So Sad

Harrison originally recorded the song for his previous album, Living in the Material World, before giving it to Alvin Lee, the guitarist and singer with Ten Years After.

Harrison recorded his version of the song during a period of romantic intrigue surrounding his marriage and those of fellow musicians Ron Wood and Ringo Starr.

While commenting on its bleak depiction of lost love, author Simon Leng describes the song as "the temporary death of [Harrison's] Krishna dream", reflecting the singer's surrender to human sorrow over his spiritual resolve.

[14] Unable to conceive a child, and with Harrison averse to adoption,[16] Boyd resumed her career as a fashion model in May 1971, an activity that sat at odds with his spiritual convictions.

[28] Among other examples of the depth of the couple's shared experiences, Inglis cites Boyd's role as Harrison's companion at the height of Beatlemania, their joint embrace of Indian spirituality, and her presence throughout his emergence as a solo artist.

[34] Whereas the latter song conveyed optimism and rejuvenation, however, "So Sad" reflects the onset of winter and, in author Simon Leng's description, "hope replaced with tiredness, sunshine supplanted by gloom".

[21] In the second verse, he sings of "the problem of just being there"[31] – a line that theologian Dale Allison interprets as central to Harrison's philosophical outlook, which espoused striving to transcend the mundane aspects of human existence.

[44] Another song about lost love,[45] "Photograph" presents a similarly bleak picture of a failed romance, sharing with "So Sad" the theme that any possibility of a reunion between the two protagonists has long passed.

[68] Writing in Rolling Stone, Bud Scoppa paired the track with the Wood-composed "Let 'Em Say What They Will" as "two non-originals [that] are beauties", adding: "George Harrison's 'So Sad (No Love of His Own)' sounds to me like one of his best songs.

[35][71] Author Peter Doggett describes Friar Park as having become "a haven of adulterous intrigue" by this time, with Harrison conducting an affair with Maureen Starkey,[72] the wife of his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr.

[80] According to Starr's comments in a contemporary interview, the session took place in November 1973;[81] while confirming this date in a press conference the following year, Harrison said that Voormann also participated on bass.

[35][36] Due to his other commitments, which included setting up Dark Horse Records[87] and organising his and Ravi Shankar's joint North American tour,[88][89] Harrison had to complete songs such as "So Sad" in Los Angeles in October 1974.

[96] In his description of the completed recording, Leng views the song as a "harrowing encounter, a far more savage affair than the Alvin Lee take", due to the musical arrangement and the "pained mood" established by Harrison's vocals.

[36] He adds that the "weeping slide guitar riffs" contribute to a musical catharsis that recalls Lennon's primal therapy-inspired Plastic Ono Band album.

[118] In his 1977 book Beatles Forever, Nicholas Schaffner similarly identified the track as a highlight of Dark Horse, adding that the effect of the opening guitar collage made for "delectable listening".

[119] Simon Leng considers "So Sad" to be the antithesis of "Here Comes the Sun", marking "the temporary death of George's Krishna dream" as spiritual conviction proves inadequate against "the human pain of separation".

[1] He comments on how the Dark Horse version was "[t]he subject of scorn on release", yet Lee and LeFevre's recording of "So Sad" "merited not a single critical sneer" the year before; according to Leng, this contrast "illustrates the difficulty of being George Harrison in 1974".

[36][nb 9] Writing in their Solo Beatles Compendium, Chip Madinger and Mark Easter view the recording as "one of the more impressive tunes" on Dark Horse, adding that Harrison's "12-string guitar work is particularly striking".

[25] Writing for the music website Something Else!, Nick DeRiso includes the song among the "five often-forgotten gems" from Harrison's Apple Records discography, and notes its "elegiac tone", similar to that of Living in the Material World.

[122] Writing for Vintage Rock, Shawn Perry describes the track as "ruefully poignant" and a song that "overflows with a flavour [of] simple and sincere beauty".