"All Things Must Pass" is a song by George Harrison, issued in 1970 as the title track to his triple album of the same name. It was originally released by Billy Preston (as "All Things (Must) Pass"), on his Apple album Encouraging Words, after The Beatles had rejected the song in 1969 for what would become their Let It Be album. "All Things Must Pass" was influenced by the music of The Band, after Harrison had spent time in Woodstock, New York, in late 1968, following the completion of the Beatles' White Album. Timothy Leary's poem "All Things Pass", a psychedelic adaptation of the Tao Te Ching, provided inspiration for the song's lyrics.
Widely regarded as one of Harrison's finest compositions, its rejection by his former band has provoked much comment from biographers and music critics; "All Things Must Pass" has been described as "the wisest song never recorded by The Beatles"[1] and on release was viewed as a statement on the band's break-up. The subject matter deals with the transient nature of human existence, and the lyrics have been quoted frequently following Harrison's death in November 2001. Jim James, Sloan Wainwright, Yusuf Islam and Paul McCartney are among those who have covered the song.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/All_Things_Must_Pass_(song)
All Things Must Pass
Sunrise doesn't last all morning
A cloudburst doesn't last all day
Seems my love is up
And has left you with no warning
But it's not always going
To be this grey
All things must pass
All things must pass away
Sunset doesn't last all evening
A mind can blow those clouds away
After all this my love is up
And must be leaving
It has not always
Been this grey
All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
None of life's strings can last
So I must be on my way
And face another day
Now the darkness only stays at nighttime
In the morning it will fade away
Daylight is good
At arriving at the right time
It's not always
Going to be this grey
All things must pass
All things must pass away
All things must pass
All things must pass away
--George Harrison
Harrison's religious life-philosophy shines through. The thing of it is you don't have to be a believer to...believe...!
All things are temporary.
"All Things Must Pass" is a song written by George Harrison. It is the title track to his triple album of the same name.
During The Beatles' Get Back sessions in January 1969, this was one of many songs the group rehearsed to be part of their new album. As the sessions progressed, the song was pushed to the side and never picked up again by the band.
Harrison recorded a solo demo of the song on multi-track tape on 25 February 1969. Harrison recorded two takes, then added extra guitar onto the second. This version was subsequently released in 1996 on The Beatles' collection Anthology 3.
The song was never formally recorded by The Beatles by the time of their break-up, though at least one informal rehearsal take featuring the full group exists.
The song underwent a number of small changes from when it was first written in late 1968. The line "a mind can blow those clouds away" was originally written as the more literal "a wind can blow those clouds away," but bootlegs from the January 1969 Beatles sessions reveal John Lennon suggesting the change to "mind" to include a bit of "psychedelia" in the song. Perspective on one line was slightly changed from "It's not always been this grey" (with The Beatles) on the demo to "It's not always gonna be this grey" (on his own) on the final recording.
When George Harrison was interviewed by VH1 in 1997, "All Things Must Pass" was one of three songs he performed (along with the Traveling Wilburys tune "If You Belonged to Me" and an early version of "Any Road").
The song was included on Harrison's 2009 career-spanning best of compilation Let It Roll: Songs by George Harrison.
--TheBeatleMirko
