Believe it or not, this song was inspired by a leaking roof.

One a rainy day, George Harrison discovered that the roof of his Friar Park home had a leak.  Harrison said that while watching the rain water leak through the roof, he realized that by surrendering to the problem and declining to make the effort to fix it, he was merely making the problem worse and this led Harrison to the realization that he “loved everyone.”  (That’s really a classic George Harrison story, isn’t it?)  Those feelings inspired Harrison to write this song, which went on to be the lead single off of his 1979 album, George Harrison.  I assume that he also fixed the roof though I have no way to be sure.

This video was directed by Neil Innes.  If that name sounds familiar, it’s probably because of the work that he did with Monty Python and the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band.  Interestingly, Innes was also a member of the Rutles, a pastiche of the Beatles in which Innes played lead singer Ron Nasty.  More recently, Innes was a member of the brilliantly named Idiot Bastard Band.  This video is a good mix of Innes’s sense of humor and Harrison’s spiritual nature.

Enjoy!