The George Harrison Lyric That Received an Assist From Bob Dylan

When people first read the credits of All Things Must Pass, George Harrison‘s first solo album, and saw that the opening song “I’d Have You Anytime” was a co-write with Bob Dylan, they might have inferred the ex-Beatle was using the famous help to get the record off to a rousing start. They might have been surprised when they heard the song was a pensive ballad.

And they might have also been a bit stunned to know that, in some ways, Dylan needed the boost as much as Harrison when the song was written. Read on to find out about how “I’d Have You Anytime” was created, and what these two musical giants meant by the lyrics.

The Quiet Beatle and the Quiet Dylan

George Harrison’s love for the music of Bob Dylan was already well established before the two spent any meaningful time together. When Harrison had gone on retreat to India with The Beatles in 1968, he had taken a bunch of albums recorded by Indian musicians, but he also sneaked in a copy of Dylan’s Blonde on Blonde.

Although the two men had met briefly on several occasions, Harrison’s visit to Dylan’s Woodstock, New York, home in November 1968 was their first extended stretch spent together. Harrison was surprised to find Dylan somewhat somber and guarded, to the point where the two didn’t speak too much in the first few days.

Harrison decided to coax Bob out through music, and when the two men pulled out their guitars, the mood lightened considerably. But Harrison was still surprised that Dylan didn’t seem confident at all in his music at the time. That’s when Harrison started playing some different chords to Dylan, persuading him into writing some lyrics along the way, which led to the creation of “I’d Have You Anytime.”

In addition to hanging with Dylan, Harrison spent time with The Band as well during that stretch. He enjoyed the convivial atmosphere among the musicians, something that was lacking when he returned to The Beatles in January 1969 to start work on the Let It Be/Get Back project. The Fab Four would break up in secret later that year, before eventually announcing it to the world in 1970.

Harrison used many songs he had written but hadn’t recorded during his time in The Beatles to fill out All Things Must Pass, which ballooned to a triple album when all was said and done. To start it all off, he dusted off “I’d Have You Anytime,” gilding the lily by getting Eric Clapton to add the plaintive lead guitar to the track.

Revisiting the Lyrics of “I’d Have You Anytime”

Considering the lyrical talents of the two men who wrote it, it’s a bit surprising how simple and straightforward the words to “I’d Have You Anytime” are. It’s a love song that doesn’t mince its words, although the pleading nature of Harrison’s melody suggests there might have been a fissure between the narrator and the person he’s addressing he hopes to repair.

Let me in here, Harrison begins. I know I’ve been here / Let me into your heart. Those lines suggest the protagonist is trying to get back, as if from exile, to the warmth and surety of his love. Let me roll it to you, Harrison sings, and that line directly inspired fellow Beatle Paul McCartney to create the song “Let Me Roll It.”

The rest of the verses continue in that vein, the narrator asking permission to ingratiate himself again to this woman. It’s in the chorus he makes his case for a complete intermingling of their fates: All I have is yours / All you see is mine / And I’m glad to have you in my arms / I’d have you anytime.

Dylan and Harrison would work much more extensively together many years down the road when they joined up in the Traveling Wilburys. “I’d Have You Anytime” holds pride of place as being their first united composition, a meeting of the minds that produced a song straight from the heart.

Photo by GAB Archive/Redferns