1
We were talking
About the space between us all
And the people
Who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth
Then it's far too late
When they pass away
We were talking
About the love we all could share
When we find it
To try our best to hold it there
With our love, with our love
We could save the world
If they only knew
Try to realize it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you
We were talking
About the love that's gone so cold
And the people
Who gain the world and lose their soul
They don't know
They can't see
Are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself then you may find
Peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we're all one
And life flows on within you and without you
About the space between us all
And the people
Who hide themselves behind a wall of illusion
Never glimpse the truth
Then it's far too late
When they pass away
We were talking
About the love we all could share
When we find it
To try our best to hold it there
With our love, with our love
We could save the world
If they only knew
Try to realize it's all within yourself
No one else can make you change
And to see you're really only very small
And life flows on within you and without you
We were talking
About the love that's gone so cold
And the people
Who gain the world and lose their soul
They don't know
They can't see
Are you one of them?
When you've seen beyond yourself then you may find
Peace of mind is waiting there
And the time will come when you see we're all one
And life flows on within you and without you
Lyrics submitted by Ice, edited by MrBigChees
Within You Without You Lyrics as written by George Harrison
Lyrics © BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, O/B/O DistroKid, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Lyrics powered by LyricFind
Add your thoughts
Log in now to tell us what you think this song means.
Don’t have an account? Create an account with SongMeanings to post comments, submit lyrics, and more. It’s super easy, we promise!
I really like this song, and maybe I'm one of the few, but I think George Harrison was just as brilliant as John Lennon, in his own way.
""When you’ve seen beyond yourself - Then you may find peace of mind, is waiting there - And the time will come when you see we’re all one, And life flows on within you and without you."
perfect metaphor for an LSD/shroom trip. "
Not everything is about drugs. It pisses me off how people always relate everything to drugs, sure this album has a lot to do with drugs, but i find that verse to be totally spiritual, actually i think this whole song is. it's just an enlightening song, and it's brilliant. it's one of my 2 all time favorite songs. my other favorite song is Occapella by Van Dyke Parks
I'm in the same boat, people like that piss me off to no fucking end.
Song interpretation is up to the individual. If someone reads it like its about drugs, then that's what it means to THEM. Don't knock someone for interpreting art. Anyway, great song. I think that it does incorporate some references about drugs or religion. If you have taken psychedelics than you can definitely relate to lines like, "And to see your really only very small/and life flows within you and without you" or "and the time will come when you see we're all one" and others. However I think it is more of a calling out to the world. "with our love, with our love we could save the world/if they only knew" Man that line is so powerful, made even so much better by how it is delivered. I think that lyric and the song totally encompasses the feeling of the hippie counterculture movement at that time. Love was the mantra for the whole movement and they truly believed that it could and will save the world from the pitfalls of humanity; war, violence, racism, hatred, etc. Sadly drug abuse kinda killed the movement. Great message, beautiful song; definitely one of my favorites.
The music here is very ..shall I say.. eastern, and most people can't stand it...
I didn't like any of George's Sitar experiments except for this one. Mainly, he sings directly from the heart, not just the music, but the worlds, the expression..
"If they only knew"... I think he must have known that his utopia would not catch on in the world.. But this song expresses that utopia, and it's a great place to go, in the hussle and bussle of everyday life, it can be an antibiotic against machinism. But please, do not take too much of this antibiotic.
a note on the conversation about hallucinogens:
lsd and shrooms do help some people to realize some of the concepts mentioned in this song. however, these are not the only ways of consciousness expansion. deeply spiritual people know this. this song may not be about drugs, but it parallels some of the things some people experience when they take certain drugs.
This song indeed does decribe an LSD or shrrom trip in the sense that we as the world are one, and if we all come together to realize this our co-existence withh be more peaceful. "When you�ve seen beyond yourself - Then you may find peace of mind, is waiting there - And the time will come when you see we�re all one, And life flows on within you and without you. "
If you do trip with the sole intent of discovering yourself, the meaning of life, the universe, whatever, You will understand this song in its entirety. The song can be proven to be about a trip and i can not be abouot one, its all how you loook at it. I personally have had a mind blowing shroom trip, and this song describes whan my friend and I discussed word for word. So in conclusion, its not dierectly about tripping, it can be about the experience from tripping as well as a way to view the world and how we coexist.
Let me correct myself again. George does play the sitar. I shuld research before I say stupid things.
yeah george is playin the sitar part. he learned to play sitar from Pt. Ravi Shankar. he visited India for six weeks to study sitar under Shankar
wow, i really screwed up how i wanted to say that.
it blew my mind. i love it a lot. and i love the indian style it has.
there we go, forgive me, i haven't had an adequate amount of sleep.
this is a perfect example of how george was just as much of a musical genious as john and paul. This song speaks to everyone who has ever experienced a trip. i wish everyone could just have 1 good trip, everything would be put into perspective for you, and you would have a much more satisfied and fulfilling life. and the world would be a better place because of it
This song amazingly exemplifies pure musical genious. The sitar in this is awesome. Not only is the music great, but the lyrics are too. You can fit so many meanings into this. This is just an awesome song! I've been a fan of it since the summer of '02.
I love this song so much.