Life Itself

"Life Itself" is a song by English musician George Harrison from his 1981 album Somewhere in England. Harrison also included it on his 1989 greatest-hits compilation Best of Dark Horse. As a love song to God, the track served as the artist's most overtly religious musical statement since 1974. The lyrics offer praise to Christ, Vishnu, Jehovah and Buddha, thereby marking a return to the concept of a universal deity, regardless of religious demarcation, that Harrison had first espoused in his 1970 hit single "My Sweet Lord". Harrison recorded "Life Itself" at his Friar Park studio in England in 1980. The recording features multiple slide guitar parts, played by Harrison, and contributions from musicians such as Neil Larsen, Willie Weeks and Jim Keltner. Following Warner Bros. Records' rejection of the initial submission of Somewhere in England, forcing Harrison to rework the content of the album, Al Kooper added a Hammond organ part to the track. "Life Itself" has received praise from reviewers, several of whom recognise it as a highlight of an otherwise disappointing album. Harrison's demo of the song appeared on the EP accompanying the limited-edition illustrated book Songs by George Harrison 2, published by Genesis Publications in 1992. He also agreed to its use in the 1993 audio-book format of author Deepak Chopra's Ageless Body, Timeless Mind, where the 1981 track accompanies a passage read by Chopra. In 1998, "Life Itself" was one of the Harrison compositions adapted by composers Steve Wood and Daniel May for the soundtrack to the IMAX documentary Everest. Background and composition George Harrison wrote "Life Itself" and the other songs for his album Somewhere in England between mid 1979 and the early part of 1980. Harrison's songwriting at this time contrasted in tone with the light-heartedness of his two previous albums, Thirty Three & 1/3 (1976) and George Harrison (1979). Both of these works had continued to present a softening in the artist's spiritual vision since 1974, the year in which he had publicly espoused a hard-line Hindu religiosity in his North American concerts with Ravi Shankar and in devotional songs such as "It Is 'He' (Jai Sri Krishna)". While promoting his self-titled 1979 album, Harrison said that he was no longer interested in promoting so obvious a religious message as he had in his biggest hit, "My Sweet Lord".