"My Sweet Lord" is a song by former Beatles lead guitarist
George Harrison from his UK number one hit triple album
All Things Must Pass. The song is primarily about Hindu
God Krishna. It is ranked #454 on
Rolling Stonemagazine's list of "the 500 Greatest Songs
of All Time."
The song was originally intended for Billy Preston, who had
a minor hit with it in early 1970, in his album
Encouraging Words. It was written in December 1969, when
Harrison and Billy Preston were in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The recording of the song took place in London. Preston was
the principal musician while Harrison was engineering the
sessions.
When released as a single, "My Sweet Lord" topped the charts
on both sides of the Atlantic. In October, 1970, Harrison told
the British press that it was going to be his first solo
single, but a few days later he changed his mind and said it
would not be made available thus, as he did not want sales in
that format to detract from those of the album. (The other
three former Beatles had also released solo albums earlier that
year, without releasing a single in Britain from any of them).
It was released as a single in the US (Apple 2995) on 23
November 1970. Within a few weeks, EMI and Apple Records bowed
to media and public demand, and the UK release (Apple R 5884)
followed on 15 January 1971.
Entering the British charts in the first week at number
seven and then hitting the summit for five weeks, it was the
first single by an ex-Beatle to reach number one. It did so
again in the UK when reissued in January 2002 after Harrison's
death from cancer. It reached number one on the US Hot 100 on
26 December 1970, remaining on top for four weeks.
In Britain, the original single was officially a double-A
Side with "What Is Life". In the US it was a double-A-side with
"Isn't It A Pity"- with both sides featuring a full Apple
label.
Following the song's release, musical similarities between
"My Sweet Lord" and The Chiffons' hit "He's So Fine" led to a
lengthy legal battle over the rights to the composition.
magazine, in an article dated 6 March 1971, stated that
Harrison's royalty payments from the recording had been halted
worldwide. Harrison stated that he was inspired to write "My
Sweet Lord" after hearing the Edwin Hawkins Singers' "Oh Happy
Day".
In the U.S. federal court decision in the case, known as
Bright Tunes Music v. Harrisongs Music, Harrison was
found to have "subconsciously" copied the earlier song. He was
ordered to surrender the majority of royalties from "My Sweet
Lord" and partial royalties from
All Things Must Pass. Former manager Allen Klein, who
earlier had supported Harrison's case, became the owner of
Bright Tunes, after they parted ways. In the long run this
worked against Klein, but it resulted in the case continuing
for years in court. Interestingly Harrison claimed in a BBC
interview with Annie Nightingale that the Judge in the case
said that he liked Harrison's version of "My Sweet Lord"
more.
The Chiffons would later record "My Sweet Lord" to
capitalize on the publicity generated by the lawsuit. Country
singer Jody Miller recorded a country chart top-five cover of
"He's So Fine", which plays on the two songs' similarities by
featuring the same guitar breaks played on the Harrison
recording.
Shortly thereafter, Harrison (who would eventually buy the
rights to "He's So Fine") wrote and recorded a song about the
court case named "This Song", which includes "This tune has
nothing 'Bright' about it." "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie,
Honey Bunch)" and "Rescue Me" are also mentioned in the
record.
Early in the song, the background singers repeat the
Christian and Jewish word of praise, "Hallelujah". Later, the
background singers chant two Vaisnava Hindu prayers:
This prayer consists of part of the principal mantra of
devotees of the Gaudiya Vaisnavite faith, popularised in the
Western world by the International Society for Krishna
Consciousness (ISKCON), colloquially known as the 'Hare
Krishnas'. Harrison was a devotee of this religious path.
The mantra in full is "Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna, Krishna,
Krishna, Hare, Hare, Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama, Rama, Hare,
Hare."
This prayer is chanted by Hindu devotees prior to beginning
any action, after hymns to Ganesha and Sarasvati. The prayer is
dedicated to the spiritual teacher of the devotee which is
equated with the Hindu Trinity Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva
(Maheshvara) and with the Supreme Cosmic Spirit or Absolute
Reality (Brahman). The prayer translates as:
The teacher is Brahmā, the teacher is Viṣṇu, the teacher
is the Lord Maheśvara,
Verily the teacher is the supreme Brahman, to that
respected teacher I bow down.
The prayer is the first verse of the Guru stotram, a
fourteen verse hymn dedicated to the spiritual teacher.
Various Christian fundamentalist anti-rock activists have
objected to the chanting of 'Hare Krishna' in the song as
anti-Christian or satanic while some born-again Christians
appear to have mistakenly adopted the song as an anthem.
During his live performances of "My Sweet Lord", Harrison
has tried to engage his audience into the practice of "chanting
the holy names of the Lord" (kirtan):
Breaking into the thundering rhythm guitar intro to “My
Sweet Lord,” Harrison would soon begin to invite the cheering,
largely stoned crowd to “chant the holy name of the Lord.” Few
responded. Switching messiahs midstream, he would then rocket
into the famous Krishna Hallelujah chorus and begin singing,
“Om Christ, Om Christ, Om Christ” over and over, adding, “I
know a lot of you out there think that’s swearing, but it’s
not! If we all chant together purely for one minute, we’ll blow
the roof off this place.
Harrison himself performed the song in a self-parody for
Eric Idle and Neil Innes'
Rutland Weekend TelevisionChristmas special, broadcast
26 December 1975 on BBC2. Harrison closed the show performing
lip-sync'ed to a previously recorded track which started with
the song, and changed to a pirate shanty once Harrison started
'singing'. A clearly befuddled "Fatso" (Innes' band on the show
backing Harrison) stop and eventually follow along and a group
of dancers come out to join in the fun as the closing credits
roll, while "host" Idle frequently walks onscreen, bewildered
at Harrison's performance. This version is known as a "Pirate
Song".
With re-issued
All Things Must Passfor its thirtieth anniversary in
2000, surfaced a new version of the song, added as a bonus
track, with Harrison sharing vocals with Sam Brown.
All Things Must Pass
·
Living in the Material World
·
Dark Horse
·
Extra Texture (Read All About It)
·
Thirty Three & 1/3
·
George Harrison
·
Somewhere in England
·
Gone Troppo
·
Cloud Nine
·
Brainwashed
The Concert for Bangladesh
·
Live in Japan
Wonderwall Music
Electronic Sound
The Best of George Harrison
·
Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989
·
Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison
The Dark Horse Years 1976–1992
Discography (list of songs)
·The Beatles
·Traveling
Wilburys
·Harrisongs
·Dark Horse
Records
·The Concert for
Bangladesh
·Pattie Boyd
·Olivia Harrison
·Dhani Harrison
·Eric Clapton
·Jeff Lynne
·Kinfauns
·Friar Park
·Concert for
George (album)
·HandMade Films
·Homer's
Barbershop Quartet
1970: "
My Sweet Lord
" ·
"Isn't It a
Pity" ·
1971: "What Is
Life" ·
"Bangla Desh" ·
1973: "Give Me Love (Give Me
Peace on Earth)" ·
1974: "Ding Dong, Ding
Dong" ·
1975: "Dark
Horse" ·
"You" ·
"This Guitar (Can't Keep from
Crying)" ·
1976: "This
Song" ·
1977: "Crackerbox
Palace" ·
"True Love" ·
"It's What You
Value" ·
1979: "Blow
Away" ·
"Love Comes to
Everyone" ·
"Faster" 1981: "All Those
Years Ago" ·
"Teardrops" ·
1982: "Wake Up My
Love" ·
"I Really Love
You" ·
1985: "I Don't Want To Do
It" ·
1987: "Got My Mind Set on
You" ·
1988: "When We Was
Fab" ·
"This Is Love" ·
1989: "Cheer Down" 2002: "
My Sweet Lord
" ·
"Stuck Inside a
Cloud" ·
2003: "Any Road"