George
Harrison: A Compassionate Artist
Few people are able to trascend
their ego in the face of enormous temptation, and even fewer possess the
strength required to maintain this state of purity throughout their life.
Both human nature and societal pressures teach us early in our lives to pursue
personal success above all else. We are obsessed with achieving a life more
comfortable than our present condition, striving for the opportunity to enjoy
fine things and live luxuriously, and consequently glorify our egos in this
desire for worldly pleasures. Time and again I have found myself questioning
these ideals, searching for something more than the fleeting sensation of
material happiness. To many people, the glamorized figures of prosperity appear
to have it all—they are role models for a generation of future Barbies and business tycoons. However, a true leader and
role model demonstrates heroism through utilizing their natural talents for the
pursuit of spiritual fulfillment rather than material satisfaction. This noble effort
to defeat our natural, selfish tendencies becomes especially difficult when a
person has already had worldly success thrust upon them, when, by the society’s
standards, they should be content with their achievements.
The
Beatles embodied the ideal that through combining determination and natural
talent, one can achieve overwhelming success. Their influence on popular
culture changed the face of a generation, and with this transformation came the
trials and temptations of unbounded fame. Derek Taylor writes, “I had never
seen anything like it. Nor heard any noise to approximate the ceaseless,
frantic, hysterical scream which met the Beatles when they took the stage after
what seemed like a hundred years of earlier acts. . . . the youth of
Prior to the cultural revolution of
the nineteen sixties, the world was characterized by conformity, restraint, and
often fear. Radicalism and individualism were regarded with suspicion and
condemned 
in the shadow of the
Cold War. However, with the rise of a new generation of youth, a questioning of
these societal norms began to incite a fire for creativity and introspective
knowledge. The common standard of happiness (the family, the career, the
suburban lifestyle) seemed increasingly mundane and unsatisfying. Music became
a cornerstone of this cultural revolution, and the Beatles provided an
appealing sound for many youths seeking an anthem to fit their ideals. “The
Beatles would soon find themselves figureheads of a movement far beyond ‘pop’
where a counter-culture/alternative society was made flesh”[4] As the decade progressed, the Beatles became increasingly
innovative, fueling their success as both a band and a symbol of rebellion
against traditional conservatism. “Wherever they went, they brought Beatlemania with them. They couldn’t help it; it was a form
of real love. George would say many years later that the world used them as an
excuse to go mad and blamed it on the Beatles, but there is a parallel theory
that it was time for the world to go that sort of mad—get down a bit, loosen
up. . .”[5] The outlet the Beatles supplied for this wave of free-thought
resulted in unchecked affluence, testing the solidarity of the group and
leading to an inevitable breakup in 1970. However, rather than allowing this near-divine
status to push him over the edge,
By bridging the gap between Eastern
and Western music and cultures, 
friendship
and collaboration with classical Indian performer Ravi
Shankar laid the foundations of Eastern spirituality
and transcendental meditation heard on much of the Beatles’ music. This
relationship, along with his growing interest in Indian culture, inspired
George to become the first Western musician to use a sitar, performed on the
track “Norwegian
Wood” on the album Rubber Soul in
1965. This became the first of many musical references to George’s newfound
spirituality, and a trip to
After
the Beatles’ break-up in 1970, George Harrison became the first ex-Beatle to
release a top-charting album with his magnificent All Things Must Pass. Though he had experimented with
Eastern-inspired recording prior to this work, this album most effectively
displays his passion for expanding universal peace through Indian transcendentalism.
Now,
I really want to see you (hare rama)
Really
want to be with you (hare rama)
Really
want to see you lord (aaah)
But
it takes so long, my lord (hallelujah)
Hm, my lord (hallelujah)
My,
my, my lord (hare krishna)
My
sweet lord (hare krishna)
My
sweet lord (krishna krishna)
My
lord (hare hare)[10]
The themes of joy and praise are
continued throughout the album on tracks like “Hear Me Lord,” and George strengthened
this motif with Ahimsa-inspired love and compassion in the messages of the
songs “Behind That Locked Door,” “Let It Down,” “If Not For You,” and “What Is
Life?” Poignant lyrics, such as “The love you are blessed with/This world's
waiting for/So let out your heart, please, please/From behind that locked door,”[11] seem to
fill the air with a sense of hope that all the suffering, all the strife, all
the terrible ailments of this life, can be overcome if we leave behind our
selfish ways. Throughout the album,
What
caused
And to see you're really only very small
and life flows on within and without you.
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.
And the time will come when you see we're all one,
and life flows on within and without you.[13]
Our insignificance is one of our
greatest fears. Directly contradicting our inflated egotism, we must recognize
and embrace the triviality of our fleeting lives to free ourselves of the
manacles of separateness. Life comes and goes, as does material
accomplishments. As
One
year after the release of 
the violence in their homeland were now
threatened by starvation, lack of sanitation, cholera, and other deadly
illnesses. Combined with these perils was a season of natural disaster in the
form of destructive floods. Predictably, most of the victims succumbing to the
hardship were children.”[14]
With the help and inspiration of close friend Ravi Shankar,
Following
this historic concert, George Harrison continued to employ his musical talents
and personal fortune for the purpose of spreading love and enlightenment. Two
years after the Concert for
Even
in death, George’s compassionate legacy continues. On
I
find George Harrison to be a hero not so much for his iconic place in the
history of popular culture, as for his persistent and unwavering efforts to
spread compassion and love to all corners of the world. Both his art and his
charitable endeavors have the ability to enlighten the frustrated and bring
hope to the hearts of the suffering and the downtrodden. They inspire me when I
feel suffocated by the pressure of the material world and remind me of the
realities of human existence. They shout praise and call me to action,
for “Everyone has a choice/When to and not to raise their voices/It's you that
decides/Which way will you turn/While feeling that our love's not your concern/It's
you that decides.”[18] I
am the only one who can overcome my own ego, and we are the only ones who can make
a difference in this world. It is through this universal truth that George
Harrison’s heroic legacy lives on.
Word Count (without quotes): 1960
113 words deleted from P3A, 431 added (without quotes)