"Love Comes to Everyone" | ||||
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Single by George Harrison | ||||
from the album George Harrison | ||||
B-side |
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Released | 20 April 1979 (UK) 11 May 1979 (US) | |||
Recorded | 1978 | |||
Genre | Pop rock, [1] R&B | |||
Length | 4:36 (album version) 3:35 (single edit) | |||
Label | Dark Horse | |||
Songwriter(s) | George Harrison | |||
Producer(s) | George Harrison, Russ Titelman | |||
George Harrison singles chronology | ||||
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George Harrison track listing | ||||
10 tracks |
"Love Comes to Everyone" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1979 album George Harrison . It is the opening track on the album and was also issued as the second single, after "Blow Away". The song reflects Harrison's contentment in his personal life as he was soon to become a father for the first time and married his second wife, Olivia Arias. Despite its commercial qualities, and contrary to some reviewers' predictions at the time of release, the song failed to become a hit.
The lyrics to the song refer to human love and spiritual love as one, furthering a characteristic of Harrison's songwriting. He recorded the track at his Friar Park home studio in England in 1978 following a year away from the music industry. The recording includes synthesizer solos played by Steve Winwood and a guitar contribution from Eric Clapton over the intro to the track. Clapton's presence on the song formally signalled the continuation of his and Harrison's musical friendship after the potential complications presented by Clapton having eloped with Pattie Boyd, Harrison's first wife, in 1974.
Harrison included "Love Comes to Everyone" on his Dark Horse Records compilation Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 . Clapton covered the song on his 2005 album Back Home as a tribute to Harrison, four years after his death.
George Harrison began writing "Love Comes to Everyone" in September 1977 and finished it in Hawaii in February 1978. [2] Its writing and recording coincided with a period of domestic contentment for Harrison, [3] [4] who married his second wife, Olivia Arias, and saw the birth of his only child, son Dhani, during the sessions for his self-titled album. [5] [6] In his autobiography, I, Me, Mine , he describes the message of the song as "very optimistic". He also says the melody came about through using a Roland chorus effect on his guitar. [7]
According to the date given in I, Me, Mine, "Love Comes to Everyone" was the first new song Harrison wrote for the George Harrison album. [8] He approached the project after taking a sabbatical for much of 1977, [9] during which he and Arias travelled and attended races in the Formula 1 World Championship. [10] In June that year, Harrison and his first wife, Pattie Boyd, divorced amicably, [11] [12] and he continued to maintain a close friendship with Boyd's partner, Eric Clapton, [13] [14] whom Harrison took to calling his "husband-in-law" [15] and "guitarist-in-law". [16] He later attributed the relaxed mood of the album to "everything ... happening nice for me" in the two years since Thirty Three & ⅓ , adding, "I'm happy, and I think that it's reflected in the music." [17] [18]
Music critic David Fricke describes the mood of "Love Comes to Everyone" as "church-bell strum and beatific stroll". [19] Author Simon Leng likens the song's harmony to that in "Far East Man", a 1974 composition in the soul style that Harrison wrote with Faces guitarist Ron Wood. [20]
The lyrics continue a theme typical of Harrison's songwriting since his 1968 Beatles track "Long, Long, Long", whereby human love and spiritual or divine love are inseparable concepts. [21] He states the song's message with an ambiguity that initially suggests it is focused on human love and romance. [22] [23] [nb 1] The lyrics encourage the listener that love is there for all to experience, and that it "only takes time" before "that door" opens. [27] In the song's bridges, [28] he sings of a love "here in your heart" that will not change or age, referring to the assuredness of divine love and the inward journey required to experience it. [29]
While Harrison's songs often focus on the Hindu deity Krishna as his idea of God, "Love Comes to Everyone" includes imagery equally typical of Christian teaching. [30] In the final verse, [28] his line "Knock and it will open wide" recalls phrases from the New Testament books of Matthew and Luke. [30]
Harrison recorded "Love Comes to Everyone" at his home studio, FPSHOT, [31] between April and October 1978. [32] [33] As with all of the George Harrison album, he co-produced the track with Russ Titelman. [27] [34] The project marked the first time that Harrison had fully shared the producer's role on one of his albums since working with Phil Spector in the early 1970s. [35] [nb 2] According to author Robert Rodriguez, "Love Comes to Everyone" is the one track on George Harrison that appeared to follow contemporary music trends. He says it incorporates a "danceable tom-tom" beat. [39]
The Roland guitar effect on the song was also used on "Your Love Is Forever", [40] [41] adding a phased, ambient quality to the recording. [42] Leng describes Harrison's electric guitar parts on "Love Comes to Everyone" as eschewing the "screaming axes" approach of rock music and instead serving as "smooth, ringing purveyors of elegance". [23] In a 1996 interview, Titelman recalled that while making the album he came to appreciate the precision and craft Harrison had applied to the Beatles' music, and the "unique" quality of his guitar styles and sounds. He recognised Harrison's "fluid approach" in the guitar parts on songs such "Love Comes to Everyone" as a legacy of his immersion in Indian music. [43]
The other musicians on the recording include Steve Winwood (who plays the Minimoog synthesizer solos), Neil Larsen, Willie Weeks, Andy Newmark and Ray Cooper. [23] Newmark recalled a far "mellower" Harrison, compared with his demeanour during the sessions for his Dark Horse album in 1974. [44] [45] After suffering the loss of his father, who died in May, Harrison and Arias's son was born in August and the couple married the following month. [46] [47] Harrison's contentment was especially relevant since he had long wanted to become a parent. [48] [nb 3]
Author Ian Inglis says that Winwood's contributions on synthesizer and backing vocals give the track "an unusual depth". [52] Clapton, Winwood's former bandmate in Blind Faith, played lead guitar over the intro to the track. [2] [6] It was Clapton's first appearance on a Harrison record since the Concert for Bangladesh live album in 1971, [53] after which gossip columnists had been intrigued by Harrison divulging details of the romantic triangle between himself, Clapton and Boyd in his Dark Horse track "Bye Bye, Love". [54] [nb 4] Inglis views Clapton's participation in this and later Harrison projects as a sign of "the depth of their mutual affection" despite the potential awkwardness of their romantic entanglements. [58] [nb 5]
George Harrison was scheduled for release in December but an issue with the artwork delayed the process. [33] On 7 December, Harrison made a rare live appearance when he joined Clapton on stage at Guildford Civic Hall [62] to play the encore at the final show of Clapton's UK tour. [63]
George Harrison was released on Dark Horse Records in February 1979, [64] with "Love Comes to Everyone" sequenced as the opening track. [65] It was Harrison's first album in over two years, during which, particularly in the UK, [66] punk rock had established itself as the new phenomenon, predicated on a return to authentic rock 'n' roll values. [67] In opening the album, according to Leng, "Love Comes to Everyone" served as a statement declaring Harrison's resistance to the punk-inspired aesthetic. He adds that such was the song's "deliberately ambiguous lyrical sheen", its religious references were equally hidden from a pop audience. [23] [nb 6]
The song was originally intended as the album's lead single in the United Kingdom, [2] and was Harrison's choice for the first single, but "Blow Away" was selected instead. [23] "Love Comes to Everyone" was issued as the A-side of the album's second single on 20 April in the UK and on 11 May in the United States. [70] [71] In the UK, it was backed by "Soft-Hearted Hana", while the US B-side was "Soft Touch". [72] [nb 7] For the single, the track was given an early fade-out, [2] reducing the running time to 3:35. [73] [74]
Unlike for "Blow Away" and the UK charity single "Faster", Harrison did not produce a music video for "Love Comes to Everyone", [75] [76] and he did limited promotion for the album generally. [4] [39] Coinciding with the single's UK release, he gave an interview to Capital Radio, [71] but the song failed to chart there. [38] [77] On 19 May, a week after the Capital Radio interview, [78] Harrison and Arias attended Clapton and Boyd's wedding reception in Ewhurst, Surrey. [79] The occasion marked the first time that three former Beatles had played live since the band's break-up, as Harrison, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were among the musicians who performed on the makeshift stage in Clapton's garden. [80] [81] The song placed at number 30 on the UK Airplay Top 50 chart compiled by the industry publication Radio & Record News, drawn from figures supplied by BBC Radio and JICRAR. [82]
In the US, "Love Comes to Everyone" had been favoured by DJs as an album track while "Blow Away" received heavy airplay. Defying expectations that it too would become a commercial hit there, the single failed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100. [83] [nb 8] Record World reported it at number 118, [85] and the song reached number 38 on Billboard 's Adult Contemporary chart. [86] The prominent synthesizer sound on the recording later found greater commercial success as a feature of Winwood's 1980 album Arc of a Diver , particularly his 1981 hit single "While You See a Chance". [87] Given a limited production run, [2] the US picture sleeve for "Love Comes to Everyone" became highly prized among collectors. [6] By 2000, it was the most valuable collectible among Harrison's record-related items. [2] [nb 9]
Harrison included "Love Comes to Everyone" on his 1989 compilation album Best of Dark Horse 1976–1989 . [89] The track used there is around five seconds longer than the 1979 single edit. [2] He performed the song on his Japanese tour with Clapton, in December 1991, [90] but dropped it from the setlist after the opening night. [91] As a tribute to Harrison, four years after his death, [92] Clapton covered the song on his 2005 album Back Home . [93] [94] As with the other material on what he called his "'family' album", Clapton's choice was inspired by fatherhood and his contentment with Melia McEnery, whom he married in 2002. [95]
Writing in Melody Maker in 1979, E.J. Thribb named "Love Comes to Everyone" among the three most enjoyable songs on an album that reflected the singer's happy approach to life. Thribb grouped it with "Blow Away" and "Not Guilty", saying: "The chords roll and tumble, the melodies are good to chant, and the lyrics are simple but tell their story." [96] [97] Billboard's reviewer considered it to be the album's "best cut" and admired the track for Harrison's "vintage guitar strumming", Clapton's guitar intro and Winwood's backing vocals. [98] In Rolling Stone , Stephen Holden found the album "refreshingly lighthearted" and evidence that Harrison "was always a much better tunesmith than priest", [99] and he highlighted the "prettiness" of the song's melody. [100]
In his review of the single for Record Mirror , Paul Sexton paired "Love Comes to Everyone" with "Blow Away" as a song that suggested Harrison had "sold out" but was nevertheless "a very proficient AOR record". Sexton added that he had always liked Harrison's voice and musical arrangements, but with "Blow Away" having soon disappeared from the UK chart, the former Beatle was becoming a "poor man's Paul McCartney" in terms of his songs' longevity. [101] Cash Box predicted success for the single, describing it as a "soothingly melodic followup" to "Blow Away". The reviewer admired the blend of guitar motif, electric piano, tambourine and synthesizer soloing, along with Harrison's "top notch" vocals and "inspirational message". [102]
Writing in 1981, Bob Woffinden of the NME described the track as "joyous" and an example of how, thanks to its creator's happiness as a husband and father, George Harrison was "characterised by many of the positive qualities (consistency, professionalism, confidence, ebullience)" that had distinguished the Beatles' work throughout the 1960s. [103] NME critics Roy Carr and Tony Tyler referred to "Love Comes to Everyone" as a "poised and relaxedly melodic all purpose choon". They commented that Harrison incorporates a composing trick first heard on his 1965 song "If I Needed Someone", that of "basing his phrases on the off-beats of a two-bar sequence", a device they deemed one of Harrison's "best loved and least worn out". [104]
Among more recent assessments, AllMusic critic Richard Ginell dismisses the song as a "depressing" choice to open the album, and "a treadmill tune with greeting-card verses". [105] Morgan Enos of Billboard recognises it as one of the three "gems" on George Harrison that showed the artist to be "happier than he'd been in years". [106]
Pop historian Robert Rodriguez calls "Love Comes to Everyone" a "melodic, gentle slice of commercial pop, managing to sound at once contemporary and idiosyncratically Harrison". [6] He says that the song deserved to become a hit and describes the single's lack of commercial success as "baffling". [107] Harrison biographer Elliot Huntley deems the song a "glorious piece", despite Clapton's "mediocre" guitar intro and the "paper and comb" synthesizer sound, and he considers that its failure to become a hit was "mystifying ... given that it seemed perfect for AOR radio stations the world over". [38]
According to author Simon Leng, the line-up of musicians on Harrison's recording is as follows: [23]
In 1983, Brazilian singer Zizi Possi released a Portuguese cover version of this song, named O Amor Vem Pra Cada Um on the long play record Pra Sempre E Mais Um Dia.
George Harrison is the eighth studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison, released in February 1979. It was written and recorded through much of 1978, a period of domestic contentment for Harrison, during which he married Olivia Arias and became a father for the first time, to son Dhani. Harrison wrote several of the songs in Hawaii, while the track "Faster" reflected his year away from music-making, when he and Arias attended many of the races in the 1977 Formula 1 World Championship. The album also includes the hit single "Blow Away" and "Not Guilty", a song that Harrison originally recorded with the Beatles in 1968.
Dark Horse is the fifth studio album by the English rock musician George Harrison. It was released on Apple Records in December 1974 as the follow-up to Living in the Material World. Although keenly anticipated on release, Dark Horse is associated with the controversial North American tour that Harrison staged with Indian classical musician Ravi Shankar in November and December that year. This was the first US tour by a member of the Beatles since 1966, and the public's nostalgia for the band, together with Harrison contracting laryngitis during rehearsals and choosing to feature Shankar so heavily in the programme, resulted in scathing concert reviews from some influential music critics.
"All Things Must Pass" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison, issued in November 1970 as the title track to his triple album of the same name. Billy Preston released the song originally – as "All Things (Must) Pass" – on his Apple Records album Encouraging Words (1970) after the Beatles had rehearsed the song in January 1969 but did not include it on their Let It Be album. The composition reflects the influence of the Band's sound and communal music-making on Harrison, after he had spent time with the group in Woodstock, New York, in late 1968. In his lyrics, Harrison drew inspiration from Timothy Leary's poem "All Things Pass", a psychedelic adaptation of the Tao Te Ching.
"Dark Horse" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison and the title track to his 1974 solo album on Apple Records. The song was the album's lead single in North America, becoming a top-20 hit in the United States, but it was Harrison's first single not to chart in Britain when issued there in February 1975. The term "dark horse" had long been applied to Harrison due to his unexpected emergence as the most accomplished solo artist of the four former Beatles following the band's break-up in 1970. In the song, however, he said he used the phrase in reference to gossip about someone who carries out clandestine sexual relationships. Commentators interpret the lyrics as a rebuttal to several possible detractors: Harrison's first wife, Pattie Boyd; reviewers who criticised the spiritual content of his 1973 album Living in the Material World; and his former bandmates John Lennon and Paul McCartney. Harrison named his Dark Horse record label after the song, and his 1974 North American tour with Ravi Shankar came to be known as the Dark Horse Tour.
"Don't Let Me Wait Too Long" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison, released on his 1973 album Living in the Material World. It was scheduled to be issued as a single in September that year, as the follow-up to "Give Me Love ", but the release was cancelled. Music critics have traditionally viewed "Don't Let Me Wait Too Long" as a highlight of the Material World album, praising its pop qualities and production, with some considering the song worthy of hit status.
"Cheer Down" is a song by English musician George Harrison that was first released in 1989. The track was his contribution to the soundtrack of the film Lethal Weapon 2 and was also issued as a single. Harrison wrote the song with Tom Petty and co-produced the recording with Jeff Lynne.
"Let It Down" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. The recording was co-produced by Phil Spector and employs the latter's Wall of Sound production technique to lavish effect. Its brash opening and choruses contrast with the ethereal quality of the verses – a loud/soft approach that has been credited with influencing indie bands during the 1980s and 1990s.
"I Dig Love" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. A paean to free love, it marks a departure from the more profound, spiritually oriented subject matter of much of that album. Musically, the song reflects Harrison's early experimentation with slide guitar, a technique that he was introduced to while touring with Delaney & Bonnie and Friends in December 1969.
"Deep Blue" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison that was released as the B-side to his 1971 charity single "Bangla Desh". Harrison wrote the song in 1970, midway through the recording sessions for All Things Must Pass, and recorded it in Los Angeles the following year while organising the Concert for Bangladesh. The composition was inspired by the deteriorating condition of his mother, Louise, before she succumbed to cancer in July 1970, and by Harrison's feelings of helplessness as he visited her in hospital in the north of England. Given the subject matter, "Deep Blue" also served to convey the suffering endured by the millions of refugees from war-torn Bangladesh in 1971, as sickness and disease became widespread among their makeshift camps in northern India.
"Māya Love" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1974 album Dark Horse. The song originated as a slide guitar tune, to which Harrison later added lyrics relating to the illusory nature of love – maya being a Sanskrit term for "illusion", or "that which is not". Harrison's biographers consider the lyrical theme to be reflective of his failed marriage to Pattie Boyd, who left him for his friend Eric Clapton shortly before the words were written. Harrison recorded the song at his home, Friar Park, on the eve of his North American tour with Ravi Shankar, which took place in November and December 1974. The recording features Harrison's slide guitar extensively and contributions from four musicians who formed the nucleus of his tour band: Billy Preston, Tom Scott, Willie Weeks and Andy Newmark. Reviewers note the track as an example of its parent album's more diverse musical genres, namely funk and rhythm and blues, compared with the more traditional rock orientation of Harrison's earlier solo work.
"The Answer's at the End" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison, released in 1975 on his final album for Apple Records, Extra Texture . Part of the song lyrics came from a wall inscription at Harrison's nineteenth-century home, Friar Park, a legacy of the property's original owner, Sir Frank Crisp. This aphorism, beginning "Scan not a friend with a microscopic glass", had resonated with Harrison since he bought Friar Park in 1970, and it was a quote he often used when discussing his difficult relationship with his former Beatles bandmate Paul McCartney.
"Ooh Baby (You Know That I Love You)" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1975 on his album Extra Texture (Read All About It). Harrison wrote the composition as a tribute to American singer Smokey Robinson, whom he often identified as one of his favourite vocalists and songwriters. The song was intended as a companion piece to Robinson's 1965 hit with the Miracles, "Ooo Baby Baby", and its inclusion on Extra Texture contributed to that album's standing as Harrison's soul music album. His impersonation of Robinson's celebrated vocal style on the track, including portions sung in falsetto, contrasted with Harrison's hoarse, laryngitis-marred singing on his 1974 North American tour and the poorly received Dark Horse album.
"Can't Stop Thinking About You" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1975 on his final album for Apple Records, Extra Texture . A love song in the style of a soul/R&B ballad, it was written by Harrison in December 1973, towards the end of his marriage to Pattie Boyd and while he was having an affair with Maureen Starkey, the wife of his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr. Having first considered the song for his 1974 release Dark Horse, Harrison recorded "Can't Stop Thinking About You" in Los Angeles in May 1975 for his so-called "soul album", Extra Texture. Some authors view its inclusion on the latter release as an obvious attempt by Harrison to commercialise the album, in response to the harsh critical reception afforded Dark Horse and his 1974 North American tour.
"Beautiful Girl" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1976 album Thirty Three & 1/3. Harrison began writing the song in 1969 and considered recording it for his 1970 triple album All Things Must Pass. In its finished, 1976 form, the lyrics of "Beautiful Girl" were inspired by Harrison's second wife, Olivia Arias.
"Here Comes the Moon" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1979 album George Harrison. Harrison wrote the song while on holiday on the Hawaiian island of Maui in February 1978. His inspiration for the composition was the appearance of the moon in the evening sky, just as the sun was setting. Although the lyrics focus on this natural occurrence rather than on the symbolism it suggests, in the manner of Harrison's Beatles track "Here Comes the Sun", the song is seen as a sequel to that similarly titled piece.
"Soft-Hearted Hana" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1979 album George Harrison. In North America, it was also issued as the B-side of the album's lead single, "Blow Away", while in Britain and some other markets it was the B-side of the follow-up, "Love Comes to Everyone". The lyrics recall Harrison's experiences under the hallucinatory effects of magic mushrooms while holidaying on the Hawaiian island of Maui. The song title refers to Hana, a remote town on the island, and is a play on that of the 1920s ragtime tune "Hard Hearted Hannah".
"Your Love Is Forever" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1979 album George Harrison. He wrote it as a guitar instrumental in an open tuning, before adding lyrics at the suggestion of his co-producer, Russ Titelman. The lyrics have an ambiguity typical of Harrison's work, in that the love he expresses is directed towards both a romantic partner and his God. In the United Kingdom, the song was also issued as the B-side of "Faster", on a charity single benefiting the cancer research project set up by the late Formula 1 driver Gunnar Nilsson.
"Soft Touch" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison from his 1979 album George Harrison. It was also issued as the B-side of the album's lead single, "Blow Away", in Britain and some other countries, while in markets such as North America, it was the B-side of the second single, "Love Comes to Everyone". Harrison wrote the song while in the Virgin Islands with his future wife, Olivia Arias, shortly before recording his 1976 album Thirty Three & ⅓. The song is a love song in which Harrison also conveys his wonder at the idyllic island setting.
"So Sad" is a song by English rock musician George Harrison that was released on his 1974 album Dark Horse. Harrison originally recorded the song for his previous album, Living in the Material World, before giving it to Alvin Lee, the guitarist and singer with Ten Years After. Lee recorded it – as "So Sad " – with gospel singer Mylon LeFevre for their 1973 album On the Road to Freedom. The latter recording includes contributions from Harrison and marked the first of several collaborations between him and Lee.
Songs by George Harrison is a book of song lyrics and commentary by English musician George Harrison, with illustrations by New Zealand artist Keith West. It was published in February 1988, in a limited run of 2500 copies, by Genesis Publications, and included an EP of rare or previously unreleased Harrison recordings. Intended as a luxury item, each copy was hand-bound and boxed, and available only by direct order through Genesis in England. The book contains the lyrics to 60 Harrison compositions, the themes of which West represents visually with watercolour paintings. Starting in 1985, Harrison and West worked on the project for two years, during which Harrison returned to music-making with his album Cloud Nine, after focusing on film production for much of the early 1980s. The book includes a foreword by his Cloud Nine co-producer, Jeff Lynne, and a written contribution from Elton John.