George Harrison's My Sweet Lord: A Song of Devotion, Dispute, and Destiny
History is rarely kind to the third voice in a group that changed the world. But George Harrison didn’t just leave The Beatles in 1970 — he arrived.
And arrive he did with All Things Must Pass, a sprawling, audacious triple album that served as both a catharsis and a declaration. Central to that project was My Sweet Lord, a track that remains — five decades on — a towering moment in solo Beatles history. A spiritual lament disguised as a pop song. A cross-cultural anthem that dared to blend gospel exultation with Eastern devotion. A transcendent piece of music that, as it happened, may not have been entirely original.
Harrison wrote My Sweet Lord in Copenhagen in December 1969 during a creative burst on tour with Delaney & Bonnie. Surrounded by fellow believers in music’s power — Billy Preston, Eric Clapton — Harrison began piecing together a track that was less “boy meets girl” and more “soul meets divinity.” Its DNA was gospel, its mantra was Krishna. The chords were Preston’s, the “hallelujahs” came from Delaney Bramlett. Harrison brought the sincerity. “I don’t feel guilty or bad about it,” he would later insist.
As the song climbed the charts in 1971, comparisons to The Chiffons’ He’s So Fine surfaced. And not unjustly. A court would ultimately rule that Harrison had “subconsciously” lifted the melody. Intent was irrelevant. Legally, it was still plagiarism.
It didn’t help that music industry shyster Allen Klein complicated the legal fallout to an almost Shakespearean degree. The case dragged for years. The resolution came decades later. Harrison, for his part, doubled down on the song’s intent. My Sweet Lord wasn’t about the charts — it was about God.
Ironically, Harrison wasn’t even the first to release the track. That honour fell to Billy Preston, who issued it months before George’s own version. It barely cracked the charts. Harrison’s, however, soared. It became the first post-Beatles solo number one and the best-selling solo single by any member of the Fab Four during the 1970s.
The song would return to the top in 2002, in the shadow of Harrison’s death. It wasn’t just nostalgia. My Sweet Lord remained relevant — in its message, in its longing, in its unshakable sincerity.
Source: classichits.ie/Jake Danson
