The Beatles

THIS WEEK: FIVE UNDERRATED BEATLES SONGS
“Within You Without You“
from the album Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
1967

“Within You Without You” was the only George Harrison composition that made it to the Sgt. Pepper album, despite the fact that he had written several new songs at the time (including “Only a Northern Song,” which was recorded during the Sgt. Pepper sessions, but released on the Yellow Submarine album).

Harrison began to study the Indian sitar in 1965 under the master Ravi Shankar (father of modern songstress Norah Jones). He introduced the instrument for the first time on John Lennon’s “Norwegian Wood” from the album Rubber Soul that same year. The sitar appeared frequently on Beatles recordings after that.

“Within You Without You” was Harrison’s second Indian composition, with the first being “Love You To” from 1966’s Revolver.

Harrison started writing “Within You Without You” after a dinner party at the home of Klaus Voorman, a German artist and musician he first met in Hamburg. Voorman had designed the cover of Beatles’ Revolver album, and he also played bass in the band Manfred Mann.

Harrison had gone into an adjoining room to play on Voorman’s harmonium (an organ adapted for Indian music), and by the end of the evening the song “Within You Without You” was beginning to take shape.

The lyrics are inspired by Hindu religion, and the conception that all people are as one. It also reflects on the battle against materialistic values, hence the lines:

The people who gain the world
and lose their soul
They don’t know, they can’t see
Are you one of them?

One interesting fact about “Within You Without You” is that the song blends Eastern and Western classical instruments together. Musicians From Asian Music Circle were hired (but not credited) for the recording, and producer George Martin wrote a score for the strings. The combination of classical European and Indian instruments is highly unique, and although Martin was a bit unsure about the recording back in 1967, he recognizes it as a good song today.

John Lennon, Paul McCartney, and Ringo Starr were not present during the recording of “Within You Without You,” but Lennon later said it was one of Harrison’s best songs.