Within You Without You
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| “Within You Without You” | ||
|---|---|---|
| Song by The Beatles | ||
| Album | Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band | |
| Released | 1 June 1967 | |
| Recorded | Abbey Road Studios 22 March 1967 |
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| Genre | Indian music, raga rock | |
| Length | 5:05 | |
| Label | Parlophone | |
| Writer | George Harrison | |
| Producer | George Martin | |
| Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band track listing | ||
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Side one
Side two
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"Within You Without You" is a song written by George Harrison and released on The Beatles' 1967 album, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band. The last song recorded for the album, it features a group of Indian musicians, and no Beatles besides Harrison performed on the track. It is the second of Harrison's songs to be explicitly influenced by Indian classical music, after "Love You To", and Harrison's only composition on Sgt. Pepper.
Harrison wrote this as a 30-minute piece. He trimmed it down into a mini-version for the album. The laughter at the end was Harrison's idea to lighten the mood and follow the theme of the album. Sped up to C#, an instrumental version at the original speed and key appears on the Anthology 2 album.
"Within You Without You" was written on a harmonium at the house of long-time Beatles friend, Klaus Voormann, while "there were lots of joints being smoked". Harrison sought out Indian musicians to aid him in the track's recording, although all of them went uncredited. Of those who were credited, producer George Martin arranged the string section, and Harrison and assistant Neil Aspinall played the tambura.
The song was also included on the 2006 remix album Love. For this album, George Harrison's lyrics and melody were mixed over the rhythm of Tomorrow Never Knows. The blending of these two similar songs is considered the most effective form of mashup on the album[citation needed]. All of the music for Love was remixed and remastered by the Beatles producer Sir George Martin and his son Giles.
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[edit] Lyrical interpretation
Many of the song's lyrics make references to Hindu ideas. One example of this is in the first verse:
- "We were talking - about the space between us all
- And the people - who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
- Never glimpse the truth - then it's far too late - when they pass away."
The Hindu idea of Maya, which is the idea that all mortal people live in a false reality, and what people perceive as reality is actually an illusion.[1] Thus, this quote refers to humanity and its belief in the false reality. Then, in the next line, Harrison references the idea that if a person doesn't realise the concept of Maya, it is too late for them, in this life. However, Hinduism teaches reincarnation and therefore that person will eventually realise that it's all within and without him.[1]
In addition to the reference to Maya in the first verse of the song, the song is littered with references to Hinduism and Indian culture. The second verse:
- "We were talking - about the love we all could share - when we find it
- To try our best to hold it there - with our love.
- With our love - We could save the world - if they only knew...
- Try to realise it's all within yourself, no one else can make you change."
The love that could save the world is an obvious reference to the Hindu doctrine of Dharma. Dharma is the ethical code of Hinduism.[1] George Harrison was trying to reference the idea that people could keep the world from being destroyed (due to its cyclical nature) by following Dharma. A great cycle of the universe is called a Maha Yuga. At the end of the Maha Yuga, the concept of Dharma is no longer followed and therefore the world must be destroyed. However, the universe is cyclical and like a phoenix, the earth rises again.[1] So, George was trying to say that if we were to follow Dharma and love one another, we could hold the world from the destruction. In addition, the last line of the verse says that "no one else can make you change" this being a reference to the eastern concept of looking within oneself as opposed to the western ideas of looking to a savior, prophet, or God.
In the third verse we have references to the vastness of the universe and another reference to reincarnation.
- "And to see you're really only very small
- and life flows on within you and without you."
Seeing that we are very small shows the vastness of the universe because it enforces the idea that we are not significant, most of our lives do not change the world. This also leads us to the idea that life will go on without us because we will come back via reincarnation.[1] This idea of life going on can be found in a number of Beatles songs, including "Ob-La-Di, Ob-La-Da" from the White Album.
- "We were talking - about the love that's gone so cold and the people,
- Who gain the world and lose their soul.
- They don't know. They can't see. Are you one of them?
- When you see beyond yourself then you may find,
- peace of mind, is waiting there."
The fourth verse, touches again on the eventual destruction of the universe by the Hindu god, Shiva. This destruction would occur in the fourth age of the Maha Yuga, the Kali Yuga. Concepts of this final age are a battered world where the love (Dharma) has "gone so cold". People believe in capitalism losing their soul to gain the world.[1] They don't know of the concept of Dharma, but if they did, peace of mind would be waiting there to greet them.
In the final verse:
- "And the time will come when you see we're all one,
- and life flows on within you and without you."
Harrison touches on the Hindu concept on monism, the idea that ultimately all things are one. This doctrine stems from observations of water. Water, whether it is in the form of a river, a lake, rain, ice, or a stream, all water will end up in the ocean.[1] The ocean being one continuous body of water shows that everything, like water is all connected and is ultimately all one thing. Life, just like the waters of the ocean, flows on within and without you.
[edit] Cover versions
- "Peter Knight and his Orchestra" released an orchestral version as a single in 1967
- Angels of Venice recorded an instrumental version for their 1999 album "Angels of Venice."
- Oasis recorded a version of the song for a 2007 Sgt. Pepper's tribute album.
- Patti Smith recorded the song for her April 2007 cover album Twelve.
- Sonic Youth recorded the song for the tribute album Sgt. Pepper Knew My Father. This version appears on the deluxe edition of the album Daydream Nation.
- Glenn Mercer on the album Wheels in Motion
- Dead Can Dance composed a "Indus" featured on their last album, Spiritchaser, which is very similar to the melody of Within You Without You. They obtained Harrison's permission to use it and gave him partial songwriting credit after pressure from the record company.
[edit] Notes
[edit] References
- Beatles-Discography.com Beatles Songs - W, retrieved Jan. 31, 2005
