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A narrative of 5 George Harrison songs that seize his spirituality and profound non secular fact.
George Harrison was often known as the Quiet Beatle, and for good motive. In reside Beatles performances he was typically extra heard than seen, ripping out his superior fills, riffs and solos when standing past John and Paul.
Certainly, in later years he declared that he felt like an alien customer to planet Earth, and within the ultimate track on his ultimate studio album he assaults every little thing from the inventory market to schooling to the royal household.
However in my thoughts, his introversion and sense of alienation are secondary. To me, George Harrison is the Woke up Beatle. Certain, John, Paul, and Ringo did some spirituality and kissed some non secular frogs. They did their Transcendental Meditation, did interviews on the facility of meditation, and sung trippy music with allusions to altered experiences.
However George is the true mystic. His solo music accommodates myriad references to spirituality and mystical truths, throughout a number of a long time. The truth is, in some albums the references are available nearly each track, particularly in his later profession.
And past the phrases, his vocal tones have a contact of divinity and reverence akin to Indian music. He doesn’t simply sing music about spirituality — he feels it, breathes it, embodies it.
So on this mini-series, we’ll have a look at George Harrison’s spirituality by 5 of his solo songs, beginning with one solely the diehards will know, and winding up along with his hottest of all.
George Harrison’s Spirituality in Music: 1 – Life Itself
Although not many know this George Harrison tune, it’s the primary that involves thoughts after I consider his non secular songs. Let’s see. Right here’s the tag:
“You stand alone and communicate the reality. You’re the breath of life itself, you’re the one.”
That is one other of my favorite strains, from the primary bridge:
“You’re all that’s actual. You’re the essence of that which we contact, style and really feel.”
And within the second bridge he manages to slot in seven names for the divine:
“They name you Christ, Vishnu, Buddha, Jehovah, our Lord. You’re Govindam, Bismillah, Creator of all”
Wow. That is profound stuff — mystical-level spirituality in pop songs.
2 – Rising Solar
Let’s have a look at one other little-known George Harrison quantity that I put amongst his most non secular songs: Rising Solar.
Rising Solar seems on the Brainwashed album, which was launched after his loss of life. There are a number of different gems in there, however this track accommodates a tonne of non secular references. In my thoughts, it describes to our return to spirit, our rememberance of spirit, and the ache attributable to ignorance of it.
Right here’s a snippet from the primary verse:
“And within the room of mirrors you’ll be able to see for miles, however every little thing that’s there’s in disguise.”
The manifestations of God are God-in-descent. They’re artefacts of God, and we turn out to be used to mistaking them for Actuality, battered round, drunk on the Manifest. Solely with non secular consciousness will we realise that every one of life is God at play, and that it has no actuality of its personal.
And he will get proper to the matter within the refrain:
“However within the rising solar, you’ll be able to really feel your life start. Universe at play inside your DNA, and also you’re a billion years previous in the present day.”
Spirit has no age. It’s totally timeless, substanceless, clean, lucid, glowing. And in each second it begins once more.
Within the second verse, George returns to the theme of melancholy, of insatisfaction with the Materials.
“On the avenue of sinners I’ve been employed, working there till I used to be close to destroyed. I used to be nearly a statistic inside a health care provider’s case, after I heard the messenger from internal area.”
Separation from God and intoxication with Manifestation will get painful. It by no means satisfies, as a result of it’s finally an phantasm, an artefact of our final nature, not our final nature itself.
The ego runs right here, there and in every single place (that’s one other Beatles track), carrying itself out and failing to search out lasting satisfaction. Solely psychological loss of life and discovery of Being will do the trick.
Let’s transfer on to the ultimate track in George’s ultimate studio album: Brainwashed.
Although some understandably see this one as fatalistic and paranoic, it nonetheless accommodates some lovely non secular lyrics. There’s not a lot within the verses — that’s when he lets rip along with his criticism of society, monarchs, and capitalists — so let’s begin with the primary refrain:
“A voice cries within the wilderness; it was on the longest night time. An eternity of darkness; somebody turned out the non secular mild.”
Highly effective, proper? Because the Sufis say, God likes to be identified. He cries out for acutely aware recognition. Do we all know Him?
The theme continues within the second refrain:
“You’re the knowledge that we search; the lover that we miss. Your nature is eternity; you might be existence, information, bliss.”
Stunning. This lyric captures our craving and distance from God and factors us in direction of the best way to discover Him. However essentially the most spine-chilling part is the bridge. The drums and George’s vocal disappear, making approach for some beautiful slide guitar, Indian devices, and a feminine voice reciting Patanjali:
“The soul doesn’t love; it’s love itself. It doesn’t exist; it’s existence itself. It doesn’t know, it’s information itself.”
But extra tips that could our deep nature.
We’ll end off with two songs from his immensely well-liked 1970 studio album, All Issues Should Cross, starting with the less-known Awaiting On You All.
We would rephrase the title to God Is Awaiting On You All. George describes how the divine is solely ready for our recognition, and reveals us the best way to get there. Within the refrain, he says:
“By chanting the names of the Lord, you’ll be free. As a result of the Lord is awaiting on you all to awaken and see.”
Within the second verse, he tells us:
“In the event you open up your coronary heart, you’ll see he’s [Jesus] proper there. All the time was and can be, he’ll relieve you of your cares.”
This jogs my memory of the Soto Zen view of enlightenment, which is that we’re already totally acutely aware of God. He’s at all times 100% current.
One other theme within the track is his rejection of formality and paraphernalia in favour of uncooked non secular follow:
“You don’t want no church hourse, and also you don’t want no temple. You don’t want no rosary beads or them books to learn to see that you’ve got fallen.”
It is a lovely reminder for us all: are we getting misplaced within the exterior symbols of spirituality, or are we working towards diligently?
It’s time for the track you’ve all been anticipating to see. That is the second monitor in George’s landmark album All Issues Should Cross. It each put him on the map as a solo artist and landed him in court docket. However whether or not he intentionally stole the melody or not, it’s an all-time traditional. It’s My Candy Lord.
Let’s begin with the title. George was courageous to provide his first solo single this identify, however his determination got here off. Lord for many individuals evokes photographs of damnation, fireplace and brimstone, an indignant, egocentric, punishing God. Isn’t it attention-grabbing how he softens this God with candy, hinting that God is sleek, loving and giving in spite of everything?
Certainly, the title factors to deep non secular truths. “My” reveals us that God is one thing we possess. It’s ours, it’s us. That is true, however we’re additionally God and God’s. By saying “My”, George is telling us that God is sort of a sanctuary, a protector. However it’s deeper than that: this possession exists as a result of finally every little thing is non-dual. It’s us and it’s ours.
“Candy” reveals us that God means renewal, peace, pleasure, relaxation, surprise. Discovering and taking on residence in God is a optimistic, life-changing shift from egoic, thought-dominated consciousness to transpersonal divine Being.
Let’s dive into the refrain:
“I actually need to see you, I actually need to be with you. I actually need to see you, Lord, but it surely takes so lengthy, my Lord.”
There are a number of attention-grabbing non secular components right here, however let’s deal with one. George sings it in a tone of mourning and longing, and he repeats “I actually need to” 3 times. To me, the message is evident. Being separate from God (or extra precisely, being caught within the false notion of separation) is painful.
All the person artefacts of God — from inanimate objects, to crops, to bugs, to animals, to people — finally yearn to unite with Him. The craving is a syntom of separation, of our state of forgetfulness. This isn’t simply George’s need, however the need of all of God’s Kids.
My Candy Lord is an extended track, crammed with repeating strains and a key change, a typical gadget in non secular music. My Candy Lord seems like a church hymn or a Buddhist chant however in postmodern garments. Fading the track with dozens of names for the divine taken from all of the world’s religions, George makes it clear that your God is my God is their God.
Thanks, George, in your great contribution to music and for utilizing your fame to create magnificence and improve non secular consciousness. Blessings.
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