Category: Music

Devotional Songs

Hanuman aka Bajarang Bali

I am deeply devoted to music, in any case. So when it comes to devotional music, I am doubly devoted. My music collection has a large set of devotional songs in the Hindu, Buddhist and Christian traditions. They move me to tears and uplift my spirit.

Recently I came across a YouTube channel called Beyond Conscious. All the music on it is AI generated.  The first song I heard was devoted to Bajarang Bali, also known as Hanuman.

Hanuman is depicted as a monkey. The name Bajarang derives from the Sanskrit word vajra (diamond, thunderbolt) and anga (body.) He is immensely strong. He is very popular. As kids, we used to walk to a Hanuman temple every Tuesday to ring the temple bells.

The song is sung in Bengali, my mother tongue. But one does not need to understand the words. The meaning transcends language. The first words are “Jai Bajarang Bali, jai pawan putro . . . ” Pawan is wind, and putra is son. Hanuman was born to Vayu, the god of wind. Hence son of the wind. Listen. Continue reading “Devotional Songs”

Wine and Bread

I love homemade bread, and I love red wines. I am partial to the cabernet sauvignon, merlot and pinot noir varieties. The first two are from the Bordeaux and the third from the Burgundy regions of France. They are also great places to visit, as I did many years ago.

My close friend and host — A in San Jose — occasionally bakes bread at home. A few days ago, we had some fresh out of the oven bread with Kerrygold Irish butter (from Costco, where else!) and paired it with some cabernet sauvignon (probably from Trader Joe’s.) The picture of the bread and wine appears at the top of this post. Click to embiggen. Continue reading “Wine and Bread”

Glassworks

I was introduced to Philip Glass’s music through the movie Koyaanisqatsi which I saw in 1984 in Cupertino, CA. I absolutely loved his style.

Next came the music for the movie Mishima. Rarely a week goes by for me without listening to Glass. Brilliant stuff. He’s done the music for quite a few movies, including the movie Kundun, which is a biopic of the 14th Dalai Lama. Continue reading “Glassworks”

Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina

Writing that post about Javier Milei’s talk got me into the mood to listen to a couple of songs from the 1978 musical Evita. The lyrics are by Tim Rice and music is by the incomparable Andrew Lloyd Webber.

The movie Evita was released in 1996. Here’s Madonna as Eva Perón singing “Don’t cry for me, Argentina.” She’s awesome in this song. Here are some of the words:

It won’t be easy, you’ll think it strange
When I try to explain how I feel
That I still need your love after all that I’ve done

You won’t believe me
All you will see is a girl you once knew
Although she’s dressed up to the nines
At sixes and sevens with you
 . . .
Continue reading “Don’t Cry for Me, Argentina”

Albéniz and Satie

A village in Austrias. Credit – wikimedia commons – Markus Bernet

The Spanish or acoustic guitar and the piano are two favorite Western classical instruments. Here are two pieces: one on the guitar and the other on the piano.

First a composition by Isaac Albéniz (1860 – 1909), the Spanish virtuoso pianist and composer. He composed it for the piano but the piece is more popularly played on the guitar. It’s titled Asturias — after the Spanish region called Asturias. Continue reading “Albéniz and Satie”

Bengalis Speaking Hindi

Bengalis have a wicked sense of humor — especially when it involves poking fun at themselves. I speak as if I wasn’t a Bengali myself. Truth is that I was born and brought up outside Bengal; so I can’t claim to be a true blue Bengali.

My siblings and I speak Hindi quite well. Our relatives in Bengal did make fun of our broken Bengali infected with Hindi words. Well, in turn we found their attempted Hindi to be hilarious. Continue reading “Bengalis Speaking Hindi”

Mason-Dixon Line

What’s wrong with the notice?

I admit that quite a bit of my philosophy and convictions come from songs. Or perhaps it’s the other way around: I like songs that fit in with my philosophy and convictions. For instance, my pacifism leads me to songs like “Soldiers who wanna be heroes” and “Gun Shy.” I like “Dust in the Wind” because it accords with my view that the phenomenal world is impermanent.

Songs that tell a story speak to me.  Here’s one titled “Sailing to Philadelphia” by Mark Knopfler, who was previously with the band Dire Straits. Continue reading “Mason-Dixon Line”

Marwa Blues

Click to embiggen

Rashid Khan, a preeminent Hindustani classical vocalist of the Rampur-Sahaswan gharana,  passed away on Jan 9th. He was only 55 years old. The man was incredibly good. Here’s a traditional song sung by Rashid Khan and Saurabh Kadgaonkar. It’s from the movie “Me Vasantrao“. Lots of great music there. I note that they included a harp in the composition — unusual in Hindustani classical. Continue reading “Marwa Blues”

Christmas

Christmas lights — Willow Glen area in San Jose, CA. Click to embiggen

On Christmas, I like to listen to a favorite Christian hymn — Abide with me. It is a “Christian hymn by Scottish Anglican cleric Henry Francis Lyte. A prayer for God to stay with the speaker throughout life and in death, it was written by Lyte in 1847 as he was dying from tuberculosis. It is most often sung to the tune “Eventide” by the English organist William Henry Monk.” Continue reading “Christmas”

Across the Universe

It’s time to muse about music. The words muse and music are related, as one can guess from the spelling. The big dictionary says that Muse refers to “any of the nine sister goddesses in Greek mythology presiding over song and poetry and the arts and sciences.” That suits me since who wouldn’t be in favor of songs, poetry and science, I ask you.

In my formative years, I was exposed to a healthy dose of music and poetry in various languages. English and Hindi language poetry predominated as did English and Hindi language songs. I took special delight in the songs of The Moody Blues and The Beatles. Their songs particularly resonated with me because those two bands were heavily influenced by Indian philosophy. I’m still crazy about them after all these years. (Did you get the reference to another band in that last bit?[1]) Continue reading “Across the Universe”