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Star-studded music video for George Harrison's 'My Sweet Lord' explores the song's meaning

Maybe what we’re searching for has been right in front of us the whole time.

George Harrison/YouTube

George Harrison's "My Sweet Lord" has been a beloved pop hymn for 50 years.

If someone were to ask which member of the Beatles was first to chart a No. 1 hit on the charts after the band's break-up, would you guess George Harrison? He was, with his song "My Sweet Lord" from his 1970 album "All Things Must Pass." It would be his biggest hit as a solo artist.

The song is a pop hymn of sorts, with two mantras from different religious traditions—"Hallelujah" from Christianity and "Hare Krishna" from Hinduism—alternating throughout. According to songfacts.com, Harrison wanted to convey that the two phrases were essentially the same, both calling out to God.

As Harrison explained in the documentary "The Material World": "First, it's simple. The thing about a mantra, you see... mantras are, well, they call it a mystical sound vibration encased in a syllable. It has this power within it. It's just hypnotic."

The song is simple, sweet and spiritual, hitting on some of the most fundamental elements of being human, which may explain its popularity. In 2022, a star-studded music video for the song prompted a newfound reflection about the song's meaning.

Directed by Lance Bangs and executive produced by Dhani Harrison and David Zonshine, the video stars Fred Armisen and Vanessa Bayer as agents who have been asked by their superior, played by Mark Hamill, to “search for that which can’t be seen.” Patton Oswalt, Taika Waititi, "Weird Al" Yankovic, Rosanna Arquette, Jon Hamm and others—including Ringo Starr—make cameo appearances in the video.

Harrison’s wife, Olivia, and son, Dhani, also appear in the video, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Watch:

People are loving the video, both for the reminder of what a good song it is and for the interpretation of how we can find what we're seeking—God or truth or enlightenment—in the simple things that are right in front of us.

"The search never ends," wrote one commenter. "Sometimes we look but we never see. Sometimes we see but we don't understand. We hear, but do we listen? Life is up for grabs."

"I think the spirit in which the video is made is George's philosphy," wrote another. "People with high tech looking for answers. But they're constantly in the dark. The answer is not in a book. Turn on the light. Stop wandering around the world. The answers are in front of you but you're not paying attention. You just need to tune in the message."

"George has been gone 20 years, this song is 50 years old, and yet here we are watching a new music video for it featuring a ton of people famous actors and musicians," wrote one person. "It just goes to show you the power of George’s music and the depth to which it is a part of us."

Thousands of comments have poured in from people who are moved by "My Sweet Lord" and the message of the video five decades after the song was released, showing the true timelessness of Harrison's mark on the world.


This article originally appeared two years ago.


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Ex-Amish woman shares the '3 things' that shock people about her former life

Leaving the community was a huge change.

via JoeKeim/Pixabay and Lizzieen_Wellness/TikTok

Lizzie Ens opens up about her Amish past.

Leaving the Amish community to live in the outside world has to be a major shock. Overnight, one has to go from a world powered by horses and buggies to one ruled by technology.

Lizzie Ens, 36, left the Swartzentruber Amish community at 19 and has done a great job transitioning to a completely different lifestyle. She was able to get her high school diploma, become a certified health coach and founded Undiet Yourself.

She’s also become an influencer on TikTok with over 183,000 followers.

In a recent video, she looked back to her Amish past and revealed the “3 biggest things that shock people” about her Amish life.

@lizzieh_wellness

Always some of my top favorites to share that shocks people. 😝 #amishtiktok #examish #amishrenegade #breakingamish #amishlife #fyp #escapingamish #amishcountry

Her parents had 19 kids

“My parents have 19 kids, and within those 19 kids are three sets of twins and I’m a twin,” she revealed. “But not only that, my mom birthed all of these kids naturally.”

She had no social security number

“When I left, I had to go apply for a social security number and let’s not forget I had $20 to my name when I left,” Lizzie revealed.

She’s trilingual

“We are bilingual. Actually, we are trilingual,” Lizzie said. “Our first language is Pennsylvania Dutch, and then we learn German and English when we went to school.”

The Pennsylvania Dutch language is a Germanic dialect predominantly spoken by Amish and Mennonite communities, especially in Pennsylvania. Despite the name, it has no connection to the Dutch language. The term "Dutch" derives from "Deutsch," denoting "German." The dialect came to North America in the 17th and 18th centuries.

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How a 'blind' audition at an orchestra still had a secret bias towards men

The funny thing about bias is, often times we don't even realize it's creeping into our minds, coloring everything we see.

Focus Features/Youtube

A trailer for 'Tar," starring Cate Blanchett

In her TED talk, "What does my headscarf mean to you?" Yassmin Abdel-Magied told this story:

In 1952, the Boston Symphony was looking to diversify it's male-dominated orchestra, so it conducted an experiment with a series of blind auditions.

For the auditions, the musicians would be playing behind a screen, in an effort to remove all chance of bias and allow for a merit based selection only - a selection that would hopefully increase the number of women in the orchestra.

To their surprise, their initial audition results still skewed male.

Then they asked the musicians to take off their shoes. The reason? The sound of the women's heels as they entered the audition unknowingly influenced the adjudicators.

Once the musicians removed their shoes, almost 50% of the women made it past the first audition. The moral of the story? Overcoming unconscious bias isn't as easy as one might think.

Ted Talks, race, religion, community

Gender bias can seem like a tug-o-war as we seek equality.

Image via Pixabay.


That's partly why Yassmin is somewhat forgiving when it comes to the assumptions that come along with her headscarf.

Yassmin wears a hijab, but that's only part of who she is.

"Someone who looks like me walks past you in the street. ... Do you look me up and down, wondering how hot I must get or if my husband has forced me to wear this outfit? ... I can walk down the street in the exact same outfit and what the world expects of me and the way I'm treated depends on the arrangement of this piece of cloth."— Yassmin Abdel-Magied, "What does my headscarf mean to you?"

But Yassmin is so much more than just a Muslim woman in a headscarf. Like everyone else, her identity is complex and special to her. She has worked as a race car engineer, trained as a boxer, and, these days, works as a mechanical engineer on a giant oil rig. Oddly enough, the very things that make Yassmin unique are often seen as a contradiction because of her religion. And every single day she is dealing with the unconscious bias of those who see her and her scarf, making instant, quiet, almost reflexive judgements about her. Because that's how unconscious bias works.

Bias is a natural response to living in a society that normalizes certain types of people and behaviors while it "others" anything that's different.

Even when we try our hardest to see everyone as equal, our mind is influenced by the way people and things are presented in the world around us. As Yassmin explains, unconscious bias is ingrained in all of us, even when we have the best of intentions.

"Unconscious bias is not the same as conscious discrimination. I'm not saying that in all of you, there's a secret sexist or racist or ageist lurking within, waiting to get out.That's not what I'm saying. We all have our biases. They're the filters through which we see the world around us. ... Bias can be about race, it can be about gender. It can also be about class, education, disability. The fact is, we all have biases against what's different,what's different to our social norms." — Yassmin Abdel-Magied, "What does my headscarf mean to you?"

A link to watch Yassmin Abdel-Magied and her Ted Talk below:

If bias happens unconsciously, how in the world do we correct it?

Unfortunately, there isn't a magic wand that can wipe away any trace of bias you might have. But just knowing that there are biases present in all of us is an important first step to overcoming them. Also, just diversifying your community and interacting with people who are different from you is another way to fight off those silent prejudices.

Want to dig deeper? You're in luck!

Psychologists from Harvard University, the University of Washington, and the University of Virginia teamed up to create a series of online tests that measure unconscious bias. There are tests for everything — age, gender, race, religion, skin tone, and even weapons! It's pretty cool.Visit the "Project Implicit" websiteto test your unconscious bias and find the areas of your perspective that need a little extra TLC.

This article originally appeared on 06.22.15

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Arnold Schwarzenegger says Heaven is a 'fantasy.' Here's why that's not a terrible idea.

At 75, "The Terminator" is thinking about the big issues.

via Arnold Schwarzenegger/ Wikimedia Commons

Arnold Schwarzenegger in São Paulo, Brazil, 2019.

At 75, Arnold Schwarzenegger is thinking about the big questions of life. He opened up about his thoughts on the afterlife in a conversation with his “Twins” co-star Danny DeVito for Interview Magazine.

Devito asked “The Terminator” star, “What's in the future for us?" and he gave a thoughtful answer to a question that philosophers, scientists and religious leaders have grappled with since the dawn of humanity.

"It reminds me of Howard Stern's question to me. 'Tell me, governor, what happens to us when we die?' I said, 'Nothing. You're 6 feet under,'” he told DeVito.

"I said, 'We don't know what happens with the soul and all this spiritual stuff that I'm not an expert in, but I know that the body as we see each other now, we will never see each other again like that,'" continued Schwarzenegger.

Schwarzenegger admitted that he’s not comfortable with the topic of death but thinks the notion of a heaven is a “fantasy.”

"When people talk about, 'I will see them again in heaven,' it sounds so good, but the reality is that we won't see each other again after we're gone. That's the sad part. I know people feel comfortable with death, but I don't,'" he said.

Instead, the bodybuilder has created his own concept of heaven.

"To me, heaven is where I put a person who I love dearly, who is kind, who is generous, who made a difference in my life and other people's lives," he said. "I keep them in a spot in my head, like that front row that you have of all of your friends. And you always have a good feeling when you think of them."

There are far-reaching implications for all of humanity if there is no afterlife. But on a personal level, Schwarzenegger’s belief suggests that if we only have a short time on this Earth with one another, and we shouldn’t take it for granted. Plus, the day-to-day relationships we enjoy with our loved ones lose their significance when they are played out in a timeframe that extends throughout eternity.

The finite nature of relationships is why we love our pets so dearly. The moment they enter our lives, we are burdened by the knowledge that they will one day leave. So we savor every cuddle, game of fetch and long walk on a spring day.

On a deeper level, every day beneath a bright, glowing sun matters more with the understanding that this is the only life we get and no paradise awaits on the other side. It suggests that if all of humanity shared Schwarzenegger’s view of things, we’d be more invested in making life better in the here and now versus waiting for something better around the corner. Imagine the paradigm shift if billions of people stopped waiting for their treasures in heaven and instead, began embracing the possibilities of the here and now.

With this perspective and some work, love and courage, humanity could make this world a touch closer to the paradise we pray for on the other side. And if when we die, there is a heaven, all the better.

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