with spiritual courage and unwavering conviction.”
The former Beatle battled through many things
George faced many battles throughout his life. However, as Olivia said, he faced them all with spiritual courage and conviction.
When he released “My Sweet Lord,” George felt as if he was putting his head out on the chopping block. However, he pushed himself to do it because no one else sang about religion in popular music. He didn’t want the younger generations to waste their lives and not experience God-consciousness.
Even when it seemed as if people hated him for being spiritual, George pushed on and continued to chant to Krishna and meditate. George experienced many diversions in life, but he never let them steer him on his path. If that’s not a spiritual conviction, it’s unclear what is.
