Poetry of music: My Sweet Lord, with George

You’ve heard it, so many times…when George first came up with what became his most famous song as a solo performer (rivalling “Something,” with the Beatles), he was reluctant to record such an overt religious message-song: “I was sticking my neck out on the chopping block because now I would have to live up to something,” Harrison explained in I Me Mine.

“But at the same time I thought, ‘Nobody’s saying it; I wish somebody else was doing it.'”

So…he said it.

Mixing Hare Krishna chanting with a joyous Hallelujah, he confounded conventional music at the time by popping out a #1 hit for his first post-Beatles release. Reflecting George’s oft-stated hope for a closer and direct connection with God, this all made sense.

As John Lennon famously told a reporter around this time, “Every time I put the radio on, it’s ‘Oh my Lord’ – I’m beginning to think there must be a God!”

Thanks, George.