Todd Rundgren, 1977/Aaron Rapoport/Corbis via Getty Images
Qalam strives to explore the interpenetration of different cultures. To this end, we have decided to launch a series of playlists in which music mediates between different geographical and ideological spaces. Our first playlist is called ‘West to East: One Hundred Best Songs’. It will be updated several times a week, and its curation will focus on how Western pop culture has reflected the realities of the East, whether they are musical, geographical, religious, or political. (The terms ‘West’ and ‘East’ should be taken as broadly and arbitrarily as possible.)
This eccentric track (at its outset embodying elements that would later influence acts like the Tiger Lillies and other circus performers) belongs to one of the most influential songwriters of 1970s America, known for his layered, often utopian vision of pop music. Rundgren, more than most, had a knack for capturing what he called an ‘international feel’ in his songs—in this case, a blend of Japanese and Buddhist influences. The ceremonial tune draws inspiration from the 1948 book by German philosopher Eugen Herrigel, Zen in the Art of Archery. Herrigel studied kyudo—the art of Japanese archery—in the 1920s, a practice combining martial and spiritual aspects, centered on a figure bridging Zen Buddhism with archery. ‘I thought I needed to grow accustomed to love, but instead I needed to get used to aiming to shoot,’ sang Boris Grebenshchikov once. Yet in kyudo, such contradictions do not exist; one aspect is inseparable from the other. For those seeking harmony and spiritual discipline, there are five principles—an open mind, proper posture, breath control, focus, and intuition. Listen closely to how intricately they unfold in this song by Todd Rundgren.