How The Beatles Got Wrapped up in India and How It Completely Changed the Trajectory of Their Career

The Beatles’ career has two distinct legs. The first saw them as a pop-forward, British Invasion act that was relatively clean-cut (at least compared to their latter years). They enjoyed massive success thanks to millions of screaming teenage fans. By the end of their careers, they were entirely different men. A large part of that change came from their fascination with India, more specifically, Maharishi Mahesh Yogi.

When your career is as large as The Beatles’ was, no one could blame you for wanting to seek a little escape. The Beatles didn’t just check out for a while; they checked into an entirely new sense of spirituality and way of life. Their famous trip to India in 1968 was a turning point that completely changed the course of their careers.

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The Beatles’ Love of India and How It Affected Their Career

In all honesty, The Beatles were going to have to change. The 1960s were a wild time for rock, during which the genre turned away from its 50s doo-wop origins and ultimately landed in a drug-fueled haze. If The Beatles had stayed where they were at the beginning of the decade, their career wouldn’t have been as enduring. They would’ve been rendered obsolete.

All of the rest of their peers were experimenting. It was only right for The Beatles to do the same. George Harrison lit the spark on the band’s fascination with India, using his study of Eastern philosophy to encourage his bandmates to do the same. His love of this part of the world started in the most unlikely of ways: a prop sitar used on the film Help!. Something so small completely changed Harrison and his bandmates’ lives.

While the band experimented with LSD and other drugs, they eventually grew tired of them and found Transcendental Meditation a more sustainable practice. This led them to India and the Maharishi. While studying under the guru, the band penned many songs, including “Dear Prudence”, “Back In The U.S.S.R.”, and “Mother Nature’s Son”. While the trip proved prolific for a while, it also spelled disaster.

As much as India influenced their music, it also quickly de-influenced them. The band members found that Maharishi wasn’t all he was cracked up to be when he was accused of making advances toward the women in their group. Moreover, his financial stipulations disillusioned the band.

The decision to go to India certainly changed the band’s sound, but their leaving it changed their entire career.

How India Changed The Beatles

After this trip, The Beatles emerged as a different band. There was an intense focus on individuality after this trip, with each Beatle having taken something different away. Harrison continued to delve deeper into Eastern philosophy. Paul McCartney started writing on his own, showcasing his pragmatic optimism. John Lennon became a hardened cynic, a development that would inform his solo music. The band lost its shared belief, stopped seeing eye to eye, and eventually had to part ways.

Whether the trip caused these divisions or just shone a brighter light on them, The Beatles very clearly couldn’t have survived, given how divergent they were becoming. Of course, it’s impossible to know, but perhaps The Beatles would’ve lasted longer had they not visited India. Would their mutual interest in spirituality have carried them through? Would their creative differences have stayed hidden if they hadn’t spent so much time exploring them?

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