The Inner Light

The Beatles

About The Inner Light

"The Inner Light" is a song by the English rock group the Beatles, written by George Harrison. It was released on a non-album single in March 1968, as the B-side to "Lady Madonna". The song was the first Harrison composition to be issued on a Beatles single and reflects the band's embrace of Transcendental Meditation, which they were studying in India under Maharishi Mahesh Yogi at the time of the single's release. After "Love You To" and "Within You Without You", it was the last of Harrison's three songs from the Beatles era that demonstrate an overt Indian classical influence and are styled as Indian pieces. The lyrics are a rendering of a poem from the Taoist Tao Te Ching, which he set to music on the recommendation of Juan Mascaró, a Sanskrit scholar who had translated the passage in his 1958 book Lamps of Fire. Harrison recorded the instrumental track for "The Inner Light" in Bombay in January 1968, during the sessions for his Wonderwall Music soundtrack album. It is the only Beatles studio recording to be made outside Europe and introduced Indian instruments such as sarod, shehnai and pakhavaj to the band's sound. The musicians on the track include Aashish Khan, Hanuman Jadev and Hariprasad Chaurasia. Aside from Harrison's lead vocal, recorded in London, the Beatles' only contribution came in the form of group backing vocals over the song's final line. In the decade following its release, the song became a comparative rarity among the band's recordings; it has subsequently appeared on compilation albums such as Rarities, Past Masters, Volume Two and Mono Masters. 


Year:
1988
2:36
46 

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Without going out of my door
I can know all things of earth
Without looking out of my window
I could know the ways of heaven
The farther one travels 
The less one knows
The less one really knows

Without going out of your door
You can know all things on earth
Without looking out of your window
You could know the ways of heaven
The farther one travels
The less one knows
The less one really knows

Arrive without traveling 
See all without looking
Do all without doing

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The Beatles

The Beatles were an English rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. They became the most commercially successful and critically acclaimed act in the history of popular music. Their best-known lineup consisted of John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. Rooted in skiffle and 1950s rock and roll, they later utilised several genres, ranging from pop ballads to psychedelic rock, often incorporating classical and other elements in innovative ways. In the early 1960s, their enormous popularity first emerged as "Beatlemania", but as their songwriting grew in sophistication, they came to be perceived by many fans and cultural observers as an embodiment of the ideals shared by the era's sociocultural revolutions. more »

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Written by: GEORGE HARRISON

Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind


10 facts about this song

Composition
"The Inner Light" is a song written by George Harrison, the lead guitarist of the Beatles. This piece is one of his compositions that demonstrate the influence of Indian classical music on his writing.
Release Date
The song was first released on March 6th, 1968, as the B-side to the "Lady Madonna" single. This marked the first time that a Beatles' B-side had been composed by George Harrison rather than Lennon/McCartney.
Jeff Lynne's Version
Musician Jeff Lynne recorded a cover of "The Inner Light" for the tribute album "Songs from the Material World: A Tribute to George Harrison" which was released in 2003.
Instrumentation
The track featured Indian instruments such as the sarod, shehnai, pakhavaj, and tabla. Harrison himself did not play his usual guitar but instead played the harmonium.
Lyrics
The lyrics for "The Inner Light" were inspired by the Tao Te Ching, a fundamental text for both philosophical and religious Taoism. This was George Harrison's third song about Hindu philosophy and spirituality.
Recording
The instrumental part of "The Inner Light" was recorded in India, Bombay (now Mumbai), on January 12, 1968. Harrison was there to produce the soundtrack for the film "Wonderwall" and took advantage of the local musicians.
Vocals
The vocals for the song were added later by Harrison and McCartney at the Abbey Road Studios in London.
Reception
Despite being often overlooked because it was a B-side, "The Inner Light" has received positive reviews from critics and musicians, especially for its peaceful message and mixture of Indian and Western music.
Tribute
Jeff Lynne's version of "The Inner Light" was part of a tribute album to honor George Harrison’s work following his death in 2001. Lynne, a friend and collaborator of Harrison's, kept true to the original song but added his own touch to it.
Rare Live Performance
"The Inner Light" was never played live by the Beatles, but Jeff Lynne has performed it at the Concert for George, a memorial concert on the first anniversary of Harrison's death.

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    The Inner Light

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