David Lynch Produced an Awesome Song for a 1960s Rock Star
David Lynch made some interesting contributions to the world of music — such as when he produced a song for a major rock star. The tune in question is perfect for fans of classic rock and classic movies. It also has an interesting meaning.
David Lynch made a song with a British Invasion star
Donovan is a rock star who peaked commercially between 1965 and 1969. He’s most known for his hits “Sunshine Superman,” “Hurdy Gurdy Man,” and “Mellow Yellow,” as well as the Halloween favorite “Season of the Witch.” He also wrote tunes for the arthouse movie Brother Sun, Sister Moon.
Lynch and Donovan are two of a kind. Both are known for melding the familiar with the oddball. While Donovan is a musician who has dabbled in filmmaking, Lynch was a filmmaker who dabbled in music, releasing a string of avant-garde records. In addition, Donovan and Lynch spent decades promoting Transcendental Meditation. During a 2021 interview with Grammy.com, the “Atlants” singer discussed finally getting to meet Lynch in the film director’s studio.
“I sat, and he’d already said, ‘Bring a song in that is just emerging. Absolutely not even begun to be a song,'” Donovan recalled. “I did, and he said, ‘OK, can you just play and write a song, sitting there? Just there?’ I said, ‘Sure I can.'”
Donovan said he made up the song on the spot
Donovan started playing “I Am the Shaman.” “I started ‘The Shaman,’ and he said, ‘That’s great. OK, let’s roll tape,'” Donovan recalled. “I started doing the song in a very special way that I do sometimes. Extempo. I was making it up as I went along. I only had a couple of structures, and the structures came out just right.
“This is a way that a skilled songwriter like I can just be open to the possibility,” he said. “Maybe like a skilled artist who lets the pen play on the paper and sees the images come forth. Then, in the next few days, David put on his magic — I didn’t know he was a record producer, really — and we created ‘I Am the Shaman.'”
How David Lynch made ‘I Am the Shaman’ so awesome
With “I Am the Shaman,” Lynch and Donovan proved they were an artistic match made in nirvana. It turned out that Lynch’s eerie, surrealist aesthetic was a perfect complement to Donovan’s mystic musings. Both do a great job of making you feel like you are entering a different dimension. Lynch directed a darkly simple music video for “I Am the Shaman” that’ll give you chills in the best way possible.
However, the real star is the song itself. At first, the “I Am the Shaman” might seem a little disjointed. The rustic verses are about loving Lorelei, a siren from German folklore. The chorus features distorted vocals and revolves around Donovan portraying himself as a shaman. While those parts of the song might feel unrelated, they aren’t. Donovan, a shaman, is able to safely hear the music of a siren because of his spiritual power.
“I Am the Shaman” did not get a tremendous amount of attention. However, if you are a fan of Lynch, Donovan, folk music, or the avant-garde, it’s a worthy listen.
