I found this song as a YouTube recommendation, and ever since then, it has had a profound impact on my thought process.
Not only is the beat itself quite trippy, but the narrative sample is also taken from Alan Watts' lecture in Out of Your Mind.
After hearing this song, I did some more research on Alan Watts and I came across many other teachings. He was an expert in Eastern Philosophy and constantly wrote and spoke about existential questions that had captivated him throughout his life.
In the song's sample, he presents an idea that connects our dreams to life. The idea that if you were able to dream any dream you wanted, then after an x number of iterations you would have fulfilled every wish you ever wanted. After you have fulfilled those wishes, you grow more ambitious and decide that since you've already done those things, you should try something new. Something that isn't under your control. Over time, you get more adventurous and make further gambles that eventually will result in reaching where you are now. That through your dreams, you create the complicated dream you are currently in.
He goes on further to say that if you awake from this illusion - that is your dream - you will realize that your existence is not random, but rather it is a fundamental component of the universe. That deep down, you are the fabric and structure of existence itself.
The narration itself has been mixed with some amazing instrumentals that compliment it really well. Nuages understands the message that Alan Watts wanted to convey and creates a vibe around the narration.
I must admit that the first time I heard this song, I didn't pay too much attention to the speech as I did to the instrumentals. I just connected with the song a lot. When I started picking up some of the lyrics I was like wait a minute. What is happening? I have to hear this again.
After I heard it a few times, I looked at the YouTube comments as I frequently do. Everyone in the comment section was as blown away as I was. Some of the comments were:
"My dream is to stop living in fear of living... to start living, and lose the feeling of just existing." - Wephty Horase
"I don’t know why, but this song has made me remember a buried dream I had to travel the world and take photographs of my adventures, and it’s because of this song I have decided to do so once again. Thank you." - Angel Shepard
"this made me so depressed but in a good way. enlightened I guess you could call it. make me happy and sad. simple yet confusing." - djwaters22
"Just imagine the amount of people listening to this right now but at the same time in a different moment of their lives. with a different perspective about life. man, this is fantastic." - george forster
"I made love to my girlfriend during a snow storm last month, we laid in bed together naked, shades open watching the snow falling, I turned on the radio and this was on, we listened to the whole thing in silence staring at the snow, it was one of the most beautiful moments in my entire life, I added this link to my favorites and listen to it often, it will be in my mind fore the rest of my life." - Hasan Hasan
"ive made it to the good side of youtube thank you" - Matash Vs Javii
This has been one of the few times in my YouTube watching career that most of the comments have been beautiful and insightful. I really did feel like I was part of something bigger than me. And that feeling alone is a great one.
After hearing this song, I started listening to other songs by Nuages and I wasn't disappointed. He creates a mood while combining electronic and ambient sounds that takes you on a journey.
Ivo from Stereofox describes his music in the best possible way, "I often find myself listening to your music late at night. It gives me seriously weird and mixed feelings between being utterly relaxed and on the edge of something big about to happen."
I highly suggest you listen to some more of his music. For that, I've embedded his SoundCloud page below.
I am really curious as to how you all feel about this song, NUAGES, and Alan Watts, so please leave a comment below so we can discuss this further.
1 comment
Hey man! I guess I came across this song 4-5 years back, and from the very first time I have been hooked. There is something that always drags me back to this song. Alan’s voice mixed with the instruments creates a vibe for me that I won’t be able to do justice by using words alone, so I won’t even try. I feel absolutely thrilled to see this blog entry and see that someone else understands the essence of this song.