3 Iconic Rock Songs That Feature a Sitar

When Ravi Shankar introduced Western musicians in the 1960s to Indian classical music, he couldn’t have imagined he’d change rock music history forever.

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Shankar inspired George Harrison, and soon, Indian instrumentation made its way onto albums by The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Donovan, and many others. The sitar remains the most prominent of the Eastern instruments made popular by Western rock musicians.

If you want to reach the heights of psychedelic rock, the sitar will get you there as quickly as a fuzzed-out 12-string guitar, tape echo, and cavernous reverb.

Also, Indian classical and folk music has many characteristics, but one of the elements most inspiring to rock musicians was the use of a single chord. This creates a droning, hypnotic vibe perfectly suited for the sitar.

To celebrate the convergence of Eastern and Western music and culture, here are three iconic rock songs that feature a sitar.

’Twas then when the Hurdy Gurdy Man
Came singing songs of love

“Don’t Come Around Here No More” by Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers from Southern Accents (1985)

Working on Tom Petty’s Southern Accents album, Dave Stewart from Eurythmics suggested adding a sitar to this one. However, the band was skeptical. It’s not an instrument you’d associate with Southern rock.

But it resulted in a classic, echoing Petty’s future bandmate in the Traveling Wilburys, George Harrison. The music video, inspired by Alice in Wonderland, became a staple on MTV.

“Paint It, Black” by The Rolling Stones from Aftermath (1966)

When Keith Richards and Mick Jagger finally established themselves as songwriters, it left the band’s founder, Brian Jones, feeling alienated. He had also grown bored with conventional melodies and turned to the sitar for inspiration.

Influenced by The Beatles, Jones eventually formed the riff to “Paint It, Black.” It joins The Kinks’ “See My Friends” and The Beatles’ “Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” in raga rock’s early days. “Paint It, Black” became just as crucial as The Rolling Stones no longer existed under the shadow of The Beatles. If you’re curious, the comma in the song title was added by Decca Records.

“Norwegian Wood (This Bird Has Flown)” by The Beatles from Rubber Soul (1965)

This is one of the first Western pop songs to feature a sitar. George Harrison’s famous riff created a blueprint many psychedelic bands followed. Meanwhile, Lennon wanted to write about an affair he was having. He kept the lyrics vague so his then-wife Cynthia wouldn’t discover what he was up to.

Harrison also played a 12-string guitar on the recording, which groups like The Byrds and The Kinks also used to mimic the drone of a sitar.

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