This morning, my friend Kathie from ChosenPerspectives, posted a video of David Draiman, a songwriter and vocalist for the music group Disturbed, singing the 1964 song The Sound of Silence. In her post, she called it a generation bridging song. It indeed is that. I still have goosebumps from listening to Draiman’s version. In fact, for me, it is the most powerful rendition I have ever heard of this much beloved song.
Category: Inspiration
Song Lyric Sunday: The Thrill is Gone
It no longer is Sunday, but I want to participate in this week’s Song Lyric Sunday so I’m going to! This week we were asked to write about a band we heard at a recent concert. The last concert I attended was on March 3, 2014. At that time I went to hear BB King at the Moore Theater in Seattle. He was 88 years-old at the time.
The opening band was Ayron Jones and the Way. The young people in the crowd went wild with joy as he played. Al and the friends that we went with loved his music too, but it just wasn’t for me. A few minutes ago, I listened to one of his songs on YouTube: Baptized in Muddy Waters. I know the music is good, and I love his voice; it just isn’t a style of music I enjoy listening to.
After Ayron Jones finished, BB King’s band played numerous songs. At one point, BB King walked on stage and sat down. He seemed very old and weak. He played his guitar a little and sang a couple of lines of The Thrill is Gone, but for the most part, he just talked to us. I sensed that I was sitting at the feet of a great Master and felt extremely honored to have that privilege. He died on May 14, 2015.
I could say much more about BB King but I’ve decided to let his music speak for him. I chose a video from a concert that he did along with Eric Clapton. I don’t know what year that concert occurred, but BB King’s hair was gray and how he looks on the video reminds me of the man that I experienced that night in 2014.
The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away
The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away
You know you done me wrong
And you’ll be sorry someday
The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away from me
The thrill is gone
TheIt’s gone away from me
Though I’ll still live on
But so lonely I’ll be
The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away for good
The thrill is gone
The thrill is gone away for good
Someday I’ll be over it all
Like I know a good man should
I’m free baby
Free from your spell
I’m free, free baby
Free from your spell
Now that it’s all over
All I can do is wish you well
Now it’s all over
All I can do is wish you well
Written by Lew Brown, Ray Henderson • Copyright © Warner/Chappell Music, Inc.
The Black Doves Came To Me!
I just had the most amazing dream. It was filled with so many snipets. Some were joyful and some were uncomfortable. Some could have happened in the present or might happen in the future, but others brought in elements of the past. One snipet felt mystical, like being in a magical kingdom. Continue reading “The Black Doves Came To Me!”
Ganesh Chaturthi
Last week was Ganesh Chaturthi, the yearly celebration of Lord Ganesh, the aspect of God that is the remover of obstacles. This beautiful statue of Ganesh was in Amma’s Amritapuri ashram during that time. Next year, I hope to be in Amritapuri during Ganesh Chaturthi!
My “Frame” Adventure
When I walked into Seattle’s Lincoln Park for my Tai Chi class yesterday, a dark green tree caught my eye. (It looked MUCH bigger in reality than it does in the photograph.) I wondered if the tree might be a possible subject for this week’s The Daily Post challenge- Weekly Photo Challenge: Frame. After the class, I returned to that area to take a photo and see what was on the other side of the foliage.
What I discovered when I walked into the foliage was that the dark green wasn’t from a single tree, it was from many. And there was indeed a frame. The frame made a complete circle, a circle that included the dark green foliage as well as the leaves from many trees that had lighter leaves.
Walking inside the frame was like walking through a magical land.
Soon, I noticed that there was a frame within the frame. It was comprised of a group of trees surrounding a pile of raked-up needles, branches and leaves which in turn were framed by the green foliage on the perimeter.
I continued to walk the magical land. Moments later, I found another frame in a frame. This time it was a tree that was being framed by other trees.
And then I saw another tall tree that was framed by smaller trees.
After leaving that segment, I saw a sight that took my breath away. I felt like I was viewing the Mother/Father/Guardian of the whole area. It stood like a giant, towering above all of the other trees.
(As I write this post and remember the experience, I think that the name Guardian fits the best.)
My journey had come to its end. I looked around the magical land, feeling very grateful for this blessed adventure.
After walking out of the outer frame, I turned around and saw that the Guardian itself was framed by the greenery.
I gave thanks to the Guardian.
Wordless Wednesday
Amma Quote: Finding One’s Self
Song Lyric Sunday: Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma
Last week, I was introduced to the amazing child singer, Sooryagayathri, from Kerala, India. I shared information about her, as well as three of her songs, in a previous post.
I decided to use another one of her songs for my contribution to this week’s Song Lyric Sunday event. (The directions for the event were to “share a song you’ve heard recently for the first time and fell in love with.”) The song, Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma is a tribute to Lakshmi, the Hindu Goddess of Wealth, Fortune and Prosperity, both material and spiritual. It was written in Kannada, a South Indian language, by Saint Purandara Dasa.
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma nammamma ni sau
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma ……
Hejjaya mele hejjeyanikkuta gejje kalgala dhvaniya toruta
Sajjana sadhu pujeya velege majjigeyolagina benneyante
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma nammamma ni sau
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma ……
Kanaka vrstiya kareyuta bare mana kamanaya siddhiya tore
Dinakara koti tejadi holeva janakarayana kumari vedha
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma nammamma ni sau
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma ……
Attittalagalade bhaktara maneyali nitya mahotsava nitya sumangala
Satyava toruva sadhu sajjanara cittadi holeva puttali bombe
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma nammamma ni sau
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma ……
Sankhye illada bhagyava kottu kankana kaiya tiruvuta bare
Kunkumankite pankaja locane Venkataramanana binkada rani
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma nammamma ni sau
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma ……
Sakkare tuppada kaluve harisi shukravaradha pujaya velage
Akkareyulla alagiri rangana cokka Purandara Vithalana rani
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma nammamma ni sau
Bhagyada Lakshmi baramma ……
Oh, Goddess of fortune. Laksmi devi ! Do come slowly with your anklets making the jingling sound. Come to us like butter emerging out of buttermilk when it is churned. Come and shower on us a rain of gold and fufilll our aspirations. Come with the brightness of countless number of rays of the sun. Come and bless us; Oh, Devi, who has taken incarnation as Sita. Oh, lotus eyed Devi who is the pride of Mahavishnu. Come and appear before us wearing the shining golden bracelets on your wrists and the auspicious vermilion mark on your forehead! Oh, consort of Purandaravitthala, welcome to you who shine auspiciously in the hearts of great sages. Oh, Queen of Alagiri Ranga, come to our worship on Friday when streams of ghee and sugar will overflow!
Sooryagayathri was nine years old when the video below was recorded. The man who is with her is her teacher, Kuldeep Pai.
I hope you enjoy her pure, mesmerizing voice. If you do, you can find more of her recordings on YouTube.
Photo Credit: http://hinduism.about.com/od/hindugoddesses/p/lakshmi.htm
Sooryagayathri- A Mesmerizing Child Singer
Last week a friend introduced me to a child singer, Sooryagayathri from Kerala, India and I have been listening to her sing almost every day since then. I think her voice is exquisite, even divine.
Her teacher, Kuldeep Pai from Chennai, is planning to release her songs only through Facebook and YouTube. He said:
I don’t wish to make any monetary profit from these video series, so they won’t be released as CDs. I just want people to appreciate Sooryagayathri’s talent, and want other children to get inspired by her. I am delighted at the responses I have been getting so far. Some of them see her as a prodigy and some, as goddess Saraswathi herself.
There are many videos in her series and every one I’ve heard has been beautiful. I’ve picked three to share with you. I believe she was nine when the first one was released and either nine or ten in the others. In Ganesha Pancharatnam she is singing along with her teacher; she sings alone in the other two. I hope you enjoy listening to her as much as I do.
The Power of One
Helen, thank you, thank you, thank you. Thank you for asking us to pick a song featured in a movie as our Song Lyric Sunday entry this week. My song is one I had been thinking about during the week, called Southland Concerto. Since it is a protest song, I had been wishing it had come to my mind last week when that was your prompt.
Southland Concerto is from one of my favorite movies, The Power of One. The movie is set in South Africa during World War II, a time when apartheid ruled. This particular song was sung in a section of the movie that was about an internment camp. If I remember right, it was performed by a large group of black prisoners who had been directed to provide a concert for dignitaries and guards.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O86lYE_brQQ
There are no translations available, but the movie script certainly gives a good hint. The script says:
[the African inmates are singing a song in Zulu, insulting the prison guards. One of the guards caught up with Piet (a prisoner) and asks him what they are singing about]
Sgt. Bowmann: What are they singing?
Geel Piet: [translating] They run this way. They run that way. They are confused. They are afraid.
Sgt. Bowmann: We are afraid?
[shouts]
Sgt. Bowmann: We are afraid?
Geel Piet: You are cowards.
I still feel inspired whenever I see or think about this movie. It reminds me that each one of us can make a difference. If you have not watched it before, I would highly recommend that you do.
Living, Learning and Letting Go 