"What Is Life," an upbeat soul ballad, is one of many Harrison love songs that seem to be addressed to both a lady and a deity. The song was initially written by Harrison in 1969 with the intention of being recorded by his buddy and Apple protégé Billy Preston. It is one of Harrison's most well-known pieces and was a staple of his live performances. It is based on a descending guitar line. It has alternatively been referred to as a "classic" and a "exultant ballad of defeat," according to Rolling Stone magazine.
Films including Goodfellas (1990), Patch Adams (1998), Big Daddy (1999), Away We Go (2009), This Is 40 (2012), and Instant Family have "What Is Life" on their soundtracks (2018). The Best of George Harrison and Let It Roll both featured Harrison's original recording, and his 1992 CD Live in Japan and Martin Scorsese's 2011 documentary George Harrison: Living in the Material World all had live performances of the song. With her rendition of the song, Olivia Newton-John enjoyed success in the UK in 1972. Among the other artists who have covered the song are Ronnie Aldrich, the Ventures, and Shawn Mullins.
The Beatles' Apple Records label was a "emancipating force" for Harrison from the limitations on his creativity placed on him within the band even before his brief departure from the band in January 1969 (recorded in the song "Wah-Wah"), according to his musical biographer Simon Leng. John Harris described George Harrison's journey as a solo artist in his article on All Things Must Pass for Mojo magazine. Harrison's journey as a solo artist began in November 1968, when he spent time in Woodstock with Bob Dylan and the Band, and included a number of other collaborations over the course of the next eighteen months, including various Apple projects and a support role on Delaney & Bonnie and Friends' brief European tour. One of these efforts, completed sporadically between April and July 1969,Billy Preston, whom Harrison had met while the Beatles were living in Hamburg, and whom he had just enlisted to perform as a guest on the band's problematic Get Back sessions, was the subject of his album That's the Way God Planned It, which he produced. Harrison wrote the song "What Is Life" while travelling from his home in Esher, Surrey, to a Preston session in London.
I, Me, Mine, his autobiography Harrison says that it was "quite fast" composed and that he initially believed Preston would make a great recording of it since it was such a "catchy pop song." He continues by saying that after arriving at Olympic Studios and seeing Preston working on more conventional songs, or "playing his funky stuff," he changed his mind. Harrison accumulated "What Is Life" among his many other unfinished songs from the time, including "All Things Must Pass," "Let It Down," "I'd Have You Anytime," and "Run of the Mill," rather of attempting it with the Beatles during the band's concurrent Abbey Road sessions. After finishing work on Preston's second Apple album, Encouraging Words, he went back to it a year later.
"Weird Al" Yankovic sang "What Is Life" on September 28, 2014, at the Los Angeles George Fest tribute performance. In 2016, the recording was a part of the George Fest live CD and concert DVD set.
What Is Life
You must be logged in to post a comment.