The Book of Jeremiah theme song based on Raag Lalit, a traditional Hindustani raga, performed and recorded on sitar, violin, tambura, harmonium, and vocal. Lyrics allude to the monkey god Hanuman protecting his beloved Rama and Sita, but in this case the divine powers care for Jeremiah and his wrestling teammates he secretly loves as more than friends. The theme song begins with an alap, an improvisational phrasing indicative of the raag, but without a set taala or rhythm pattern; progressing to jor, or a pulsing series of improvisations; followed by jhalla, the fast part; leading into a vilambit in teentaal. Lyrics dance around with the following basis: The . before a note in sargam refers to the lower octave, and a . after a note refers to high Sa. Lower case notes are khomal, and capitalized Ma or Ni are tivra. Jeremiah . . . Jai jai jai Hanuman gusai . . . Jeremiah . . . .Ni Sa gha ma gha re Sa, .Ni Sa gha Ma dha Ma ma . . . Sa. Ni dha Ma ma . . . Hanumani/Hanumano . . . Hanumano/Hanumani . . . Hare Ram, hare Rama, hare om . . . Jeremiah, Jeremeeoh . . . As you can tell from the vocals which sound like the flying monkeys in The Wizard of Oz, this recording is really violin and sitar with the pitch altered to mimic cello and veena. The variations on Hanuman and Jeremiah's names imitate Buffy St. Marie's song "Jeremiah." Although the novel, The Book of Jeremiah, is not literally about Hinduism or Buddhism, the topics in the book relate to karma, fasting, self-acceptance, and self-actualization for not only the present life of a soul but also one's cosmic purpose across incarnations. I picked allusions to Rama and Hanuman because, like the Hindu gods, Jeremiah and his dog are a devoted duo. The recipients of Jeremiah's love would be like Sita, and since my characters are gay, I felt the flying monkey voice would be apropos in reference to the Wizard of Oz, a notorious gay allusion.

[ Sat, 2 Feb 2008 00:26:00 GMT ]

Listen

Download

Listen on your iPhone