Beatles Countdown #77: Within You, Without You
May 04
1960s george harrisson, the beatles No Comments
George Harrison’s second of three Indian compositions for The Beatles (and no doubt his best) shows up on our countdown at #77: “Within You, Without You.”
“He’s clear on that song. His mind and his music are clear. There is his innate talent; he brought that sound together.” There’s no one better to introduce the song than John Lennon who described the song as one of George Harrison’s best songs. Indeed, “Within You, Without You” is an overlooked gem on The Beatles’ magnum opus Sgt. Pepper’s. Actually, it’s not just overlooked; it’s often been dismissed as a low point on that album. Crazy, huh? If you compare the song with the rest of the album though, you can get an inkling as to why though. The song plays out like a eulogy of oppressed ideas and the depressing nature makes it stick out compared with the rest of the album. While “A Day In The Life” & other songs tackled dark subjects as well, each had their own brisk section or redemption somewhere within. Harrison tried to do just that by tacking on laughter to the end to “lighten the mood,” but most at the time took that as The Beatles mocking Harrison’s sole songwriting effort on the album which didn’t really lighten any mood. But the song does deserve a ton of praise. It’s easily Harrison’s strongest Indian piece while with The Beatles and the lyrics on spiritual exploration fit in perfectly with the Summer Of Love at the time. In fact, the lyrics so moved famed musician Stephen Stills that he had them carved onto a stone monument onto his yard. I doubt someone would put that effort in for a song described as a “low point” on any album.
The song was based upon a musical piece by Ravi Shankar, a famed Indian musician who taught George the sitar. The two would form a great friendship as well as collaborate over the years most famously with The Concert For Bangladesh in the 70s. It’s a safe bet to state that he was a great influence on Harrison even outside of this song. Outside of Ravi though, the song’s beginnings come from a night at Klaus Voormann’s house playing the harmonium after a party according to Harrison. Expanding upon that idea, Harrison set out to recruit Indian musicians to record the piece which proved difficult since most Indian musicians could not read Western music. Luckily, he was able to get help from the Asian Music Circle out of North London though the members would remain unaccredited to this day for the work on the track. Sucks for them! Band in place, Harrison set about recording his new composition which he must have been enthusiastic about since the original version of the song was over thirty minutes long! The Beatles pushed a lot of boundaries, but I doubt a thirty minute song would have gone over well then or now. Utilizing none of the other three band members, Harrison did finally record a version only five minutes long for the album. Sandwiched in the middle of the album, the song does stick out like a sore thumb, but is a captivating work of music in an era where Indian music was meeting Western in a brilliant way. Over forty years later, the song still shines out as a hidden gem in the pot of gold that is Sgt. Pepper’s.
Song: Within You, Without You
Album: Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Year: 1967
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