Perhaps you’ve been asked the following question at some point in your life: Who is your favorite Beatle? And maybe you even have an answer for it (and justification for that answer). But it’s fair to say each member was indispensable in their way for the magical music the group made.
In the case of George Harrison, his willingness to explore and quest brought an immeasurable boost to the group’s output. “The Inner Light,” a song written by Harrison that was released as a B-side in 1968, exemplifies his ability to boil down Eastern philosophy into succinct, relatable nuggets of wisdom his audience could take and use in their own daily lives.
“Light” Reading
When George Harrison added sitar to The Beatles’ 1965 song “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown),” it was one of the first times an Indian instrument had been incorporated into a Western pop/rock song. It was also around that time Harrison started to explore religious and philosophical ideas coming from the Eastern hemisphere.
Harrison never seemed to view The Beatles’ success as a gateway to fulfillment and happiness. The more he was exposed to these ideas from other cultures, the more it spurred him on to continue his search for knowledge and spiritual enrichment. It was only natural that those ideas started to filter into his work.
In the case of “The Inner Light,” Harrison was inspired by a passage in the Tao Te Ching, which is largely the basis for the Eastern religion known as Taoism. Harrison used the writing as a kind of foundation for “The Inner Light,” but he didn’t simply copy it word for word. He juggled it around a little bit and embellished upon it as well for his lyrics.
He also endowed those words with one of the prettiest melodies of his career, one that gently drifts up and down like a leaf blown in the wind. The Beatles made it a B-side of their hit single “Lady Madonna” in 1968. Perhaps the Indian instrumentation dissuaded them from giving it more exposure. Nonetheless, Harrison’s lyrics perfectly suit the wonder and mystery of the music.
Diving into the Lyrics of “The Inner Light”
“The Inner Light” exemplifies the kind of message that Harrison loved to promote, even into his solo career. He wholeheartedly believed in a world waiting to be explored, one that was beyond the physical. Access to it didn’t require anything other than a kind of spiritual openness and the willingness to let go of the material world.
Without looking out of my door / I can know all things of Earth, Harrison begins. That sets the tone for the koans he spins throughout the song, in that they appear to be contradictory if you have a somewhat narrow-minded outlook. Without looking out of my window / I can know the ways of heaven, he sings, making it clear that there’s a pathway to bliss for everyone.
As the melody shifts ever so slightly, Harrison continues to unspool the mysteries of the universe, at least as he views them: The farther one travels / The less one knows / The less one really knows. In other words, just because someone is worldly doesn’t mean they truly know the world.
In the middle portion of the song, the melody shifts into more of a mantra-like section. Arrive without traveling, Harrison chants. See all without looking / Do all without doing. As mentioned above, these are all concepts that are found in the Tao Te Ching. But his ability to combine them into truthful morsels is what sets the song apart.
“The Inner Light” is a beautiful track that largely flies under the radar in the Fab Four’s catalog, in large part because its status as a B-side meant it was largely unheard for years by U.S. listeners who only purchased The Beatles’ albums. Time has shown, however, the song exemplifies George Harrison’s qualities as a songwriter, performer, and seeker.
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