Bastille and A. R. Rahman & Javed Ali

Today is kind of a special day for me for two reasons. One, I was able to witness the greatness that is Bastille live and it completely blew my mind. There is always that moment with a band you love where the first time you heard something, you fell in love. Well, Bastille made me fall head over heels for a second time with their music. It was incredibly and absolutely magnificent. Dan Smith sounds even better in person and he sang with strength and beauty and power and tenderness. Everything about every song was perfect and enhanced so that we all felt the energy thrum through our bodies. It was brilliant beyond measure! So, in honor of the incredible nature of Bastille and their spectacular performance, their masterful skill, and moving songs, the first song of the day is by them. Now the second thing that made this day even more special is that it marks the beginning of a 24 hour prayer session for world peace. All over the world, there are people praying and engaging in service, religious activities, and devotional singing for world peace and peace of humanity. For me, this is the most special "festival" or big religious event because it is more about human kind as a race and the betterment of us as a whole rather than just a single person. Even for those who have wronged us, those we have wronged, and those strangers we will never know, we pray for the peace and contentment and happiness that every person deserves. By doing this prayer, we are able to send vibrations of pure love towards humanity to the entire world and because this is happening all over the world, the vibrations reverberate and keep bouncing and flowing. This is actually one of the best prayer times that I go to each year and the feeling of complete contentment is so valuable. So in honor of this event, the second song I am posting is an Indian song that is all about spreading the love and peace. This style of song is called a qawali, and it can apply to a lot of different Eastern subjects. This one refers to both Muslim and Hindu practices and really brings home the idea of coexisting despite differences. The singers A. R. Rahman, and Javed Ali are two of my favorite Indian singers, and all fours singers sound s beautiful together. This is one of those songs that when you hear it, you may not understand, but you can feel what the words mean. All four vocalists have gorgeous and smooth and moving voices. It is hard to find another group of singers who sing so well together and with such fluidity and reverence.I hope you enjoy the music and please feel free to comment!