Tag: music

Song Lyric Sunday: Blues

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The direction for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to share lyrics from a Blue’s song. Sreejit from The Seeker’s Dungeon, and who also happens to be my son :), has composed and sung numerous Blue’s songs over the years. The one I have chosen to share here is called Feel My Blues.

Lyrics

Hear my words and be confused
as you look into my eyes and feel my blues
happiness is hiding from
the darkness to which my heart has clung.

Oooh wooh oh oh
Lost control

I hold the answers but my heart wants more
don’t even care what I’ve been fighting for –
dreams are there to hold me down
forsaking the peace that I have found.

But so long as I hold on to sleep
– it keeps me in darkness
– I’ll go on pretending.

Hear my words and be confused
as you look into my eyes and feel my blues
happiness is hiding from
the darkness to which my heart has clung.

To contentment I’ve said goodbye
there will never be any compromise
as I fight for what could never be
and stir the fire that burns within me.

It doesn’t take but a moment
to destroy a life’s work beyond all atonement.

Hear my words and be confused
as you look into my eyes and feel my blues
happiness is hiding from
the darkness to which my heart has clung.

Tearing down old walls
to make space for new ones –
enjoying the comfort of being
wrapped in illusion.

Hear my words and be confused
as you look into my eyes and feel my blues
happiness is hiding from
the darkness to which my heart has clung.

Oooh wooh oh oh
Lost control

The Sound of Silence

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.

Song Lyric Sunday: The Thrill is Gone

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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.

Lyrics

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.

 

Song Lyric Sunday: Bhagyada Lakshmi Baramma

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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.

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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.

Lyrics

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 ……

English Translation

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.

So Far Away

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Helen’s prompt for this week’s Song Lyric Sunday is to post a song about missing someone you love. I thought of my adult children who live in Amma’s ashram in Amritapuri, India.

Carole King’s song So Far Away definitely meets the criteria. While I wouldn’t want Sreejit and Chaitanya to live anywhere else, I can sure relate to these lines of the song: “So far away” and “It would be so fine to see your face at my door.”

So Far Away, written by Carole King, was released March 1971 on her album Tapestry.

Lyrics:

So far away
Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn’t help to know you’re just time away

Long ago I reached for you and there you stood
Holding you again could only do me good
Oh, how I wish I could
But you’re so far away

One more song about moving along the highway
Can’t say much of anything that’s new
If I could only work this life out my way
I’d rather spend it being close to you

But you’re so far away
Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn’t help to know you’re so far away

Traveling around sure gets me down and lonely
Nothing else to do but close my mind
I sure hope the road don’t come to own me
There’s so many dreams I’ve yet to find

But you’re so far away
Doesn’t anybody stay in one place anymore
It would be so fine to see your face at my door
Doesn’t help to know you’re so far away

The Power of One

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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.

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.

When You Feel Like Darkness Has You Bound

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I love watching the path my mind takes when I am determining what song to use for the Song Lyric Sunday challenge. I start by thinking about what songs would address the theme for the week, but I often don’t end up there.

This week the theme was protest songs. The song I used for my second week of doing this challenge was We Shall Overcome so I considered some of the 60’s protest songs. But then my mind went a different direction. I thought about two of the Blues songs my son Sreejit wrote some years back. I listened to them both, but as I was considering them, another song came to mind.

My daughter Chaitanya and my son Sreejit live at Amma’s Amritapuri ashram in Kerala, India. People for all religions come to Amma, and all religions are respected. For the last seven or eight years my son and daughter have been very instrumental in creating the Christmas play that is performed on Christmas Eve each year. Chaitanya writes and directs the plays and Sreejit and his friends compose most of the tunes. The plays are in the style of Broadway musicals.

The particular play that came to my mind was performed in 2012 and was titled God is Able. The setting was a Southern style Gospel church. Sreejit was the preacher! The story line covered the stories of Moses leading the Jews to the promised land, Rachael being healed by touching Jesus’ garment, and a fictional account of the heart of an angry store keeper being healed. I never will forget the moment in the play when the stage doors opened and our sparkling “Gospel Choir” became visible. It seemed like everyone in the auditorium did a collective gasp. Part of the reason I remember the gasp and the thunderous applause and shouts that followed our song so well is that I was part of the choir!!!

Choir

The song I have chosen is Dear God. The tune was written by Sreejit and the lyrics by Chaitanya.  It is not a protest song but it is a song that is very relevant to times of darkness which is often what proceeds protest.

The mp3 recording and the lyrics are below.  I hope you enjoy it as much as I still do!

When you feel like darkness has you bound
And you can’t see any way to get out
There’s a power which surrounds us all
Through God anything is possible

Never fear
Never let your doubts draw near
With courage face all that comes
Put your trust into God’s arms
He’ll protect you from all harm
His love will carry you on through

Dear God, hold us tight never let us leave thy sight
Dear God, fill our soul with your love make us whole

Sreejit singing above the choir:

God is able to calm the wild storm
God is able to make the weak strong
God is able to bring change within
God is able to do all things

Turn, Turn, Turn

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Today’s Song Lyric Sunday challenge was to pick a song related to love. As I started thinking about love, I thought about life. As I thought about life, I thought about the seasons of life. As I thought about the seasons of life, I thought about how many roads we walk down during our lifetimes. As I thought about how many roads we walk down during our lifetimes, I thought of The Byrd’s song Turn, Turn, Turn. When I thought of Turn, Turn, Turn, I knew I had my song for the week!

Turn, Turn, Turn actually was written by Pete Seeger in the late 50’s. Most of the words come from the Bible (Ecclesiastes 3:1-8). The song became famous when The Byrd’s started singing it in late 1965.

Turn! Turn! Turn!

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to be born, a time to die
A time to plant, a time to reap
A time to kill, a time to heal
A time to laugh, a time to weep

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to build up, a time to break down
A time to dance, a time to mourn
A time to cast away stones
A time to gather stones together

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time of love, a time of hate
A time of war, a time of peace
A time you may embrace
A time to refrain from embracing

To everything – turn, turn, turn
There is a season – turn, turn, turn
And a time to every purpose under heaven

A time to gain, a time to lose
A time to rend, a time to sew
A time for love, a time for hate
A time for peace, I swear it’s not too late!

Let There Be Peace on Earth

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Helen at This Thing Called Life One Word at a Time started a new prompt today entitled Song Lyric Sunday. It gives participants a chance to share the lyrics and tune to a favorite song. The song that came to my mind was “Let There Be Peace on Earth and Let it Begin with Me.” It was one I loved in my early years but haven’t thought of for decades.

The song was written by Jill Jackson Miller and Sy Miller in 1955. The lyrics are:

Let There Be Peace on Earth and let it begin with me.
Let There Be Peace on Earth, the peace that was meant to be!
With God as our Father, brothers all are we.
Let me walk with my brother in perfect harmony.

Let peace begin with me. Let this be the moment now.
With ev’ry breath I take, let this be my solemn vow;
To take each moment and live each moment in peace eternally!
Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me!

When I looked for a video to post with the lyrics, I was drawn to one by the Harlem Boys’ Choir. The song touched me as much as it did fifty years ago. I imagine it will bring back memories to some of you as well. And it is certainly a message that the world needs to hear at this point in time.