Composer: Garry Schyman
Vocal: Palbasha Siddique
Director: Matt Harding & Melissa Nixon
Praan (Stream of Life)
Bhulbona ar shojhojete
Shei praan e mon uthbe mete
Mrittu majhe dhaka ache
je ontohin praan
Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
(Repeat 3x)
Shei jhor jeno shoi anonde
Chittobinar taare
Shotto-shundu dosh digonto
Nachao je jhonkare
Bojre tomar baje bashi
She ki shohoj gaan
Shei shurete jagbo ami
********
I first heard this soundtrack at TEDxKL 2013. An International Awarded Photographer - Zung, played his short video about his photography journey, which the video was accompanied by this soundtrack. Upon the start of his video, I was not only amazed by Zung's photography journey and experience that he went through, but this soundtrack blew me away on the spot!
After much research about this song, I finally knew that it was composed by Garry Schyman (an American film, television and video game composer). "Praan" was written for Matt Harding's "Dancing 2008" viral video, which then earned Garry Schyman the "Best Music Video" award at the Hollywood Music Award. Palbasha Siddique, who was recruited from YouTube to sing these specific lyrics. She croons in Bengali, and emphasizes the worldly view at the heart of the video.
Matt Harding's "Where The Hell is Matt Harding?" (2008), or more appropriately known as, "Dancing" is an example of a stateside "Free Hugs" phenomenon, of how one person, with one camera, and one idea can simultaneously, positively affect millions of people around the world. This song portrayed the stunning exhibit of what a music video can do in modern times.
The lyrics of this song was adapted from a Rabindranath Tagore's poem, a significant in understanding the full scope of Harding's vision. In the poem, the poet described an epiphany in which he sees all of existence, from the natural world around him to the entire history of humanity, dancing with the same blood, and the same 'stream of life'.
From the music video above, we could see Harding's video were all tied by this unseen energy, personified in dance, and illuminated by the joy that surrounds us as we watch. In other ways of social media, like Twitter, Facebook and YouTube have improved our access to the stream, but it is up to us to follow Harding and continue to make art that ties humanity together.
Sharing the very meaningful poem here:
"Stream of Life" by Rabindranath Tagore
The same stream of life that runs through my veins night and day
runs through the world and dances in rhythmic measures.
It is the same life that shoots in joy through the dust of the earth
in numberless blades of grass
and breaks into tumultuous waves of leaves and flowers.
It is the same life that is rocked in the ocean-cradle of birth
and of death, in ebb and in flow.
I feel my limbs are made glorious by the touch of this world of life.
And my pride is from the life-throb of ages dancing in my blood of this moment.
