| "Love You To" | |
|---|---|
 Cover of the Northern Songs sheet music | |
| Song by the Beatles | |
| from the album Revolver | |
| Released | 5 August 1966 |
| Recorded | 11 and 13 April 1966 |
| Studio | EMI, London |
| Genre | Raga rock, Indian music[1] |
| Length |
|
| Label | Parlophone |
| Songwriter(s) | George Harrison |
| Producer(s) | George Martin |
"Love You To" is a song by the English rock band the Beatles from their 1966 album Revolver. The song was written and sung by George Harrison and features Indian instrumentation such as sitar and tabla. Following Harrison's introduction of the sitar on "Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)" in 1965, it was the first Beatles song to fully reflect the influence of Indian classical music. The recording was made with minimal participation from Harrison's bandmates; instead, he created the track with tabla player Anil Bhagwat and other Indian musicians from the Asian Music Circle in London.
The composition adheres to the pitches of the Indian equivalent of Dorian mode and emulates the khyal vocal tradition of Hindustani classical music. For musical inspiration, Harrison drew from the work of master sitarist Ravi Shankar, who became his sitar tutor shortly after the recording was completed. In its lyrical themes, "Love You To" is partly a love song to Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, while also incorporating philosophical concepts inspired by his experimentation with the hallucinogenic drug LSD. In the context of its release, the song served as one of the first examples of the Beatles expressing an ideology aligned with that of the emergent counterculture.
"Love You To" has been hailed by musicologists and critics as groundbreaking in its presentation of a non-Western musical form to rock audiences, particularly with regard to authenticity and avoidance of parody. Author Jonathan Gould describes the song's slow sitar introduction as "one of the most brazenly exotic acts of stylistic experimentation ever heard on a popular LP".[2] Ronnie Montrose, Bongwater, Jim James and Cornershop are among the artists who have covered "Love You To".
- ^ Lavezzoli 2006, p. 175.
- ^ Gould 2007, p. 353.