I think there's a clear straight line from "Within You Without You" to "The Inner Light". Obviously Harrison has learned something in those couple of years, and it comes shining out here in his writing. Also consider his songs pre and post "Inner Light". Before, most were disenchanted, frustrated, or, at best, worrisome. (Consider Blue Jay Way, Piggies, Within You Without You, While My Guitar Gently Weeps) After, he seemed to achieve a sort of Zen-like calm. (All Things Must Pass, My Sweet Lord, Here Comes The Sun, Give Me Love, etc.) This appears to be the turning point in Harrison's life.
The lyrics pretty much say one thing: "The answer is inside." This is a motif in about a billion other Indian songs, and Harrison Anglofies it here with great skill.
The music is calm and celebratory all at once. I'm not sure of the instruments, I confess, but the thing that sounds like an organ provides continuity while the plucked instruments provide almost wild variation. Thusly, at the end ("Do all without doing, know all without knowing.), you can feel yourself being sort of swept up in a whirlpool of peace. Seems contradictory, eh? Too bad. It's Harrison.
I think there's a clear straight line from "Within You Without You" to "The Inner Light". Obviously Harrison has learned something in those couple of years, and it comes shining out here in his writing. Also consider his songs pre and post "Inner Light". Before, most were disenchanted, frustrated, or, at best, worrisome. (Consider Blue Jay Way, Piggies, Within You Without You, While My Guitar Gently Weeps) After, he seemed to achieve a sort of Zen-like calm. (All Things Must Pass, My Sweet Lord, Here Comes The Sun, Give Me Love, etc.) This appears to be the turning point in Harrison's life.
The lyrics pretty much say one thing: "The answer is inside." This is a motif in about a billion other Indian songs, and Harrison Anglofies it here with great skill.
The music is calm and celebratory all at once. I'm not sure of the instruments, I confess, but the thing that sounds like an organ provides continuity while the plucked instruments provide almost wild variation. Thusly, at the end ("Do all without doing, know all without knowing.), you can feel yourself being sort of swept up in a whirlpool of peace. Seems contradictory, eh? Too bad. It's Harrison.