The undisputed king of the “woosh” sound effect, director David Lynch recently lent his unique talents to singer-songwriter Donovan for the new music video for his single “I Am The Shaman.” Debuting on YouTube yesterday in a Mother’s Day gift for cool moms everywhere, “I Am The Shaman” sees Donovan take to cosmos as Lynch projects a galaxy of streaking stars over his face. Yeah, it’s pretty trippy.
The single, which Lynch produced and recorded at his studio in 2010, is a benefit for, you guessed it, transcendental meditation, with proceeds from the single going to helping “Donovan give students TM meditation.” This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that’s followed Lynch’s work over the last four decades. Nor should it surprise Donovan fans as both have been working together on TM-related causes since at least the early 2010s. But if you’re not into that, you can simply enjoy the video and music, both of which are very good, on YouTube.
Donovan, whose 75th birthday is today (happy b-day, Donovan!), also released a statement on his Facebook page about their collaboration. “It was all impromptu,” Donovan wrote. “I visited the studio and David said, ‘Sit at the mics with your guitar, Don.’ David in same room behind control desk with my Linda. He had asked me to only bring in a song just emerging, not anywhere near finished. We would see what happens. It happened!”
“I composed extempore. The verses came naturally. New chord patterns effortlessly appeared. On another day, David ‘sound sculpted’ my Ferrington acoustic guitar ‘Kelly,’ and he played his unique modal chord Ferrington guitar textures with ‘effects.’ David and I are ‘compadres’ on a creative path rarely travelled. And we bring TM Meditation to the world.”
David Lynch, who has been moonlighting as a weatherman and random number generator on YouTube over the last year, is supposedly gearing up for a 13-part series titled “Unrecorded Night” (or, maybe it’s called Wisteria—no one’s really sure as of now) for Netflix. However, this is the first non-David-Lynch-being-great-in-his-garage video he’s made since the short What Did Jack Do?, a two-hander in which the director interrogates a talking monkey for about 20 minutes. His last major, long-form work was the third season of Twin Peaks, which everyone is still trying to wrap their heads around. You won’t find easy answers in “I Am The Shaman,” but the question is enjoyable all the same.
[via Indiewire]
26 Comments
Now I want a Lynch-directed video for “Hurdy Gurdy Man”.
Would that I had two stars to give!
You could have at least given one.
Alas I did, but it was not approved!
Butthole Surfers – The Hurdy Gurdy Man ep [1990]
P.S.Y. – piouhgd lp [1991]
They need to hire Donavan to be the new crypt keeper. That’s a frightening visage.
Not the advertisement for “Stay off drugs and do TM” I was expecting.
That’s a pretty low freaky bar. Half of that looks like it was shot for a local cable access channel. (I would say I’m glad Donovan’s not dead, but I’m not really sure, given his appearance.)
THAT’S OUR HITLER!!
Now there was a painter. He could paint an entire apartment in one afternoon, TWO COATS!
Ham…’Two Coats’…Ologist…oh Timmy, you’re such a comfort!
That’s My Bush!
Donovan’s ok but he’s no Jack Cruz.
Getting some real Mandy vibes here.
“Ah, now that’s a story that can only rightly be told in a Chamber of Commerce video narrated by folk-rock troubadour Donovan”
‘First, there is a mountain,then, there is no mountain,then, there are SO MANY MOUNTAINS. OH GOD, SUCH NIGHTMARE PILES OF MOUNTAINS WITHIN MOUNTAINS THE LIKES OF WHICH THE VERY LANGUAGE CRACKS AND DIES RATHER THAN DESCRIBE! BLAAARGH!!’- Donovan, ‘That’s too much, Mountain!’ (1969, RCA)
I am conflicted. I love David Lynch, but I absolutely hate Donovan. I think he’s a talentless hack and all I wanna do is punch him. Should I watch this video???
Talentless hack? Sunshine Superman is a great song.
1) I don’t know that guy but I somehow suspect he is not shaman.2) What is “TM Meditation” ? “Transcendental meditation meditation” ?
Can I call myself a ‘random number generator’ if I only generate 1’s and 2’s, but I have no idea which will happen or when?
You’re not random. Every each word or number you can come up with right now has been pre-determined by the intimate events of your early childhood, of which I have the full records here.Only David Lynch is purely random. That’s why we use him instead.
Is that the “Permanent Record” Sister Annunciata was always threatening us with?
If you told me this was an excerpt from Garth Marenghi’s Darkplace, I’d believe you.
This music video isn’t new. We saw it before, when I was at your house. Don’t you remember? I’m there right now. CALL ME.
I’m getting a Mandy/Jeremiah Sand vibe out of this.