George Harrison was a lot more than just a pop songwriter. He was a musician on a spiritual quest. Here are three of his most reflective songs, to help you if you’re on a quest of your own.
“Within You Without You”
“Within You Without You” can be found on The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper album. This song was written by Harrison and uses a variety of Indian instruments. In this tune, the Quiet Beatle delivers an honest message about how true change comes from within.
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Try to realize it’s all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you’re really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you.
“Living In The Material World”
In 1973, Harrison released his album Living In The Material World. Most of the publishing royalties from this album go to his charity, the Material World Foundation, which supports charities like Shelter, UNICEF, NSPCC, and more. The title track of the album explores the phrase “material world” from a different angle.
“…I wrote a song called ‘Living In The Material World’ and it was from that I decided to call the foundation the Material World Foundation,” he explained of the track. “Most people would think of the material world as representing purely money and greed and take offense. But in my view, it means a physical world. It’s the idea that if it is money and greed, then give the greedy money away in the material world.”
“The Inner Light”
When writing this Beatles song, Harrison drew on text from Lao-Tzu’s Tao Te Ching, which is a guide to Taoism. This song is about how you can find spirituality without ever stepping outside.
“In the original poem, the verse says ‘Without going out of my door, I can know the ways of heaven,’” he explained in I, Me, Mine. “And so to prevent any misinterpretations – and also to make the song a bit longer – I did repeat that as a second verse but made it: ‘Without going out of your door / You can know all things on earth / Without looking out of your window / You can know the ways of heaven’ – so that it included everybody.”
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