Bangladesh by George Harrison in 1971 with lyrics, The concert for Bangladesh

Bangla Desh is a song by English musicianGeorge Harrison. It was released as a nonalbum single in July 1971, to raise awareness for the millions of refugees from the country formerly known asEast Pakistan, following the1970 Bhola cycloneand the outbreak of theBangladesh Liberation War. Harrison s inspiration for the song came from his friendRavi Shankar, aBengalimusician, who approached Harrison for help in trying to alleviate the suffering. Bangla Desh has been described as one of the most cogent social statements in music history 1and helped gain international support forBangladeshiindependence by establishing the name of the fledgling nation around the world. In 2005, United Nations SecretaryGeneralKofi Annanidentified the song s success in personalising the Bangladesh crisis, through its emotive description of Shankar s request for help.