Rama - Dr Frederick Lenz
 
   
"Be Absorbed in Sound; In Music."
 
   


Breathless

CD and TAPE
Private Release 1992

Breathless was a project that took place at a time when the band was simultaneously producing two projects- a rock album and a softer, new age project. The other two guys in the band, Zen and Bodhi, were busy with the rock album and so Rama assigned me Breathless. It was to be an album about my own life- we sat down and came up with a bunch of people, places, movies and issues that were near and dear to me, and then I went off to write songs about them. When the songs were composed and sketched out, the other guys came in and put their performances down on tape. Breathless was Rama's title, though unfortunately Kenny G. released an album around the same time with the same title that sold 8 kajillion copies. Oh well.

Levi's Song- Levi is my scottie. He was about 3 when the song was written. It's a love song, of course :-)

Quark- My other scottie, and a very happy soul he is. The song is pretty light and silly, which somehow captures his personality. My dogs are now 10 and 9 respectively, and doing very well.

Rama's Dream- My attempt to capture Rama in music. Pressure was pretty high on this one- he told me it had to be deep, for obvious reasons. He was pleased.

Zen Mind- My friend Zen. It's a bass piece- the bass plays the melody and the countermelody, because that's Zen's instrument.

The Bodhi Tree- That's Bodhi, naturally. He's a latino fellow, and I tried to capture that side of him. The song is very guitar-oriented, naturally.

Most Excellent Satori- That's me. It's difficult to see yourself, of course. Rama gave me a few hints as to which aspects of my personality I might try to capture.

Sarah Connor's Theme- I watched the Terminator movies dozens of times, which was why we selected them to write about. This song is about a moment in the first film. At the very end, Sarah is in her car at the gas station thinking about the future. She knows what's coming and she dreads it, and she feels tremendous responsibility in the form of her unborn child. It's a very melancholy moment, and that's what the music attempts to capture.

Unified Scottie Theorem- This is Vayu's song. Vayu loved to hang out with my dogs, as well as the other guys' scotties, and we spent a lot of time together. We re-titled it so as not to draw undo attention towards Vayu, who was not healthy at the time. There is no Unified Scottie Theorem... though we used to joke about the mythology that might crop up around the idea.

Malibu Beach- The beach across from our studio where I would walk the dogs every afternoon.

New Mexican Rhapsody- Rama had a house north of Santa Fe, and he would bring the band up there for private vacations sometimes. We would take the dogs, flying them in cargo on the plane, and hike with them in the mountains above the city. New Mexico remains one of the magical places in my life.

Martin Riggs- This song is inspired from the scene in the first Lethal Weapon where Riggs is in his trailer mourning the death of his wife, at the beginning of the film. An affecting, poignant moment.

Atlantean Love Song- My attempt to bring back a past life experience in musical form. From Atlantis, of course.

Chelsea's Song- On a desert trip, we were in a little store in Borrego Springs buying supplies, water, food and various miscellaneous items. While standing in the checkout line, Rama and I found ourselves behind a mother and her little girl, about four or five years old. The girl's name was Chelsea. No real significance here- Rama just liked the name. I tried to capture the little girl's essence in the song.

Love Song for Enlightenment- Nothing much to say about this one.

I just remembered! There _is_ a Unified Scottie Theorem after all. It was Vayu's philosophy of life, according to Rama... "There's Only Meat". Kind of a variation on other spiritual sayings, i.e. "There's Only Love", etc. Vayu really knew how to cut through the bs. :-) :-) Of course, this theory had nothing to do with the song, which was written long before Vayu ever came up with the saying. I'd forgotten all about it.

There ya go. Breathless from my perspective. Hope this is interesting and helpful!

Steve Kaplan

Thanks Steve! There's more here than one would ever imagine! It will open up all new dimensions of listening for we Zazen o'philes!

"He didn't answer.
Or perhaps, he did."