In early August 1972, in between overseeing the UK release of Saul Swimmer's "Concert for Bangladesh" documentary and heading up to Liverpool to catch Ravi Shankar's recital at the Philharmonic Hall, George Harrison tried recording "When Every Song Is Sung", a ballad from the "All Things Must Pass" era, as a single for Cilla Black. Although the project was not completed, just like Harrison's attempt to record the same song with Ronnie Spector the year before, he later decided to write a B-side for her, which would become "The Light That Has Lighted the World". In his autobiography, "I, Me, Mine", Harrison explains that the lyrics dealt with the "Local boy/girl makes good" phenomenon, where the public initially supports someone who achieves success yet are then disapproving if fame or success changes that person. Both he and Black were from Liverpool and had become famous quickly, after which many people considered their personalities had changed – a common link that Harrison thought of basing the intended B-side around. After he had come up with the opening two lines, however, the theme soon evolved into something more personal.