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"Art of Dying" is a song by English musician George Harrison, released on his 1970 triple album ''All Things Must Pass''. It was written in 1966–67 when Harrison first became immersed in Hindu spirituality, and its subject matter is reincarnation – the "art" in question being the need to avoid rebirth, by limiting actions and thoughts whose consequences lead to one's soul returning in another, earthbound life form. The song was co-produced by Phil Spector and features a hard-charging rock arrangement that has been described as "proto-disco".〔 The backing musicians include Eric Clapton and the rest of the latter's short-lived band Derek and the Dominos, as well as Gary Wright, Billy Preston and a teenage Phil Collins. Since Harrison's death in November 2001, the lyrics of "Art of Dying" have been much quoted as a comment on the nature of human existence. ==Background and composition== For the last 30 or more years of his life, George Harrison repeatedly identified his first experience of taking the hallucinogenic drug LSD, with John Lennon and their wives, as being responsible for his interest in spirituality and Hinduism.〔The Editors of ''Rolling Stone'', pp. 144, 145.〕〔George Harrison, in The Beatles, pp. 179–80.〕〔George Harrison, pp. 36, 44, 106.〕〔Olivia Harrison, p. 190.〕 The "trip" occurred by accident in February 1965,〔George Harrison, p. 41.〕〔George Harrison and John Lennon, in The Beatles, p. 177.〕〔Lennon, p. 241.〕 and he later recalled a thought coming to his mind during the experience: "'Yogis of the Himalayas.' I don't know why ... It was like somebody was whispering to me: 'Yogis of the Himalayas.'"〔 A visit in August 1967 to the epicentre of hippie conterculturalism, San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury district, then persuaded him to abandon LSD and pursue a spiritual path through meditation.〔Clayson, p. 223.〕〔Tillery, pp. 53–54, 160.〕 By that point, Harrison had already immersed himself in Indian music, which is irrevocably tied to spirituality,〔Leng, pp. 24, 29.〕〔Mick Gold, "The Act You've Known For All These Years: The Beatles and ''Sgt. Pepper''", unpublished, 1974; available at (Rock's Backpages ) (subscription required).〕 and dealt with what author Ian MacDonald terms "the spiritual aridity of modern life"〔MacDonald, p. 215.〕 in his song "Within You, Without You" (on the Beatles' ''Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band'').〔MacDonald, p. 15.〕〔Leng, pp. 29, 98.〕 He had also begun writing a song dedicated to the Hindu concept of reincarnation and the inevitability of death, "Art of Dying".〔Leng, p. 98.〕 The mention of "''Sister Mary''" refers to the Catholic faith in which Harrison had been brought up as a child.〔Leng, p. 95.〕 Speaking to author Peter Doggett, Harrison's sister Louise qualified his embracing of Hinduism with regard to his upbringing: "Our family were Catholics, but we always had a global outlook. We were spiritual, not religious as such. George didn't change as a person after he went to India (1966 ) …"〔Doggett, p. 22.〕 Rather than Sister Mary, Harrison's original lyric named "''Mr Epstein''" – the Beatles' manager, Brian Epstein.〔George Harrison, p. 182.〕〔 Given this reference to Epstein, author Bruce Spizer has speculated that Harrison was "contemplating life after the Beatles" as early as mid 1966, since "most of the song's original verses recognise that even Mr. Epstein won't be able to keep the group together or help out when it's over ..."〔 As Harrison explains in his autobiography, ''I, Me, Mine'', in most cases one's soul does not in fact "leave here" after death, due to the karmic debt, or "load", accrued through actions and thoughts carried out in one's lifetime.〔George Harrison, pp. 180–81.〕 This point is illustrated in the third verse of "Art of Dying":〔Tillery, p. 89.〕 The mention of "''a million years of crying''" is a reference to the endless cycle of rebirth associated with reincarnation, where the soul repeatedly fails to leave the material world and attain nirvana,〔O'Dell, p. 141.〕 otherwise known as moksha.〔Allison, p. 87.〕 Written in a period shortly before "karma", "mantra", "guru" and "māyā" all became key words in his vocabulary,〔Clayson, pp. 208, 217–18, 293, 295.〕 Harrison shows an acknowledgment of possible confusion on the part of his listeners, and a degree of humour,〔 with the pointed questions that appear at the end of the verses, "''Are you still with me?''" and "''Do you believe me?''"〔 The subject of rebirth was one he would return to frequently throughout his solo career,〔 notably on "Give Me Love (Give Me Peace on Earth)", with its pleas "''Keep me free from birth''" and "''Help me cope with this heavy load''".〔Schaffner, p. 159.〕〔Stephen Holden, ("George Harrison, ''Living in the Material World''" ), ''Rolling Stone'', 19 July 1973 (retrieved 26 June 2012).〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Art of Dying (song)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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