#106: Love You To

Written by: George Harrison
Released: August 5, 1966
Appears on: Revolver
Lead vocal: George

Before listening to this song, it's a good idea to listen to "Norwegian Wood", which had been recorded less than a full year before. Even someone who has no idea how to play a sitar could clearly hear how rudimentary George's playing is on that song. Yet, by the time "Love You To" comes around, George seems like a virtuoso. George had time to take lessons from his new friend and sitar master, Ravi Shankar, which worked wonders on his ability to play the instrument. Unlike "Taxman", George is able to dominate his own song. Ringo, playing tambourine, is the only other Beatle on the recording. (Anhil Baghwat, who plays tabla, is actually credited on the cover, making him and Alan Civil, the French horn player on "For No One", the first outside musicians credited on a Beatles record.)
The song is marked by an extended introduction, before George's rather mundane and obvious lyrics come in. At first glance, you might think these lyrics are philosophical, especially with the other-worldly music backing it up. I will suggest here though that George doesn't mean to really go beyond a regular boy/girl relationship with his lyrics. He uses the rest of the world as an example as to why he needs his girl to Love me while you can. It's pretty clean cut - George says that everyone else is evil (They'll fill you in with all their sins, you'll see) so just fall in love with me and all will be right in the world. Still, the song's drone-like Indian sound makes it one of the more unique tracks in the Beatles' canon. It has a more upbeat feel than George's other sitar-based songs ("Within You Without You" and "The Inner Light"), making it much easier to listen to on a regular basis. 
The song's extended intro was used to introduce the George Harrison character in Yellow Submarine. Therefore, it made its first appearance outside of Revolver on 1999's Yellow Submarine Songtrack.