"I'll Still Love You" is a song written by English rock musician George Harrison and first released in 1976 by his former Beatles bandmate Ringo Starr. Produced by Arif Mardin, the track appeared on Starr's debut album for Atlantic Records and Polydor, Ringo's Rotogravure. The composition had a long recording history before then, having been written in 1970 as "Whenever", after which it was copyrighted with the title "When Every Song Is Sung".
Harrison originally intended the song for Welsh singer Shirley Bassey, who had a hit in the summer of 1970 with a cover version of his Beatles composition "Something". Although Harrison recorded "When Every Song Is Sung" himself during the sessions for All Things Must Pass that year, it was not included on his album. He went on to produce recordings of the track by former Ronette Ronnie Spector in February 1971, and Cilla Black in August 1972, but neither version was completed for release. Mary Hopkin and Leon and Mary Russell also attempted the song during the first half of the 1970s, with Harrison participating in the Russells' recording. A later version by Black – produced by David Mackay and titled "I'll Still Love You (When Every Song Is Sung)" – appeared on her 2003 compilation Cilla: The Best of 1963–78.
Together with John Lennon and Paul McCartney's respective contributions, the song's inclusion on Rotogravure marked the second occasion when Starr's former bandmates had each supplied a song for one of his albums, after Ringo in 1973. While Starr's rendition is often held in low regard, some commentators consider "I'll Still Love You" to be one of Harrison's finest love songs and on a par with "Something". Author Ian Inglis describes the song as "an unfinished masterpiece".
Background and composition
In late 1969, George Harrison's song "Something" was issued on the A-side of a single by the Beatles – the first time that one of his compositions had been given that honour. Discussing the song, Harrison remarked in an interview: "There's a lot of songs like that in my head. I must get them down. Maybe even other people would like to sing them." In the summer of 1970, "Something" gave Welsh singer Shirley Bassey her biggest UK hit in nine years, an achievement that led her to tell the press that she and Harrison could become a singer-and-songwriter pairing on the scale of Dionne Warwick and Burt Bacharach. Although he would later be dismissive of Bassey's version of "Something", Harrison wrote a new song for her to record after reading these comments. Originally titled "Whenever", it became "When Every Song Is Sung" and later "I'll Still Love You".
As he had with "Something", Harrison composed the melody on a piano, part-way through a recording session – in this case, while working on his first post-Beatles solo album, All Things Must Pass (1970). As reproduced in his 1980 autobiography, I, Me, Mine, Harrison's original lyrics carried the title "WHENEVER (by Shirley Bassey)". He recalls in the book: "I got the chord sequence, and 'When every song is sung' were the first words to come out of my mouth, and it developed from there."
Harrison's musical biographer, Simon Leng, considers it to be an "emotionally complex lyric that ponders how love will even survive, 'when every soul is free'". Christian theologian Dale Allison interprets the subject matter of the song as moksha, or liberation from rebirth, in the Hindu faith. He writes: "'I'll Still Love You (When Every Song Is Sung)' looks forward to the time when all souls are 'free,' when all eyes will 'see,' and when all human beings will be of the same mind. 'All Things Must Pass,' but no one really ever passes away."
Author Robert Rodriguez describes the musical tone as that of a "moody torch song". Leng notes that the verses have the same descending semitone pattern as "Something" and, structurally, it features a middle eight that is "harsher" and "dramatic" compared to the verses, just like the middle eight in Harrison's 1969 composition.
Pre-Ringo's Rotogravure recording history
George Harrison
Still using the title "Whenever", Harrison recorded "When Every Song Is Sung" for All Things Must Pass in 1970 but did not include it on the album. The sessions took place between late May and August that year, at London's Abbey Road and Trident studios. According to bootlegs subsequently compiled from the sessions, 44 takes of the song were taped. The recordings reveal a musical arrangement featuring acoustic guitars, piano, bass, drums and jazz-inflected horns.