Coming at the end of Harry Nilsson�s most self-indulgent, bizarre, and profane album, 1972�s Son of Schmilsson is an ode to what he calls �The Most Beautiful World in the World.�

Part Latin/South America rock song that Nilsson was so fond of (see �Coconut�) and part lush Disney-esque ballad, �World� is an assemblage of two disparate parts that on paper, should not flow in the slightest, much less flow as well as this track does.

The first part rolls and rocks along with some wordless backing vocals (�yiy, yiy, yiy, yuh�) and Latin percussion backing up Nilsson�s heavily accented lead vocal. Nilsson and Perry layer on instrumentation with electric guitars, a full horn section�even the sound of spitting in a glass of water is in place of a snare hit.

But at the 1:36 mark is the transition; a piano comes in and slow things down, only to give way to a quiet orchestra which begins to accent Nilsson�s every lyric. Soon a whole orchestra has taken over, and Nilsson is singing a straight-faced love song to, well, the world.

The listener pictures Nilsson sitting on a windowsill, looking out on a starry night, brightened by the glow of the moon, singing to his lover�the planet Earth:

You�re mountains when you’re mad
You�re rivers when you�re sad
And those deep blue seas
I love you for your snow
Your deserts down below
I love the way you wear your trees

And continues:

So when you get older
And over your shoulder
You look back to see if it’s real
Tell her she’s beautiful
Roll the world over
And give her a kiss and a feel

If you listen closely enough, you can almost hear the reaction from his mainstream fan base, people who had grown accustomed to �Without You� and �Everybody�s Talkin�� styled pop songs: �Did Harry Nilsson just sing about how he wants to fuck the Earth?�

Nilsson ends the song and album like an insult comic hightailing it to his tour van before the crowd can catch up with him: �So long, folks! See you next album, Richard!�

Indeed, Nilsson made some silly joke songs, some catchy rockers and he made some drop dead gorgeous ballads, but this was perhaps the only occasion on which he was able to seamlessly and effortlessly blend all three together.

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