All Things Must Pass

Stress has been the order of the day recently due to the exams which are part of the journalism course I'm doing (I got my media law result back yesterday and got a B which means I'm not likely to get sued for libel any time soon).

One evening, working late in the college library, I had a look through the music section and decided to take out George Harrison's first post-Beatles solo album, All Things Must Pass.

For some reason I've never bothered with this album. There's something about the Beatles' respective solo work which rarely inspires me. There are flashes of genius here and there but I always feel listening to them, knowing they don't have the other three behind them, tearing it up, is like visiting a beautiful, famous landmark only to find that building work is being done to it. It's just not the same.

That's changed now. Harrison's album single-handedly saved me from losing my mind under a ton of revision notes. It's pure folk-rock and has the most incredible warmth about the production. Also, the lyrics shed light on the relief, but also the bitterness, Harrison was feeling about the Beatles' split. Whats more, he wrote most of the songs whilst the Beatles were still functioning, only to have them dismissed by Lennon and McCartney. Who knows, maybe they felt a hint of worry that George was suddenly threatening their empire with the superb material he was writing as the group were falling apart.

Anyway, below is a song from the album called Let it Down. Quite possibly my favourite song on the album, it's a perfect example of both the chaos and the calm felt after the group's split.