"Govinda" is a song by British rock band

Kula Shaker Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a numb ...

, released on their debut album, '' K'' (1996). Sung entirely in

Sanskrit Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...

, the song includes Indian influences and tambura and

tabla A ''tabla'' is a pair of hand drums from the Indian subcontinent. Since the 18th century, it has been the principal percussion instrument in Hindustani classical music, where it may be played solo, as an accompaniment with other instruments a ...

instrumentation. "Govinda" was issued as a single on 11 November 1996 and peaked at number seven on the UK Singles Chart. Kula Shaker made a music video for the song, directed by Michael Geoghegan. The cover artwork for the single featured a

Longines Compagnie des Montres Longines, Francillon S.A., or simply Longines (), is a Swiss luxury watchmaker based in Saint-Imier, Switzerland. Founded by Agassiz family, Auguste Agassiz in 1832, the company has been a subsidiary of the Swiss The Swatch G ...

Conquest watch, with the band logo and song title in place of the Longines branding. An alternative version of the track, called "Govinda '97, Hari & ST. George", appeared on Kula Shaker's '' Summer Sun EP'', released in July 1997.

Background

Lead singer and guitarist

Crispian Mills Crispian Mills (born 18 January 1973 as Crispian John David Boulting; spiritual name Krishna Kantha Das) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director. Active since 1988, Mills is best known as the frontman of the psychedelic ...

said that the song was born out of an improvisation and based on a

Hindu Hindus (; ; also known as Sanātanīs) are people who religiously adhere to Hinduism, also known by its endonym Sanātana Dharma. Jeffery D. Long (2007), A Vision for Hinduism, IB Tauris, , pp. 35–37 Historically, the term has also be ...

prayer to

Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God (Hinduism), Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, c ...

. The words ''Govinda jaya jaya'' literally mean "Krishna (the Divine Cowherd), Glory, Glory". The text is taken from a Sanskrit devotional chant, titled "

Govinda Jaya Jaya "Govinda Jaya Jaya" is an Indian devotional chant or song. It is often sung in the International Society for Krishna Consciousness, Krishna Consciousness movement founded by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, and by various other schools of yoga, ...

". The latter was previously recorded in 1970 by devotees from the London Radha Krishna Temple and released as the B-side of their single "

Govinda Govinda (, ), also rendered Govind, Gobinda, and Gobind, is an epithet of Vishnu and his avatars, such as Krishna. The name appears as the 187th and the 539th name of Vishnu in the ''Vishnu Sahasranama''. The name is also popularly addressed to ...

" (a different song), produced by

George Harrison George Harrison (25 February 1943 – 29 November 2001) was an English musician, singer and songwriter who achieved international fame as the lead guitarist of the Beatles. Sometimes called "the quiet Beatle", Harrison embraced Culture ...

Track listings

UK CD1 # "Govinda" (radio mix) – 3:46 # "Gokula" – 2:56 # "

Hey Dude ''Hey Dude'' is an American Western comedy series that aired on Nickelodeon from July 14, 1989, to August 30, 1991, consisting of 65 half-hour episodes produced over five seasons. The TV series "Hey Dude" is set on the fictitious Bar None Ranc ...

" (live at The Astoria) – 5:30 # "The Leek" – 3:40 UK CD2 # "Govinda, Hari & St. George" – 3:59 # "Gokula" – 2:56 # "Govinda" ( Monkey Mafia Pigsy's vision) – 6:56 # "Govinda" (Monkey Mafia Ten to Ten) – 4:31 UK 7-inch single :A1. "Govinda" (radio mix) – 3:46 :B1. "Gokula" – 2:56 :B2. "Temple of Everlasting Light" – 2:33 UK cassette single :A. "Govinda" (radio mix) – 3:46 :B. "Gokula" – 2:56 European and Australian CD single # "Govinda" (radio mix) # "Gokula" # "Hey Dude" (live at The Astoria) # "Drop in the Ocean" # "Govinda" (Monkey Mafia Pigsy's vision) # "Govinda" (Monkey Mafia Ten to Ten)

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the UK CD1 liner notes and the '' K'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded between January and May 1996 at various studios Personnel *

– writing **

– writing, vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, tambura ** Alonza Bevan – backing vocals, bass, piano **

Jay Darlington Jay Peter Darlington (born 3 May 1968) is an English keyboardist, best known as a member of Kula Shaker. He went on to work as a touring member of Oasis and is currently a member of the Totnes, Devon based prog band Magic Bus. History Darlin ...

– organ,

Mellotron The Mellotron is an electro-mechanical musical instrument developed in Birmingham, England, in 1963. It is played by pressing its keys, each of which causes a length of magnetic tape to contact a Capstan (tape recorder), capstan, which pulls i ...

, piano ** Paul Winterhart – drums * Gauri – backing vocals * Himangshu Goswami –

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978); XTC's '' White Music'' (1978); Dukes of Stratosphear's '' 25 O'Clock'' and the F ...

– production, mixing engineering * John Davis – mastering * Stylorouge – image creation and Graphic Precision * Trevor Rogers – photography * Zefa – photography

Charts

References

{{Authority control 1996 singles 1996 songs Columbia Records singles Indian mythology in music Kula Shaker songs Music videos directed by Michael Geoghegan Song recordings produced by John Leckie Songs written by Crispian Mills