Wah! - Jai Jai Jai (2003)

"Jai" is a word used in many of our chants. It is often translated as "victory" or "hail." The British-English translations fall short of conveying spiritual impact. "Jai," "Jaya," even the word "wah,"… these are all expressions of speechlessness. When you cannot say anything, when the vastness of the Universe is acknowledged and bowed to, when your heart opens, when your life falls apart, when you win a million dollars, when you turn on the TV and see disaster… all you can say is "wow…." This is "Jai." This is the opening.

These chants are the ones we composed on tour. The longer we stayed on tour, the more new chants came forward. This CD is a collection of the songs many audiences already knew and loved. The original tracks were recorded in December 2002. A beautiful window of silence was created while everyone was away on Christmas holiday, and it allowed me some creative, quiet space in the studio. "Durge" and "Shree Krishna" were readily available; we had been playing them every night on tour. "What She Has to Give" was a lovesong rejected from the Opium CD, but we performed it often. "Bolo Ram" was a collection of chants we had been doing in a million different ways. And then there were the special gifts, "Shyam Bolo Jai" and "Gayatri" which came to me directly from the silence of the moment. "Om Mani Padme Hum" was resurrected to give us 67 minutes total.

Jai Jai Jai - one opening for each realm: mortal, immortal, and divine. Jai ! ~ heaven, earth, and beyond. May all beings find happiness and peace.

Tracklist:

01. Bolo Ram (15:23)
02. Sri Krishna (14:17)
03. Om Mani Padme Hum (05:43)
04. What She Has To Give (05:27)
05. Shyam Bolo Jai (05:53)
06. Durge (15:02)
07. Gayatri (04:35)