1 giant leap - first time 'round

when 1 giant leap came onto the music scene i have to admit that i was a bit skeptical of just how good the musical results would be. my experience of musical concepts has been that while they are jam-packed with "big name" musicians, the end result somehow doesn't match up to the possibility each musician represents in their own right. there is a sort of homogenizing that restricts each from being fully present.

the premise behind 1 giant leap was to send two musicians on a six month 'round-the-world tour gathering soundbites and video bites of people - mostly musicians but not all - and reasembling them into a sort of audio-visual pastiche describing an understanding of the world at a particular time in its history. put together by jamie catto and duncan bridgeman, the project took as its guiding theme "unity through diversity". the list of artists associated with the project was understandably diverse and extraordinary: dennis hopper, kurt vonnegut, michael stipe, robbie williams, eddi reader, tom robbins, brian eno, baaba maal, speech, asha bhosle, neneh cherry, anita roddick, michael franti and many other artists and authors.

the full history of the 1 giant leap project can be read and viewed here.

but let's give the music a listen. my favourite track off this disc is without a doubt the piece featuring the vocals of michael stipe, the 48 year-old lead singer for r.e.m., and asha bhosle the 75 year-old indian music star.

the song is entitled "i love the way you dream" . . .

spoken word:
"only silence remains because i have to listen to him,
i have to listen to the silence. I have to experience him."

(asha bhosle)

karmany evaadhikaraste ma phalesu kadacana
ma karma phala hetur bhur ma te sango’stv akarmani
paritranaya sadhunam vinasaya ca duskrtam
dharma samsthapanarthaya sambhavami yuge yuge

(translation:)

you have adhikara (ability, choice) over your respective duty only,
but no control or claim over the results.
the fruits of work should not be your motive.
you should never be inactive.
whenever there is a decline of dharma (world order) and the rise of
adharma,
o arjuna, then i appear (or manifest myself).
i appear from time to time for protecting the good,
for transforming the wicked, and for establishing dharma, the world order.

fall over myself don't mean to interupt
i was miles away
things I forgot are the footstools of God.
that's how i behaved
i frighten myself and folded my hand as you talked to god.
i love the way you dream. (x9)

even my most base complaint my sweet, my aims were lower
and even though all my restraint my sweet my aim was clumsy.
And even if there's only one thing I want for you...I want for you.

i love the way you dream (x 3)
i love, love the way you dream
i love the way you love the way
even if there's only one thing i want for you, I want for you
i love the way you love the way you dream, one for me one for you, one for me,
one for you...



i love the way you dream . . .
here’s the video as envisioned by the creators of 1 giant leap . . . here. it is worth watching for the extraordinary footage of michael stipe singing and most especially asha bhosle.

here are some more pieces from the same disc:

one day . . .

my culture . . .

braided hair . . .

to learn more about 1 giant leap and especially their latest project, then nip over to their homepage.