My Heart is Singing: ​Draw Near, Draw Near

From Album 3 of Gopal’s compilation of songs inspired by Osho

Watch on YouTube

​Draw Near, Draw Near

Anubhava / Peter Makena (makenasinging.com): songwriter

Narayani (narayani.eu): vocals

Anandgyan: vocals

Chinmaya Dunster (chinmaya-dunster.com): guitar and producer

Bikram: flute

Joseph Satralkar: keyboard

Bhakta (spotify.com / music.apple.com): sound engineering and mastering

Chords and sheet music: sannyas.wiki

Lyrics

Draw near, draw near

Draw near, draw near

And I will whisper in your ear

The name whose radiance

Makes the spheres to dance

Osho

Just a glimpse of the real man standing there

We are in love, love, love…

Osho

The invitation of the mystic

by Anubhava / Peter Makena

So much water has gone down the Ganga, and so many lifetimes seem to have passed since the Draw Near song came together, was heard, received and sung by the gathering of friends and lovers of Bhagwan/Osho in Poona, maybe around 1978.

Some songs reveal themselves to be quite timeless, and so they stay alive and are being sung around the world in the magical context that they help create. Draw Near is one of those songs.

I remember that Draw Near arose out of the field at that time; Osho’s daily lectures, singing in Sufi Dance, singing in the music group, the meditations, the darshans, the work, the moonlight, and starry skies at night, and the close contact with friends on the journey. Even when it was not verbal, there was a recognition of familiar souls and hearts that beat in the same rhythm of love as mine.

“Draw near… and I will whisper in your ear” is the invitation of the mystic, and “the name whose radiance makes the spheres to dance” is a taste of the immensity of the miracle and possibilities of life. “Just one glimpse of the real one standing here, and we are in love,” a recognition and receiving of the mysterious and wondrous quality of love.

Re-recording the song

by Gopal

This is a very beautiful song that came into being in the early days with Osho. For this project Anubhava asked me to use his two names, with the sannyas name coming first. That was the name he used while composing songs and leading music groups in the evening… every night! The songs just seemed to come to him, he said, and there were many! Actually, many song writers in this project say the songs seemed to just come to them – something of a mystery.

Here Narayani and Anandgyan are co-leading the vocals, and their harmony voices give that rich expansive sound.

I want to share one touching moment that happened when we were in the studio recording this song. There were the three of us – myself, Anandgyan, and Chinmaya, who was recording. Anandgyan was going to sing his part of the vocals; Narayani would join in later.

Anandgyan had already said that this was one of his favorite songs and that he was very happy to sing it. So we started with the recording… his voice was soaring, it sounded so beautiful, really from the heart. One line goes “the name whose radiance makes the spheres to dance,” followed by a very long “Osho.”

He got partway through that long Osho…, but was then overcome with heartfelt emotion and had to stop singing. He had moist eyes. There was a silent gap. Chinmaya and I looked at each other and we looked at Anandgyan… it was a ‘guys’ moment’. There were some more moments of silence. We were all so touched.

I can imagine how that big ‘Osho’ resounding inside of him must have become an overflow of feelings. We could feel Anandgyan’s love and gratitude. The three of us connected with a gentle touch and a few words. We had a short break, things became lighter and some laughter came in too, until he said he was ready to record again. His intimate voice is what you hear in this track.

And then to hear Narayani and Anandgyan sing together is amazing. Their voices complement each other so well.

This song has two parts which can be sung together at the same time. As I remember, in the music group nights lead by Anubhava we would sing both parts one after the other. The men then sang the first part while the women would sing their part at the same time. They are different melodies but have the same chord structure. The result is so gorgeous!

In this studio recording you can hear these two parts coming together towards the end of the song. Anandgyan sings his melody part with his harmonies added, the same with Narayani whose voice is very clear and so beautiful. That’s why the sound is so full, even with just the two of them singing. Added to that we hear Chinmaya’s guitar, and Bikram’s soaring flute, which adds a beautiful touch to the song, as does the keyboard, played by Joseph Satralkar.

As far as I know this is the only version available worldwide that includes Osho as the name in the lyrics. As Osho was known by another name in earlier times, with this recording we had an opportunity to make that update.

One last memory comes to me about this track: I was leading groups in Brazil and I stayed at a friend’s home. My friend had a housekeeper who only understood Portuguese. She came into the room while we were listening to Draw Near, Draw Near. She just stopped, sat down and closed her eyes, and listened till the end of the song. She did not understand any of the words. She later told my friend that she was surprised that the music was so powerful for her and that she could feel a special quality from the song that had touched her very much.

Note: the original lyrics are “I will whisper in your ear.” Many versions came out later, with “Let me whisper in your ear,” and “Just a glimpse of the real man standing there.” Songs do change a little over time.

Links

Apple Music ITunes: music.apple.com

Spotify Music: spotify.com

Amazon Music: amazon.com

YouTube: youtube.com

Info about the other tracks: blueskiesmusic.weebly.com

Related articles

Volume 1 of Songs of Gratefulness – inspired by Osho: Thank You for Everything (with video of Pratibha’s song Nothing is Said)

Volume 2 of Songs of Gratefulness – inspired by Osho: One Sky, One Love (with Sudhananda’s song, Rising in Love)

Still Singing After All these Years! – Punya meets Peter Makena (Anubhava) and Aneeta for an interview (2013)