Category: Music

Across the Universe

NGC 1300 (Click to embiggen)

Images of broken light which dance before me like a million eyes
They call me on and on across the universe …

Words magically conjure images in our minds, especially if they are not reportage but instead are attempted expressions of the ineffable. That is why I like certain songs not just for their musical quality but those with lyrics that evoke mystery and longing.

The words quoted above are from the song “Across the Universe” by the Beatles. They evoke images in my mind that are like the image (at the top of this post) of the barred spiral galaxy discovered by John Herschel in 1835, NGC 1300. It is about 110,000 light-years across and 61 million light-years away. We are unlikely to visit it anytime ever. Continue reading “Across the Universe”

Well-being

View of the hills from the Costco Business Center in San Jose CA.

You’ve probably heard this story. A man was relaxing by the sea shore one morning. A passing wealthy man asks him why he was just sitting idle. “I am enjoying the day, now that I’m done with fishing for today,” he replied.

“Why don’t you go catch more fish?” the wealthy man asks.

“And why would I do that? I have enough for now.”

“You could make more money if you caught more fish. Then you could buy another boat. And then you would be able to catch more fish and end up with a large number of boats. Then you’d be wealthy.”

“And then what?” asked the fisherman.

“Then you would be able to have a relaxed life, free from worries.”

“Well, I’m doing that already, am I not? Then what’s the point of going through all that trouble?” Continue reading “Well-being”

Yeha Noha (Wishes Of Happiness And Prosperity)

I like the rhythms of Native American music. I have a collection of songs that are based on them. I say based on them because they essentially are “covers”, not the originals. Here’s one — Gesso’s Guitar Song by Mystic Rhythms Band.

A couple of decades ago, I had rescued a CD from a pile of stuff my friend Courtenay was about to trash. It was titled “Sacred Spirit.” The songs grow on you. I find them soothing. Here’s a song from that CD: Yeha Noha (Wishes Of Happiness And Prosperity).

Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.

Pass the Dutchie

Time for a musical interlude. A few fun songs. The first is from a one-hit wonder Jamaican band Musical Youth.

When I first heard the song long years ago, I mistakenly thought that “pass the dutchie” meant pass the bong. Only recently I learned that dutchie refers to a “dutch pot” and the stew-like dish made in it. It’s food that is being passed. Hence the words, “How does it feel when you have no food.” Continue reading “Pass the Dutchie”

AMA – The 2nd Oct edition

Fragile by Sting

Indians know Oct 2nd as “Gandhi Jayanti.” Most Indians celebrate Gandhi as the one who is responsible for India’s independence from the British Raj. That’s patently false but being false has never deterred the ignorant. Most people — not just Indians — are ignorant anyway.

Gandhi was a monster. I have wasted a lot of time arguing why. Here are a few of my previous posts on Gandhi. Indians should be told who the man actually was. This one is not about Gandhi.

This post is about two of my favorite musicians who were born on Oct 2nd: Don McLean in 1945, and Sting in 1951.

To celebrate those two singers, here are two of their songs. First the 1971 super-hit song by Don McLean. Continue reading “AMA – The 2nd Oct edition”

AMC – Dolphins

By NASA–Wikimedia commons

I have never seen dolphins in the sea — only in captivity at the SeaWorld in San Diego, CA, and at the Monterey Bay Aquarium in Monterey, CA.

It’s hard to believe that these animals evolved from land-dwelling mammals to become aquatic mammal within the infraorder Cetacea. The wiki says —

Dolphins are descendants of land-dwelling mammals of the artiodactyl order (even-toed ungulates). They are related to the Indohyus, an extinct chevrotain-like ungulate, from which they split approximately 48 million years ago.

The primitive cetaceans, or archaeocetes, first took to the sea approximately 49 million years ago and became fully aquatic by 5–10 million years later.

Continue reading “AMC – Dolphins”

AMC – Africa

Oumou Sangaré

Considering that I’ve been listening to music for many decades, it’s not surprising that I have around 5,000 favorite songs. I’m not exaggerating: I do have 5,000 favorite songs.

Those songs give me pleasure and joy, solace and comfort. I know them intimately, each of them associated with treasured memories. Many of them I can still recall when I first heard them, and why they entered my collection of favorites.

Today I would like to present three foreign language songs. I consider Bengali (my mother tongue), Hindi and Marathi to be domestic languages, and consider English to be a “native” language since I think, read, write and speak it better than any other language. The rest are all foreign languages to me, including French which I understand a bit of. Continue reading “AMC – Africa”

AMC – Kabir Bhajans

Veena Sahasrabuddhe

I love bhajans. The wiki explain that the word bhajan connotes “attachment, devotion to, fondness for, homage, faith or love, worship, piety to something as a spiritual, religious principle or means of salvation.”

On its historical roots, it notes that “in Hinduism, Bhajan and its Bhakti term Kirtan, have roots in the ancient metric and musical traditions of the Vedic era, particularly the Samaveda. The Samaveda Samhita is not meant to be read as a text, but sung as it is like a musical score sheet that must be heard.” Continue reading “AMC – Kabir Bhajans”

All Songs Considered

Do you like music? I do. Intensely and passionately. All sorts of music. The range is unlimited. From Hindustani classical vocals to modern composers to Western classical. From old Hindi film songs to rock ‘n roll and heavy metal. I am so glad that I live in an age that I can have access to a virtually unlimited amount of music at my command. It’s magical and amazing.

I realized that music is not everyone’s cup of tea. My sincere sympathies. For the rest, I’d like to point to some music I like. This is prompted by a suggestion by my friend Anup who recently asked me to share movies and documentaries that I like. Why not, say I. Why not share music, too. So here beings a regular series. Continue reading “All Songs Considered”

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