The message of Golden Light is that there is an omnipresent light of love that resides within us beyond the ever-changing forms of the external material world.  This light is most fully experienced in meditation.  So much of what I previously thought was real turned out to only be dancing illusory shadows in my mind.  Waking up to this was a powerful realization for me, and continues to be, though I often forget until I remember again.  This song is in a way a reminder for me.  I have the heart and mind of a seeker, constantly in search of an illuminating light of truth to dispel my own misconceptions.  

I began writing Golden Light at a time when I was reading a translation of the Upanishads, the ancient Vedic texts.  The book was pointing to the light within that I was simultaneously experiencing in my daily practice of Transcendental Meditation.  In the last century, physicists have uncovered exactly what the sages in ancient India were writing about in the Vedic scriptures, which is that all of matter, or the essence of creation, is light.  The golden light of this song refers to the omnipresent spirit, or the Self.  I structured the song so that the chorus opens up and sonically expands the way that the mind does in meditation or the way that the light of the sunrise expands out on the horizon.  The choruses end with an OM chant, which is the primordial sound of creation.  My intention was to bring wisdom into the form of a song that could have a broad appeal.  The verses convey the process of awakening to new possibilities.  I have been greatly inspired by what George Harrison accomplished musically, merging and synthesizing Eastern wisdom into the form of widely accessible, popular music.  I feel that great art in music has multiple layers from which a listener can enjoy it.  One can simply enjoy the groove with a catchy melody, which is great!  But also, a listener can go deeper into the lyrics as a way to open one’s heart and feel something new about themselves.

Golden Light

Johnny Duke