ALL THINGS MUST PASS
“All Things Must Pass” is a song by English musician George Harrison, issued in November 1970 as the title track to his triple album of the same name. The composition reflects the influence of The Band's sound and communal music-making on Harrison, after he had spent time with the group in Woodstock, New York, in late 1968; while Timothy Leary’s poem “All Things Pass”, a psychedelic adaptation of the Tao Te Ching, provided inspiration for his song lyrics. The subject matter deals with the transient nature of human existence, and in Harrison’s All Things Must Pass reading, words and music combine to reflect impressions of optimism against fatalism. On release, together with Barry Feinstein’s album cover image, commentators viewed the song as a statement on the Beatles’ break-up. (More from Wikipedia)
The title song of All Things Must Pass, “All Things Must Pass” is considered to be one of George Harrison’s finest compositions. As told in Wikipedia: “Music critic Ian MacDonald described ‘All Things Must Pass’ as ‘the wisest song never recorded by the Beatles’, while author [and Harrison biographer] Simon Leng considers it ‘perhaps the greatest solo Beatle composition’. The subject matter deals with the transient nature of human existence, and in Harrison's ‘All Things Must Pass’ reading, lyrics and music combine to reflect impressions of optimism against fatalism. On release, together with Barry Feinstein’s album cover image, commentators viewed the song as a statement on the Beatles’ break-up.”
The George Harrison song was originally recorded by Billy Preston – under the name “All Things (Must) Pass” – on his 1970 Apple Records release Encouraging Words. The lyrics were inspired by a 1968 poem by a different sort of guru, Timothy Leary called “All Things Pass”, a psychedelic adaptation of a classical Chinese text called the Tao Te Ching.
While this song was never released as a single, George Harrison had another hit from this album called “What Is Life”.
(September 2014)
