Dear One
{{About|the George Harrison song|the Larry Finnegan song|Dear One (Larry Finnegan song)}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2013}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2024}}
{{Infobox song
| name = Dear One
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| artist = George Harrison
| album = Thirty Three & 1/3
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| released = 19 November 1976
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| length = 5:08
| label = Dark Horse
| writer = George Harrison
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| producer = George Harrison with Tom Scott
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"Dear One" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released in 1976 on his album Thirty Three & 1/3. The song was inspired by, and dedicated to, Paramahansa Yogananda, whose 1946 book Autobiography of a Yogi was a great influence on Harrison. Aside from keyboard player Richard Tee, Harrison plays all the instruments on the recording.
History
Harrison wrote the lyrics to "Dear One" in 1976 during a vacation to the Virgin Islands, shortly before starting work on Thirty Three & 1/3.{{cite AV media notes |title=Thirty Three & 1/3 |title-link=Thirty Three & 1/3 |others=George Harrison |year=2004 |page=2|type=CD booklet |publisher=Dark Horse Records}}
In his autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison says that he believes the song is the only one he ever wrote in open A tuning. The lyrics are directed to Premavatar Paramahansa Yogananda,{{cite AV media notes |title=Thirty Three & 1/3 |title-link=Thirty Three & 1/3 |others=George Harrison |year=2004 |page=9 |type=CD booklet |publisher=Dark Horse Records }} author of Autobiography of a Yogi, who Harrison called "a great influence on my life". While in India in 1966,Gary Tillery, Working Class Mystic: A Spiritual Biography of George Harrison, Quest Books (Wheaton, IL, 2011; {{ISBN|978-0-8356-0900-5}}), p. 56. Harrison was given a copy of Yogananda's book by Ravi Shankar's brother, after which, author Peter Doggett writes, Harrison "read every Indian spiritual text he could find".Peter Doggett, You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup, It Books (New York, NY, 2011; {{ISBN|978-0-06-177418-8}}), p. 22.
Apart from American musician Richard Tee on organ, Harrison played all the instruments on the recording: acoustic guitars, synthesizers and percussion (hi-hats).Chip Madinger & Mark Easter, Eight Arms to Hold You: The Solo Beatles Compendium, 44.1 Productions (Chesterfield, MO, 2000; {{ISBN|0-615-11724-4}}), p. 454. As with the song "See Yourself", Harrison dedicated "Dear One" to Yogananda on the credits to the Thirty Three & 1/3 album.Ian Inglis, The Words and Music of George Harrison, Praeger (Santa Barbara, CA, 2010; {{ISBN|978-0-313-37532-3}}), pp. 60, 62.
In his Encyclopedia of Popular Music, Colin Larkin describes the track as a song that "could have come straight off of The Beatles' Abbey Road". He adds: "'Dear One' weaves a haunting, Indian-influenced melody with a big pop chorus to create an intensely moving song of devotion."[http://oxfordindex.oup.com/view/10.1093/acref/9780195313734.013.80908 "Harrison, George – Thirty-Three & 1/3: Encyclopedia of Popular Music"], oxfordindex.oup.com (retrieved 8 March 2015).
Personnel
- George Harrison – vocals, acoustic guitars, synthesizers, hi-hat, shaker, backing vocals
- Richard Tee – organ
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Thirty Three & 1/3}}
{{Paramahansa Yogananda|state=collapsed}}
{{Authority control}}
Category:George Harrison songs
Category:Paramahansa Yogananda
Category:Song recordings produced by George Harrison
Category:Music published by Oops Publishing and Ganga Publishing, B.V.
Category:Indian mythology in music
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