The Lord Loves the One (That Loves the Lord)

Composition

The song originated from a conversation between Harrison and Prabhupada at Friar Park. Author Dale Allison writes that the lyrics preach karma, warn about judgment at death, and exalt love as our most important aspiration. The composition began with a riff over B major and B7 chords, followed by a chorus rather than a verse. Simon Leng describes the musical mood as "mean, dirty blues – funky and low-down," accompanying a "most uncompromising lyric." The chorus equates love received from one's deity with human love, in that it grows as it is reciprocated, while also serving as a statement on karmic retribution.

The first verse reflects Harrison and Prabhupada's discussion, with a reference to political leaders "acting like big girls"—an example of Harrison reverting to Scouse parlance, according to Alan Clayson. The lyric centers on maya, the illusory nature of human existence, as Harrison sings of humankind behaving as if "we own this whole world," oblivious to consequences and death. Allison summarizes the message: karma is the law of our existence; substituting ego for God is our problem; we must prepare ourselves for death. In the second verse, Harrison sings of fooling around with objectives to become rich or famous, a message Allison specifies to a passage from the Katha Upanishad.

Release and representation in album artwork

Apple released Living in the Material World in May 1973 in the United States and June 1973 in Britain, with "The Lord Loves the One" sequenced as the first track on side two of the LP. Harrison had considered an alternative running order placing the album opener on side two. The UK cassette format placed the song as the second track on side one. Harrison donated the copyright to the song to the Material World Charitable Foundation, launched in April 1973.

Tom Wilkes's album artwork contrasted a devout spiritual existence with life in the material world. The front of the inner-sleeve insert reproduced a painting from a Prabhupada-published edition of the Bhagavad Gita, depicting Krishna and Arjuna driving a chariot. Part of this image appeared on the LP's side-one face label and opposite the lyrics in the Material World songbook. Nicholas Schaffner described the combination of Hindu scripture representations and the album-wide message as "a luxuriant rock devotional designed to transform his fans' stereo equipment into a temple." In a 1982 interview, Harrison referred to his use of the picture and credit to Prabhupada's book as a "plug" for the Hare Krishna movement.

Critical reception

The song was a source of irritation for critics who deemed Living in the Material World overly preachy and didactic. In Melody Maker, Michael Watts summarized his impression of Harrison's spiritual message: "One gets this feeling of George, somewhat remote and rarefied, indicting the world for being what it is." Watts noted the song as an autobiographical statement on the singer's struggle to retain personal dignity and peace of mind, adding that not everyone would want to drink of the cup. Tony Tyler described the album as "so damn holy I could scream." Two years later, Tyler and Roy Carr remarked that it was difficult to see why Harrison traveled to India to import a God who, by the sound of the song, is as intractable and selfish as the petulant Jehovah of Victorian Sunday schools.

Stephen Holden of Rolling Stone called the track "a compelling gospel-flavored rocker" and "a stunning achievement that carries the authority of pop scripture." Among 21st-century reviewers, Zeth Lundy and John Metzger highlight the song as a standout track. Simon Leng sees the lyrics' spiritual framework as a distraction from the true message of the song, which he identifies as the bankruptcy of the music business. Leng comments that in 1973, no one dared point out that the emperor had no clothes on—except Harrison.

Performance

Harrison performed the song at the start of his 1974 North American tour with Ravi Shankar. The horn players on this live version were Jim Horn, Tom Scott, and Chuck Findley. Simon Leng writes of an immense paradox in Harrison's attitude to this highly publicized tour, since here was one of the world's most famous musicians telling a Rolling Stone writer that he'd gladly kiss it all good-bye and pursue his spiritual quest.

On the first show of the tour at Vancouver's Pacific Coliseum on 2 November, Harrison played the song following his opening instrumental "Hari's on Tour (Express). Ben Fong-Torres wrote that Harrison sang off key and his voice instantly sounded tired. Leng writes of the song's removal as "a fate the heavy-funky arrangement did not deserve.

Later during the West Coast leg, Harrison donated profits from one concert to the Haight-Ashbury Free Medical Clinic. He visited the clinic and sang the chorus to the staff, saying, "Don't thank me... it's something else over us that acts through people like me. I'm just an instrument."

Did You Know?

• Harrison's association with ISKCON began in December 1968, when he befriended a small group of devotees sent to London by Prabhupada.
• The recording opens with Harrison's acoustic guitar and an electric piano riff that creates a sense of foreboding, according to one author.
• Part of Harrison's guide vocal from the basic track was retained for the official release.