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4.20pm
8 December 2015
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This song has always been a favorite of mine. Well, maybe at 14 I would comply when others told me to skip it, but I would sneak a listen by myself! I think in an alternate universe George Harrison could have been an ethnomusicology professor.
Have to give singing with the Anthology instrumental a try…
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natureaker, Beatlebug, all things must pass...and in the end, the love you make is equal to the love you take.
1.09pm
2 March 2015
Offline It’s so different than everything else on Pepper, which is probably why I can’t imagine Pepper without it. Georges finest Indian composition, the circling melody is entrancing.
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Beatlebug, QuarryMan12.30pm
22 July 2015
Offline I have to go against the trend for this song and say that I loved this one at first, but it started to die out a bit for me the more I listened to it
12.37pm
22 July 2015
Offline BUT even though I don’t listen to this song at much, I must say this is one of the heavier songs by the Beatles. The things George sang in this song are so eye opening.
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Beatlebug1.53pm
9 March 2017
Offline This may sound crazy but do you guys think that Anil Bahgwat played tabla on this song, the Love You To tabla guy, it’s definitely possible.
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7.09pm
14 November 2017
Offline I’ve loved this song since I very first heard it. I like to listen to a song,then replay it, and the 2nd time, really LISTEN to the lyrics,you know what I mean? And this,lyrically, it’s bloody brilliant. I was like,wow, that’s deep!
I’d never bothered with Indian music before listening to George’s tracks,but especially with Within You Without You ,it leaves you wanting more. I also loved the fact that the song was over 5 minutes long too. I really like a lot of the Beatles early stuff (A Hard Day’s Night album especially) but it pissed me off that most of the early Beatles tracks would only be 2 minutes or so in length.
WYWY is one of the best tracks on Sgt Pepper in my opinion. Thanks George for introducing me to Indian music
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8.54am
Reviewers
14 April 2010
Offline George made you, me and gazillions of others aware of the beauty in Indian music. 
I don’t own any albums or anything, though I really should dabble. From what I’ve seen/heard on the …Bangladesh and Concert For George DVDs it can be very exciting. Of those, ‘Arpan’ is by far my favorite.
While the music in this song may not be overly exciting, I agree with you that the lyrics are cool. I do get a kick out of those who claim George was “preachy” in his lyrics from this song especially the line “Are you one of them?”.
I guess one man’s “preachy” is another man’s “thought provoking”. 
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11.11am
26 January 2017
Offline Ravi Shankar’s The Sounds of India is pretty great. He’s talking and explaining indian melodies and polyrhythms before and bringing in layers level by level before he REALLY begins. I went through a heavy George phase where I got some of his recommended reading, Autobiography of a Yogi and would read it while listening to Ravi Shankar.
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5.47pm
11 February 2019
Offline If I had to choose one Beatles song to take with me, first, I would complain that I could take only one, then I would choose Within You Without You .
i first heard it at my cousin’s 21st birthday party and was overwhelmed by it. I listened to a lot of music at age 11, including classical and jazz, but I had never heard anything so pure and haunting and profound. It stands out unique in modern music, a perfect transposition between cultures. Sometimes I think George was the most intelligent of the four. To those who say he lacked the originality of Lennon and McCartney, I have only to refer to WYWY.
It began a period of investigating the ideas behind it, Buddhism, oriental thought, which though it was in the air in 67, was not quite flourishing in the remote backwater way from London where I was growing up.
I listen to it often.
Peace to George’s soul.
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Reviewers
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1 May 2011
Offline Whenever this and the other two George ‘Indian’ tracks are played at my work, I take a speaker in and play music whenever it’s suitable (most people use the music tv channels), folk ask what on earth is playing then Look At Me like I’m seriously deluded when told it’s The Beatles. I think/hope George would have liked that.
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11.48am
15 November 2018
Offline Carusus said
If I had to choose one Beatles song to take with me, first, I would complain that I could take only one,
yes 
a kindred spirit!
then I would choose Within You Without You .
Yes amazing choice 
I love this song so much. Lyrically, it just might be my favorite song. Musically, fantastic. I love it and I love George.
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12.06pm
13 January 2019
Offline I love this song so much. Lyrically, it just might be my favorite song. Musically, fantastic. I love it and I love George.
I agree!
I’m Indian, and I heard a lot of Indian classical music growing up but I never really liked it. It wasn’t until I heard Within You Without You that I listened to Indian music through a new perspective. I started reading more about the Beatles and India and gained a new appreciation for my own culture, and I really have to thank George for that.
By the way, welcome to the forum @Carusus !
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1.33pm
15 November 2018
Offline Getbackintheussr said
I love this song so much. Lyrically, it just might be my favorite song. Musically, fantastic. I love it and I love George.
I agree!
By the way, welcome to the forum @Carusus !
Oh yes, I almost forgot! Welcome!
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3.02pm
14 December 2009
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Getbackintheussr said
I love this song so much. Lyrically, it just might be my favorite song. Musically, fantastic. I love it and I love George.
I agree!
I’m Indian, and I heard a lot of Indian classical music growing up but I never really liked it. It wasn’t until I heard Within You Without You that I listened to Indian music through a new perspective. I started reading more about the Beatles and India and gained a new appreciation for my own culture, and I really have to thank George for that.
By the way, welcome to the forum @Carusus !
Yes, welcome from me as well (and belated welcome to yourself, getbackintheussr)!
I was rewatching Wonderwall just now and really loving the music…those Eastern instruments make such wonderful sounds…
WYWY made a huge impression on me from first hearing, as well, it was so different. I’d had exposure to bits of Ravi Shankar and enjoyed the sound of sitar, so wasn’t unfamiliar with Indian instrumentation, though I’d never heard those instruments used in a pop/rock recording, with actual lyrics and singing and all. (Cool!) But I’d say it was that droning melody that really caught my ears, the way it slowly unfolds and repeats and doubles back…It’s not just an earworm, it’s an earsnake!
Wow, that melody can pop up ANYWHERE, even a live funk concert a decade later!…like at 13:40
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10.48am
4 September 2009
Offline Always skipped this one in my younger years. Now I find the score and the level of musicianship mind blowing.
it seems very lush and dreamy until the break. Then it takes off. Love the way the different instruments answer a line from other instruments. At the end of the break it mellows out. Love it!
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10.51am
15 November 2018
Offline Von Bontee said
WYWY made a huge impression on me from first hearing, as well, it was so different. I’d had exposure to bits of Ravi Shankar and enjoyed the sound of sitar, so wasn’t unfamiliar with Indian instrumentation, though I’d never heard those instruments used in a pop/rock recording, with actual lyrics and singing and all. (Cool!) But I’d say it was that droning melody that really caught my ears, the way it slowly unfolds and repeats and doubles back...It’s not just an earworm, it’s an earsnake!
That’s interesting, it never struck me as much of an earworm.
Thankfully, it’s a good song, so hopefully it doesn’t bother you too much! 
Love one another.
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12.12pm
Moderators
15 February 2015
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50yearslate said
That’s interesting, it never struck me as much of an earworm.
It’s not an earworm, it’s an EARSNAKE! 
(Best description ever btw @Von Bontee 
)
I hear a bit of it in ‘In The Light’ by Led Zeppelin:
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10.45am
26 January 2017
Offline Getbackintheussr said
I love this song so much. Lyrically, it just might be my favorite song. Musically, fantastic. I love it and I love George.
I agree!
I’m Indian, and I heard a lot of Indian classical music growing up but I never really liked it. It wasn’t until I heard Within You Without You that I listened to Indian music through a new perspective. I started reading more about the Beatles and India and gained a new appreciation for my own culture, and I really have to thank George for that.
By the way, welcome to the forum @Carusus !
That’s awesome! I always appreciated how Georgie handled the Indian music he was taking inspiration from. It just seems very genuine and respectful.
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I've sat there on the barstool and I've looked him in the face.
He seemed a little haggard, but it did not slow him down,
he was humming to the neon of the universal sound.
6.43am
30 May 2018
Offline QuarryMan said
Getbackintheussr said
I love this song so much. Lyrically, it just might be my favorite song. Musically, fantastic. I love it and I love George.
I agree!
I’m Indian, and I heard a lot of Indian classical music growing up but I never really liked it. It wasn’t until I heard Within You Without You that I listened to Indian music through a new perspective. I started reading more about the Beatles and India and gained a new appreciation for my own culture, and I really have to thank George for that.
By the way, welcome to the forum @Carusus !
That’s awesome! I always appreciated how Georgie handled the Indian music he was taking inspiration from. It just seems very genuine and respectful.
Agree!
I always has been amazed how a young rock star of 25-26 years old could write such a meaningful song!!
George was definitely an amazing ,genuine,special human being
IMO he was a spiritual artist. He sought after greater purposes of life and gave music to his inner feelings and revelations in a rock era which was itself a challenging task to do.
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50yearslate, Beatlebug9.15am
15 November 2018
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I agree completely, he is fantastic. I don’t know how he managed to be so amazing and write such brilliant stuff, but I’m very glad he did.
@All Things Must Pass you should participate more in the Fiendish Thingies club!
Love one another.
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