I was toying with the idea of doing an Om Amriteshwaryai Namah for my next song. Meanwhile, I received a spontaneous message from someone who had listened to my other music and asked if I could record an Amma mantra next! It seemed like a clear sign...so I meditated on it and suddenly a simple melody for 'Om Amriteshwaryai Namaha' came through.
I wanted to create a way to listen to and engage with the simple mantra melody for a long time without becoming boring. So I experimented with adding harmonies and instrument solos to keep the mind stimulated yet still engaged with the mantra. Any guesses as to which instruments are being used for the solos? I somehow came up with some unconventional choices!
I feel there are two ways to engage with this song. The first is just to listen and enjoy. And the second is to sing along. You can sing with the main melody or make harmonies. And when the instrument solo comes, try to keep chanting the mantra and imagine that you and the instrument are doing a duet together...I hope it will add some energy and help support your connection to the mantra and go deep into your heart. I'd love to hear if you have any interesting experiences with the music, either listening or singing.
The story behind the name 'American' is that I was making this song just after 9/11. Initially the anniversary didn't create much of an impact on me. But browsing online the next day, I saw many powerful photos and read and watched videos of intense stories of New Yorkers' experiences on that day. It reminded me that it was more than just a loss of life and buildings, but it was an event which impacted so many people so deeply.
It brought up thoughts and feelings of my home country, and how disconnected I am and have always felt from US culture. It seems the older I have gotten, the more at odds I feel from the lifestyle there. I see a way of life removed from the bigger picture and focused on self interest, a culture detached and insensitive to others, even when trying to be inclusive, so much over-intellectualization, depersonalization, so unrefined...people and the environment getting faster, more isolated, louder, more stimulated, losing values.
I enjoy many people and places and aspects of life in the US, but there's not a whole lot about the general way of life there that I miss, and I was grieving this feeling of disconnection and distaste for the country where I've lived almost my whole life. Amma tells us that our connection to our home country is special and that we have a responsibility towards it. I began wondering to myself, 'What about the US am I proud of, what about its culture makes me glad to be associated with that place?..."
I couldn't think of anything at first, but after a little time suddenly it came to me: creativity! I realized that the flip side of the constantly changing culture is that there is a great force of creativity there, a force that drives people to want to do things better, to do it in their own special way, and to express themselves deeply. Each decade seems to undergo a change in speech, in clothing style, in design, in energy.
And especially music. So much incredible music has come from the US: ragtime was invented there, Scott Joplin put such joy, life and tender feelings into this new style of music. Aaron Copland and George Gershwin, captured such an American spirit in their new orchestral sounds.
Jazz was invented! The expression of artists like Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald was infectious, so powerful and still touches and inspires people today from all cultures. Rock and Roll was created and what a wild channeling of energy. Blues was invented. I think of musical geniuses like Ray Charles, Arethra Franklin, Stevie Wonder, Prince, Michael Jackson, and despite often troubled lives, they were able to tap into and express something so deep and so life-affirming, touch and inspire so many people and create a shared cultural experience through their sounds.
Gospel music, Appalachian mountain music, shape note music...and this is all just the musical side of things! The creativity shines in so many other ways, Americans inventing the telephone, airplane, light bulb, personal computer, video game console, mobile phone, skateboard, Hubble Telescope. And also one of my favorite American things, the expression of independence and freedom in the form of the road trip.
So where was I, oh yes the name of the song...after remembering all these things I was feeling pretty good and hopeful about my crazy home country and wanted to channel some of that American energy into the instrument solos in the song. I think the second and third solos do a pretty good job of capturing that expressive, unashamed, go-for-it American-ness that I was trying to express. With that music, I wanted to say 'Here I am, I am American!'
Yes, there are exactly 108 repetitions! I hope you enjoy...
18 сен 2024
