Okay, I can't wait to dive into this song. My Sweet Lord by George Harrison, probably his most popular song. As I was learning it, I was just like dumbfounded at just the harmony and everything he's doing in junction, in conjunction with the lyrics. And I can't wait to I can't wait to show you guys. I'm also gonna get to the similarities between the chiffons and the song He's so fine. Because he got in some trouble for unconscious plagiarism. And uh we'll talk about the similarities. But for now, let's just talk about the musicality of this song uh just right now. So KO 2 E minor. I'm just gonna call this E minor because it's E minor shape, right? I'm gonna do the guitar talk. So it's actually F sharp minor, but E minor, and then right now here's the thing. This isn't the key of the song. Neither is that and that's part of what makes the song so beautiful. Like the song is like a spiritual journey, right? It's like, my sweet lord, like I really want to see you, I really want to be with you, I really want to see you, but it takes so long, my lord. Hallelujah, hallelujah. Like I really want to go with you, right? And I love the way that the tonic, the root chord, like the key of the song, I love the way that it's treated. Um it's so beautiful. So we got so this chord is the minor two chord, E minor, okay? And it goes to the five, that's A. So it's a two-five one, but we haven't hit one yet, right? And then finally oh my god. So that's like now obviously it's a slide part, and I got a little slide here. It's so iconic. And then oh man. Oh my sweet lord. Oh my lord. Just like surrender, it's like a lot of surrender. Oh my lord. He only sings it three times, and he goes, I really wanna see you. So right there, he's like saying see you, he hits the tonic. That's like when I see you, right? But it's so short-lived because it quickly goes to the relative minor. Like a sad fall. I really wanna see you. I really wanna be with you. I really wanna be with you. Sad again. Really wanna see you low, but it takes so long. Back to the loop, the 251. Oh, my sweet lord. Now that part is so beautiful. Really wanna see you low, but it takes that's F sharp diminished to B7 to E minor, back to E minor. Now that's so nice because he's like, Really wanna see you, Lord. That's the key of the song, but then he begins this like travel, and that's the minor two chord. So it's like it's short-lived, but then he quickly bridges back to like the never-ending, like kind of like the loop of life, like kind of some sorrow, right? See you low, but it takes so long my it's a secondary dominant, okay? That's the five of two. So long, my lord.
unknownOh my lord.
SPEAKER_00I just like I just love it, man. I really wanna know you again D major, quick relative minor. I really wanna go with you, I really wanna show you, Lord, that it won't take a long Lord. Man, that's uh one, two, one, two, and then like a B7 chord. God, it's like the harmony, like the chords are always striving to be home, and but it's always like very fleeting. And it's like the song is like about a spiritual journey. It just kind of like makes sense in my head, and it's uh it's just like very spiritual, and I love it. So you lord that it won't take, that it won't take it's like we're bridging away from home. Okay, and then when it goes haleluya, like that's so like spiritual too. Because he's going just like very like mystical intervals over this. So we got that's e minor, that's e minor, right? But it got the minor seventh, making it a E minor seventh chord. Look at that. Oh my god, E minor seven, add nine. And then here's like A6. Back to A major. It gets like very mystical and like so sophisticated, like very quickly. And uh it's just a really beautiful touch. And then watch this key change, like the drums haven't even joined yet. But I just want to stop and say, like, I love the production, like the wall of sound guitars. Phil Spector produced this, right? The wall of sound sounds like a bunch of acoustics. Um and uh Harrison's vocal is just like so like authentic and raw. Now, as it's going, like what this is like a big change in the song. It goes, like my sweet lord. Right here. Right here. I really wanna see you. So right here is the longest that we hold in the tonic. Really wanna see you. I really wanna see you. So we know something's coming. We got D7 now. We make it a dominant seven chord. It's kind of bluesy. See you, and then I really wanna see Lord. No, this is B7 before we've done this chord before, but it just led right back to take so long, my right? It like brought us back into that loop, that like samsara loop, just like everyday life. Just but we wanna find that home, that centers. So again, here's I'm gonna re- I'm gonna start that again. So it's really wanna see. Now this B7 is being treated differently. Really wanna see Lord. Now it does go to E again, but it's E major, and it's not the minor two chord of D anymore. Now it's the new one chord. Really wanna see Lord! That's the new key. Now we're in E major. It's like such a nice modulation, it's beautiful. But it goes back to that weird thing. See low, but it won't take a long. It's the same pattern. Okay, so it's like wanna see Lord, Lord, again, really wanna see low but it rare. Now it's G sharp diminished to C sharp seven the five chord of the minor two chord of the new key. Really wanna know you Again same thing, it's like major one, the relative minor. Really wanna go with you. Really wanna show you that it won't take a long hello but it goes my low. Oh like it's so ascending, right? Like the music has ascended, it has lifted into this new key. It went up a full step, and then we get like the thickened vocal harmonies. It could just go on forever, and it does, and then finally when it goes, now it does that slide thing, but a full step higher. So now it's like they add those two notes. I just love how Harrison like found notes to like go over like that beautiful passage. And he's adding all these names at the end, right? He's like Hare Rama, Guru Saksha, Maheshwara, Guru Devo, Parabrahama. It's like he's saying a lot of names at the end there. Such sophisticated songwriting by George Harrison. So just to recap the song Minor two to five, it's a two-five-one progression. And then finally, major one to the sixth, a relative minor. D to B minor. And now we're crawling our way back to the two chord, okay? Here's the major one, and then F sharp diminished. So we're like. But before we go, before we do that, we go to the fifth. Because that's how we're gonna crawl back, right? F sharp diminished to B7, and then all, which is back to that loop, the never-ending loop. And then you really wanna know you. Really wanna show you love that it won't take long. For me, the moment that hits the hardest in conjunction with the harmony with the chords is when he goes, Really wanna see you. To the minor six, to the to the minor sixth chord, really wanna be with you right here. Really wanna see you low, but it He's getting like pulled away from like the tonal center. Really wanna see you lower, but it takes so long, but it takes so long. It's like I can't get enough of that. It's like so nice. Okay, and then later, like, but when the drums enter, it's like I really wanna see you. I really wanna see you. That's the major tonic, but a dominant seven. We're adding the flat seven. Bluesy. Really wanna see Lord. It's like secondary dominant, right? But that's acting as the five chord of the new key, because now instead of going back to E minor, it goes to E major. That's the new major one chord. So back to the pattern. If he wanted to, he could have kept like repeating that pattern and always modulating up a full step. Like that would have been cool to do too. Uh but I think it's just showing that it's like always ascending, it's so nice. And now let's do the let's talk about the comparisons between this song and He's So Fine by the Chiffons. So, the Chiffons, it's in a different key, but it's the same core progression. So I'm just gonna play it in the exact same key. He's so fine. Wish he were mine. The handsome boy over there. I don't know the way she sings it. The one with the wavy hair. Again, then it goes, it does go to the relative major, like it goes, I don't know how I'm gonna do it. But it doesn't go, it just stays there. But at the end of the song, because it's a very short song, it's only a minute 52, He's So Fine by the Chiffons. Uh, at the end of the song, it does go, which is the exact same chord progression as My Sweet Lord. Obviously, George Harrison does adds the does like very sophisticated stuff that the chiffons does not do, that the chiffons do not do. Um, and then George Harrison changes keys, like he modulates, and the He's So Fine by the Chiffons does not do that. But it does do the dun dun dun. Wish you would mind. Same kind of vibe, definitely the same harmonic vibe. Right? And then at one point it's like it goes to the four chord, and that does not do that at all in my sweet lord. And it goes back to the one, it goes back to the four. And it might even go to the to the five. So that B section in the He So Fine, or it's like the middle eight, that doesn't that that chord progression does not happen at all, my sweet lord. And like I just said, my sweet lord has like the crazy modulation, like the key change, the more sophisticated chords. But yeah, it is pretty damn close, like with just like the two five one. Just and the the looping the two of the two five, you know, and then bursting, bursting into the major one. And at the end it does do other chiffon song. Very cool. Um, but yeah, I just I love my sweet lord so much. Like again, it's like the lyrics and working in harmony with the chords and the melodies, you just glue it all together. And I just love Harrison's voice. So I hope you got a lot out of this breakdown. I really enjoyed diving into the song. Thanks for tuning in, guys. And if you want to work together on a music production level where you work with me directly to really shape your sound and bring your songs to life, just check out learn.dambarracuda.com slash own your sound. That's my new program I'm rolling out. And um I only have limited spots available, but you can check out that site and uh fill out this quick questionnaire so I can see what you're working on. Again, that's learn. And uh thank you guys so much. I'll see you in the next episode.