The Day The World Gets ’Round

‘The Day The World Gets ’Round’ is the tenth song on George Harrison’s fourth solo album Living In The Material World.

Harrison wrote the song in New York in August 1971.

I started to write ‘The Day The World Gets ’Round’ in New York the day after the Bangla Desh Concert. It was a very emotional period for me because a lot of good people had helped with its success, which made me very optimistic about certain things.

At the same time I felt slightly enraged because, let’s face it, the whole problem and how to solve it lies within the power of the governments and world leaders. They have resources, food, money and wealth enough for twice our world’s population, yet they choose to squander it on weapons and other objects that destroy mankind.

It seems to me to be a poor state of affairs when ‘pop stars’ are required to set an example in order to solve this type of problem. If everyone would wake-up and do even a little, there could be no misery in the world.

Klaus Voormann’s 2009 album A Sideman’s Journey includes a cover version of ‘The Day The World Gets ’Round’, with Yusuf/Cat Stevens on vocals.

It was released as a single, credited to Yusuf & Klaus, with proceeds donated to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and Save the Children. Voormann created new artwork containing his image of Harrison from The Beatles’ Revolver, and adding a new drawing of Islam.

Looking through George Harrison’s albums, I discovered the song ‘The Day The World Gets ’Round’. It’s a beautiful plea for peace and understanding written by George Harrison, the spiritual leader of the Beatles. I’d met him with John Lennon in the early ’70s at David Bailey’s studio. He was such a great spirit and his eastern outreach inspired me and many others. George was also more responsible than any other artist for initiating Pop music’s movement to aid people and countries stricken by wars and calamities; his concert for Bangladesh was the first of its kind.

The song speaks of the split nature of this world: comparing the love and joy of sharing what we all have on this earth, with the ‘foolishness in man’ and his quest for more, thus causing war and loss in the process.

I hope this record will help remind people of the immense love, peace, and happiness, that is possible when we get round to looking at our futile wars and prejudices.