While to some extent this may be a repeat of an artist, with George Harrison being a Beatle and all, I would like to ignore that fact because I tend to view George’s solo stuff as a separate part of his career, post-Beatles. 

Now that that has been addressed, I can say that George Harrison has become an integral part of my listening habits. All Things Must Pass is just one of those albums I can put on and sing all of the lyrics. 

I believe that this album has become such an important one to me due to the time of which I discovered it. During this past summer I had to attend the summer session here at Penn State. Needless to say it was tough because as all of my friends were free to enjoy their summers, I was hundreds of miles away taking classes. While I do not regret my decision to come here, so far, it was probably the toughest part of my life. 

Being away from home was, and still is, a hard task to fathom completing. While facing this task, I turned to music as an outlet to express the complex emotions I was enduring. Fortunately, I found All Things Must Pass at the perfect time. The songs just seemed to speak to me and affirm that everything would be okay in the end. As weird as it may seem, this album almost turned into a companion. In the sense that I could rely on it to provide the comfort I was lacking during such a pivotal time. 

I truly do have an admiration for the first 7 songs on the album, oftentimes starting at the beginning and just letting it play through. However, I will say that songs like “Behind That Locked Door” and “If Not for You” were the heavy hitters. Specifically “Behind That Locked Door” which just seems to say all the right things to make me feel better. It is a rather sad song, but it encrypts the idea that you are enough, and are capable of anything you want if you do not hide behind your fears. 

In many situations, I would look at these songs and be able to think of my sister, who I frequently listened to this album with. “If Not for You” paints the picture of someone being almost the one person who makes it all worth it. For me, that is my sister. Being away from her for the first time in my life was extremely difficult. This song helped to remind me of the strong bond we have, and even though I missed her, I knew she would always be the person to make it all better.