text: i 'll still love you " i 'll still love you " is a song written by english 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 " when every song is sung " 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 , after george harrison 's song " something " had been issued on the a - side of a single by the beatles – the first time that one of his compositions had been given that honour – he 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 " ( 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 horns . along with other unreleased material from the all things must pass sessions , harrison 's " when every song is sung " became available in the 1990s on unofficial outtake compilations such as songs for patti , some of which list the track as " i 'll still love you " . allmusic critic richie unterberger describes this early version of the song as " haunting " and " a noteworthy find " among outtakes from harrison 's 1970 triple album . ronnie spector " when every song is sung " was one of up to six harrison compositions recorded in february 1971 for what was intended to be a debut solo album by ronnie spector . the latter was the former lead singer of the ronettes and the wife of harrison 's all things must pass co - producer , phil spector . as in 1970 , harrison and spector co - produced the sessions . basic tracks for this and the other songs were taped at abbey road studios with some of the musicians who had played on all things must pass – including jim gordon , klaus voormann and gary wright – along with leon russell on piano . the recording was not completed , however , since phil spector 's erratic behaviour led to the project being abandoned . issued on apple records in april 1971 , the single " try some , buy some " was the only official ronnie spector release from these sessions . cilla black due to his commitment to the bangladesh relief effort , harrison 's music - making was limited for much of 1971 and the following year . in early august 1972 , shortly after the uk release of the concert for bangladesh film , he resumed his role as a record producer with a session for a new cilla black single , the a - side of which was to be " when every song is sung " . the recording took place at apple studio in london , during black 's day off from her summer variety season in blackpool . among the support musicians were voormann , ringo starr and eric clapton . a second harrison composition , " you got to stay with me " , was also attempted at the session , but as with the ronnie spector solo album , the project was not completed . black told radio presenter spencer leigh that her ability to record that day was hindered by her discomfort following a dental appointment just before the session began . the b - side that harrison started writing for her similarly took an alternative route , ending up as the autobiographical " the light that has lighted the world " , which he chose to include on his 1973 album living in the material world . according to author alan clayson , former apple artist mary hopkin also recorded a version of " when every song is sung " during this period . black still thought the song was " super " , she told leigh , and so re - recorded it over 1974 – 75 , this time with producer david mackay . she said of this later recording : " even then , [ the song ] didn 't have the magic it deserved . it should have had a ' yesterday ' -type arrangement . " in his book the beatles diary volume 2 , keith badman writes that harrison and black met in a london restaurant over christmas in 1982 and discussed completing their recordings from ten years before . black 's mackay - produced version of the song was eventually released in may 2003 , as " i 'll still love you ( when every song is sung ) " , on her three - cd compilation cilla : the best of 1963 – 78 . leon and mary russell after their various projects together between 1969 and 1971 , including the concert for bangladesh , harrison renewed his musical association with leon russell in 1975 , while recording extra texture in los angeles . aside from contributing to that album , russell made a new recording of " when every song is song " with his wife mary – formerly mary mccreary of the vocal group little sister , and subsequently a solo artist signed to russell 's shelter record label . the couple married in june 1975 , after which they began recording the first of their two albums together , titled wedding album . harrison participated in the session for " when every song is sung " . according to tom petty , who was a shelter artist at the time , recording took place at russell 's home studio in encino , with ringo starr also at the session . as before , this attempt failed to produce a finished recording of the song . ringo 's rotogravure recording starr was another admirer of the song , describing it in an nme interview as " a big ballady thing " and a track " i 've always loved " . in april 1976 , john lennon and paul mccartney had each agreed to donate a song and participate in the sessions for ringo 's rotogravure , starr 's first album on atlantic records and polydor . while he had been starr 's most frequent collaborator out of all of starr 's former bandmates after the beatles ' break - up , harrison was unable to attend the sessions , since he was under pressure to deliver his first dark horse records album , after being waylaid by hepatitis . starr instead received his permission to record " when every song is sung " , now titled " i 'll still love you " . ringo 's rotogravure thereby became the second album by an ex - beatle , after starr 's ringo in 1973 , to feature compositions by all four former members of the band . the rotogravure sessions took place between april and july 1976 , mostly at cherokee studios in los angeles . arif mardin produced the album , since richard perry , starr 's usual producer , was committed to another project . the musicians on " i 'll still love you " included pianist jane getz and a rhythm section comprising starr and jim keltner ( both on drums ) and voormann ( on bass ) . lon van eaton , a former apple records signing , played lead guitar on the track . as further contributions to a recording that rodriguez describes as a " dramatic ballad " , mardin added a string synthesizer part , played on an arp string ensemble , and gene orloff arranged and conducted orchestral strings . mardin recorded these overdubs at atlantic studios in new york , without starr . according to keith badman , harrison was " not pleased " with starr 's version of the song and took legal action against him , which was soon settled out of court . release and reception ringo 's rotogravure was issued on 17 september 1976 in britain and ten days later in the united states , with " i 'll still love you " sequenced as the second track on side two of the lp . the us release coincided with heightened speculation regarding the possibility of a beatles reunion , following promoter sid bernstein 's offer of $ 230 million for a single concert by the group . while starr was often asked about his former bandmates ' contributions to the album , he was frustrated by the media 's preference for discussing the beatles . starr also dismissed the idea that harrison 's non - appearance on " i 'll still love you " was to avoid rotogravure being seen as a work by " the new beatles ' " , as one interviewer had suggested . although it was not selected for release as a single , starr made a promotional film for the song , along with two other tracks from the album . the film clip , which was rarely seen at the time , shows starr and a woman dancing together in a park in hamburg . as with its parent album , " i 'll still love you " received a mixed response from music critics . in one of the more favourable reviews , ray coleman of melody maker admired rotogravure as " a pleasing album of uncomplicated pop music " and added that the song was " simplicity itself " , likening it to " something " . less impressed , bob woffinden of the nme said : " ' i 'll still love you ' is a song harrison wrote some years back . lyrics are dreadful , but the melody 's quite pretty . " in his 1977 book the beatles forever , nicholas schaffner described the contributions from starr 's former bandmates as " sound [ ing ] more like throwaways " , in contrast with their " inspired work " on ringo . schaffner lamented that the treatment of " i 'll still love you " was almost a " harrison parody " , complete with van eaton 's " fluid imitation " of the guitarist 's playing style . writing more recently , robert rodriguez describes " i 'll still love you " as one of the highlights of ringo 's rotogravure , and evidence that " when it came to george , ringo was the recipient of his strongest giveaways " . in his book on harrison , for the praeger singer - songwriter collection , ian inglis writes dismissively of starr 's " boisterous shouts " of " yes i will " and finds mardin 's production similarly unsuitable . inglis laments that harrison never revisited the song himself , adding : " it has the potential , lyrically and musically , to become one of his loveliest creations . as it stands , it is an unfinished masterpiece . " in simon leng 's estimation , " when every song is sung " is among harrison 's finest love songs and it " deserved better " than the " sub - spector production " of starr 's version . alan clayson similarly describes it as a harrison composition that " [ satisfied ] every musical and lyrical qualification required of an evergreen like ' yesterday ' or his own ' something ' " , yet the song received " its burial " beside the " bagatelles " on side two of rotogravure . personnel as listed in the musicians ' credits on the ringo 's rotogravure lp : ringo starr – vocals , drums lon van eaton – electric guitar jane getz – piano arif mardin – arp string synthesizer klaus voormann – bass jim keltner – drums gene orloff – string arrangement and direction david lasley – backing vocals