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Rishi

by Luke Sweeney

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  • Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    The 'Rishi' album pressed on high-quality 180 gram black vinyl. Full handwritten lyrics sheet inside. Cover art by Rohini Moradi, inside art by Roya Roknifard and Pele Sweeney.

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  • Super Limited Edition *Marigold* Splatter Vinyl
    Record/Vinyl + Digital Album

    Limited to 100 copies, the special marigold splatter vinyl is a keepsake that will sound and LOOK beautiful playing from start to finish. Full handwritten lyrics sheet inside. Cover art by Rohini Moradi, inside art by Roya Roknifard and Pele Sweeney.

    Includes unlimited streaming of Rishi via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
Rishi 04:09 video
Rishi, send me down a Rishi Send her from the skies Rishi, come on baby Rishi, Open my eyes On a map I might’ve missed it Never known that it existed! But a verse in the hymn of a song Was my first clue That led to you On a nap I might’ve kissed it Got a taste of the mystic When I woke, a saffron air was still there with her sage perfume In the room! Rishi, send me down a Rishi Send her from the skies Rishi, come on baby Rishi Open my eyes Dogmatic crimes & convictions, in nursery rhymes & pulp fictions, they’re only passing phrases through the hazes of our youth (oh, sweet tooth!) a monitor somewhere is beeping with consciousness never sleeping... we had all the answers, but we gave them up to get the truth (a little sleuth!) Rishi, send me down a Rishi Send her from the skies Rishi, come on baby Rishi Open my eyes
2.
Adjeevan dost I’ll be happy to host you in the usa Would you say You’re seeing a ghost When you look at me? Can you see What I miss the most Is in her smile? We can have aarti riverside But my offering, she died… Took a little look, Then went to the other side So many tears left my eyes, They might now be forever dry Can I lay at your feet? Will you make me completely free To be? Not act, nor think, nor do, nor say just be this way? All the blessings of Shiva Under the watch of the moon And the strength of Ganesha Making way for a monsoon… “I came here to understand, I mean... “I’m not here to buy anything” All the blessings of Shiva Under the watch of the moon And the strength of Ganesha Making way for a monsoon…
3.
Princess of the Pearl Palace All the folks will turn to see The Princess of the Pearl Palace Dancing like a wave upon the sea Princess when she’s out on the street, The ground never meets her feet She couldn’t care less About your sarcastic mouth She’s got another face to greet When we’re on the run, Oh my she’s having fun, Her Smile, a mile of luxury … (Princess of the pearl palace) … Princess She don’t wear a crown That vanity would never fit She starts the day ahead With some breakfast in bed Then taxis to a benefit Hey, the wallflowers bloom When she walks through the room... And when she leaves, the room stays lit! Princess of the Pearl Palace All the folks will turn to see The Princess of the Pearl Palace Dancing like a wave upon the sea Breathless - She never runs out of words Or lets the conversation stall Then it’s time for tea With her royal company And a refugee saint from Bengal Rubies, sapphires, emeralds, Moonstones, diamonds, opals Princess outshines them all! Princess of the Pearl Palace All the children turn to see The Princess of the Pearl Palace Dancing like a wave upon the sea Princess of the Pearl Palace All the kingdom turns to see The Princess of the Pearl Palace Dancing like a wave upon the sea Dancing like a wave upon the sea Dancing like a wave… (And don’t you love the way She’s dancing like a wave Upon the sea…?)
4.
Animal Room 02:28
Back in the animal room Back with my friends Hard to live with or without The jungle-nap puts mind to doubt The make believe enemies in the land and the trees, Dying commodities, When we just wanna be Back in the animal room … Back with our friends (Back) in the animal room with our friends - Well, nature creeps upon us all, Its vines will climb through every wall! So while you were cutting trees, ----------- ------ murdering honey bees, ----------- ------ packaging promises ----------- ------ and pumping yourself with cheese You know we’re gonna be back in the animal room with our friends
5.
What am I supposed to do, baby? What am I s’posed to say? I don’t speak your language Your love’s so far away I’d love to call you mine, baby I can’t use a phone Anything worth a damn, baby In this life, you never own. Here I am standing where my love oughta be Feels light years away from me The soldier’s on the run & the serpent’s in the sea Cat ran off with my tongue Take me to the Holy City The one you know best I’ll show you my devotion You show me the rest Put me in the field, mama Put me in the fray Like a mule, I’m herded Like a fool I’ll stay Here I am standing where my love oughta be Feels light years away from me The soldier’s on the run & the serpent’s in the sea Cat ran off with my tongue
6.
(INSTRUMENTAL)
7.
They say to get there You must repent Accept the lord Reject the serpent But my girl wasted nothing With the time that she spent She came to life As perfect as she left when she went Surely once you get your hands dirty, The conscience will get bent And even if you play it clean, Nobody escapes without a dent She said you don’t live here, You’re just paying rent The body you choose Is yours to lose So use this spark when you want to fly in the dark my Love is the ocean as you float on the arc Neon statues Religious crapshoots Golden era Of plastic refuse Spirit animals Are endangered species We inherited a clay model replica of heaven And all our days are numbered one through seven We were given 10 chances Now we’re asking for 11 Makeshift virtues, Petty theft clues, Covered up by Blankets of tissues The news of today Was made a million years ago Coming distractions Numbing attractions Splitting the spitting image of god Into factions The child of man Is our mother now This is the dawning Of the age of oblivious
8.
As trumpets blare In the sinister hours Of the hurried morning A drifter - With no animal hide To shelter or shield her weary steps - Stumbles upon the blistering impermanence Of a perfumed thorn Into the banquet garden Of feral ministers She takes an oath Upon her purple tongue To empty the shiny jewelry box-traps And set free The tangled harmonies Of our union What do you do When you’re lost in the blue? Open your heart, Let a light shine on through. How can you win With no way to begin? You can open your heart, Let her in... In her mantra - Long shelved and forgotten - While the surface world Grows crowded and rotten Lies the key To a kingdom That no man can touch With arms, Nor blades, Nor canons, Blazing away as they might Under the tightening focus of the sun They will all be given up, Every last one, Before the burden Of this life Is finally gone. What do you do When you’re lost in the blue? Open your heart, Let her light shine on through... How can you win With no way to begin? You can open your heart, Let her in... What do you say When you’re feeling astray? And for the rest of this life, They pull you further away and tell me, how do you live if you’ve got nothing left to give? How do you go on With an aching so strong? Find your heartbeat in her song… Open your heart, Let a light shine through Open your heart, Let a light shine through Open your heart, Let a light shine through you What do you do when you’re lost in the blue? Open your heart, Let her light shine through
9.
River 00:19
(sound piece)
10.
You never saw the sign ‘Cuz you were lookin’ too hard Now in front of you Lies a wake Petals on the footprints Of her route You lie awake, Waiting for the sun To come out Somebody shines a light On a face in the crowd Now, in front of you Lies a wake, Petals on the footprints Of her route You lie awake, Waiting for the sun To come out
11.
They took my body to Rishikesh Still in one piece, But full of disease I drank the water by accident The doctor said ‘take two of these For antibodies…’ After successfully cheating death I said thank you and please To the spry deities I began seeking true consciousness That pure inner peace Of the ego release like laughing children, we’re soaking wet up past our knees inside the Ganges I closed my eyes, and I held my breathe then under I went like a true immigrant <<Hare krishna, Hare hare Krishna krishna, hare hare>> My mind was feeling quite ticklish Letting go of control As the river will roll I suffered long as a piece of flesh But I would no more Once I have freedom of soul I wrote a letter from Rishikesh, Said I’m on my way, But my spirit will stay Right here in this place called Rishikesh (Rishikesh in the morning - Rishikesh)

about

RISHI (Hindi: “the sage”, “teacher”)

It was Rishi’s dancing atop my heart that wouldn’t let me return to sleep until I committed to travel to the place of her namesake: Rishikesh, Uttarakhand, India. This was in the spring of 2017. She had been pulling me in her orbit since long before I was born - but I didn’t know it yet. I didn’t pack an instrument on our trip to India, so I didn’t record any music there. But I heard it everywhere: in the rush of the Ganges outside on the gaat, the bells and singing at evening aarti, the beeps and honks of motorcycles along unmarked roads, and even in my own breath. I filled up notebooks in Rishikesh, in Haridwar, Jaipur, Vrindavan, and Delhi, before we surrendered our half-baked epiphanies and retreated back to the spiritual desert of the United States. I’d been gone for weeks, but hadn’t mastered any new revelation or philosophy - I hadn’t even written a song.

But there were bigger forces at play, and they started showing up in a mysterious way. The trip - and an astrological reading in Rishikesh - had inspired us to try for a second child. As soon as we brought Rishi home from the hospital (where she had stopped breathing during labor and was miraculously revived), all the music from India started rushing back to me. The faucet was on and I couldn’t turn it off. I managed to demo two songs at home - “Rishi” and “Letter to Rishikesh” - but the meaning of it all didn’t hit me until Rishi’s sudden death just two months after her arrival. We would have to make a return pilgrimage to Rishikesh to deliver her ashes to the Ganges, and I’d have to figure it out with a broken heart.

This is where the rest of the music came to me, and through me: equipped with only a melodica and my iPhone, I recorded whiplash Garageband demos of songs and sounds that crept through the hotel windows, lept at me from lampposts and electric wires, and buzzed with that same dancing energy that stirred atop my chest the night I first agreed to go to India the year prior. Our time in these flawed holy cities was devoted to healing and understanding the bigger picture - the why and the how. We were opening ourselves up to clues and cues from the universe like spirit detectives, picking up signals from overlooked sources: lightning and electricity, animals and whisps, dreams and nature omens. Losing a child is a tragedy that no person can truly bear - but the music Rishi brought me after her departure made me fully aware that I was still dancing in her orbit.

All this information inspired my construction of a humble temple of songs that is ‘Rishi’: an album that has me still searching, still hurting, but fully convinced of the cosmic connection and deeper purpose that I share not only with my daughter, but with every energetic being... as we all flutter like moths to the flame on this plane. From August of 2018 through September of 2020, I spent countless hours in a homemade San Francisco studio with two close friends; laying down rhythmic foundations, stacking soulful textures, painting playful synth patterns and guitar plucks, and orchestrating collaborating voices to build a musical arena that invites a sweet surrender. I’m only a translator here; a scribe, an apostle... someone with the means of illuminating obscure pathways with this connective medium. It’s Rishi who delivered me here, and called upon me to share these gifts. I’m sure people will have their own references for what these songs sound like or remind them of, but for me - it comes from a place we all belong, but haven’t arrived at yet.

PRESS:

‘Rishi’ is the sound of finding beauty in the ephemeral and of the deeply spiritual healing power of music"
SF Chronicle

“the most beautiful album I’ve heard in a very long time and a difficult but
rewarding emotional experience”
- LADYGUNN

“endearingly light and airy, belying the sorrowful subject matter... lilting and ebullient synth creations infused with raga and other Eastern-influenced sounds”
- SF Examiner

“a percolation of a multitude of vibes, from strangely groovy synth-pop to bouts of Jazzy saxophone intermissions to more than the occasional glimpse of 60s psychedelia, all a stylistic potpourri that pays homage to his eccentric San Franciscan stomping ground and
the prolific Millenial melting-pot of Indian culture”
- KALTBLUT Magazine

“the great release of his career so far”
- Metal Magazine

“a psych-infused, bouncy pop sound with poetic lyrical prowess”
- Obscure Sound

“Dreamy psych-pop from this Bay Area artist with a dazzling array of synths cradling buoyant vocal melodies.”
- Bandcamp

credits

released November 11, 2022

This album was recorded in San Francisco, CA with Joe Santarpia & Roberto Pagano in various sessions from August 2018 to September 2020.

All songs written & performed by Luke Sweeney.

additional instrumentation by:
Roberto Pagano - drums & percussion; backing vocals
Joe Santarpia - backing vocals, 808, MPC
Brett Eastman - drums (track 4)
Geoff Morris - saxophone, flute (tracks 4, 8, 11)
Simi Sohota - backing vocals (tracks 2, 3, 11)
John 'Wuuj' Wujinowsky - bongos, congas, bells, ratchet

engineered & mixed by Joe Santarpia & Roberto Pagano
produced by Joe Santarpia, Roberto Pagano, and Luke Sweeney

All songs © & (P) 2022 Serious Sailboater Songs (ASCAP). All rights reserved.
Mastered by John Greenham, Clearlight Mastering
Artwork & Layout by Yasamine June
THANK YOU to my family, my friends, and everyone who came to my rescue and kept me in the light. This album would not exist without your love and support, nor would I. Special thanks to Joe and Berto for what only they can know, and the town and people of Rishikesh.

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Luke Sweeney San Francisco, California

A bicycle crash left a young Sweeney with his jaw wired shut for six weeks, and in recovering, his sustenance was on a guitar. What was he chasing?

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