Raveena's galactic journey back down to Earth

Raveena's galactic journey back down to Earth

Transcript¹

"She lives in Punjab in ancient times," explains the artist Raveena Aurora² of the titular³ protagonist⁴ at the heart of her new album, Asha's Awakening⁵. As part of that epic⁶ journey, Asha "gets transported to a distant planet, called Sanataan. There, the aliens teach her highly advanced spiritual teachings and magic. She lives there for a thousand years and becomes a princess — but misses human love and sensuality."

So Asha returns home, to Earth, in search of a connection she could only find right back where she started. Raveena spoke⁷ to Morning Edition's Leila Fadel about the record, which debuts⁸ today.

Leila Fadel, Morning Edition: Let's talk about the song "Rush" – it seems like you took the orientalization, the fetishization, the othering that women of color often face and then turned that on its head with the lyrics⁹.

Raveena Aurora: I love all things Indian culture – I love Bollywood, I love the brightness of it, the romance, the maximalism of it. I love being an Indian woman and I love sharing that part of my culture. But I also think there's a certain fetishization and exoticification that comes with being who I am, a very trope-y view of that culture ... very easily reduced to these kind of stereotypes¹⁰ of what it looks like, what it feels like. It's almost like she's self-aware that she's this character for people, but she has a power because she knows what her culture is and she loves herself.

'You want me to be this person, but I'm way more expansive than that.'

What does Asha's Awakening represent to you?

"I kind of just wanted to really tap into my confidence, and tap into my bravery as an artist, to take risks. That was kind of the awakening for me – I think this character was a beautiful vehicle for that because she is so bold, and so fearless. She goes through so many transformations¹¹, I found a lot of myself in her, and found a lot of courage in her."

You talk about finding yourself – so let's talk about you. Your parents are from the north of India, but you were raised in New York and Connecticut. Talk about your upbringing and how it influenced your writing and your music.

I grew up in a very traditional Sikh household. I also grew up in a family of genocide survivors¹² – the 1984 Sikh genocide. And also people who are deeply spiritual, like reiki healers, my grandparents would meditate¹³ for hours, my mom was pretty lost in prayer a lot of the day as well. I grew up around, you know, a very traumatized family history but then a lineage that was also very powerful and very connected to their source.

So is that why healing is such a central theme in your work?

Absolutely. I think that because I've experienced a lineage that was so recently traumatized, and went through things that I could never imagine going through at that age, I have a lot of work in my ancestry¹⁴ to do, to heal and to make my body a safer and more inviting¹⁵ place for the next generation.

You meditate daily, and the album ends in a guided meditation¹⁶. Can you talk to me about that choice?

I just felt super-natural, because meditation is such a central force in my life. I love to read guided meditations¹⁷. I wanted to just offer people a very practical tool for their life, and be able to actually use it if they needed it – to go to sleep, or just to calm down.

I think that a lot of times, people don't even know how to sit still and meditate. But we all know how to listen to music. So putting it on an album feels like a way to invite people who don't even know how to do it yet.

To hear the broadcast version of this interview, use the audio player at the top of this page.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 aurora   

n.极光

参考例句：

• The aurora is one of nature's most awesome spectacles.极光是自然界最可畏的奇观之一。
• Over the polar regions we should see aurora.在极地高空,我们会看到极光。

3 titular   

adj.名义上的，有名无实的；n.只有名义（或头衔）的人

参考例句：

• The Queen is titular head of the Church of England.英国女王是英国国教名义上的领袖。
• He is titular head,and merely signs laws occasionally.他是名义上的首脑，不过偶尔签字批准法律法规。

4 protagonist   

n.(思想观念的)倡导者；主角，主人公

参考例句：

• The protagonist reforms in the end and avoids his proper punishment.戏剧主角最后改过自新并避免了他应受的惩罚。
• He is the model for the protagonist in the play.剧本中的主人公就是以他为模特儿创作的！

5 awakening   

n.觉醒，醒悟 adj.觉醒中的；唤醒的

参考例句：

• the awakening of interest in the environment 对环境产生的兴趣
• People are gradually awakening to their rights. 人们正逐渐意识到自己的权利。

6 epic   

n.史诗，叙事诗；adj.史诗般的，壮丽的

参考例句：

• I gave up my epic and wrote this little tale instead.我放弃了写叙事诗，而写了这个小故事。
• They held a banquet of epic proportions.他们举行了盛大的宴会。

7 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

8 debuts   

演员首次演出( debut的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He never really debuts the idea of taking money from his parents any longer. 他从此就再也没有认真起过向父母要钱的念头。
• This young soprano debuts next month at the metropolitan opera. 这位年轻的女高音歌唱家下个月将在纽约大都会歌剧院举行首演。

9 lyrics   

n.歌词

参考例句：

• music and lyrics by Rodgers and Hart 由罗杰斯和哈特作词作曲
• The book contains lyrics and guitar tablatures for over 100 songs. 这本书有100多首歌的歌词和吉他奏法谱。

10 stereotypes   

n.老套，模式化的见解，有老一套固定想法的人( stereotype的名词复数 )v.把…模式化，使成陈规( stereotype的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• Such jokes tend to reinforce racial stereotypes. 这样的笑话容易渲染种族偏见。
• It makes me sick to read over such stereotypes devoid of content. 这种空洞无物的八股调，我看了就讨厌。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

11 transformations   

n.变化( transformation的名词复数 )；转换；转换；变换

参考例句：

• Energy transformations go on constantly, all about us. 在我们周围，能量始终在不停地转换着。 来自辞典例句
• On the average, such transformations balance out. 平均起来，这种转化可以互相抵消。 来自辞典例句

12 survivors   

幸存者，残存者，生还者( survivor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The survivors were adrift in a lifeboat for six days. 幸存者在救生艇上漂流了六天。
• survivors clinging to a raft 紧紧抓住救生筏的幸存者

13 meditate   

v.想，考虑，（尤指宗教上的）沉思，冥想

参考例句：

• It is important to meditate on the meaning of life.思考人生的意义很重要。
• I was meditating,and reached a higher state of consciousness.我在冥想，并进入了一个更高的意识境界。

14 ancestry   

n.祖先，家世

参考例句：

• Their ancestry settled the land in 1856.他们的祖辈1856年在这块土地上定居下来。
• He is an American of French ancestry.他是法国血统的美国人。

15 inviting   

adj.诱人的，引人注目的

参考例句：

• An inviting smell of coffee wafted into the room.一股诱人的咖啡香味飘进了房间。
• The kitchen smelled warm and inviting and blessedly familiar.这间厨房的味道温暖诱人，使人感到亲切温馨。

16 meditation   

n.熟虑，（尤指宗教的）默想，沉思，（pl.）冥想录

参考例句：

• This peaceful garden lends itself to meditation.这个恬静的花园适于冥想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditation.很抱歉，我打断了你的沉思。

17 meditations   

默想( meditation的名词复数 )； 默念； 沉思； 冥想

参考例句：

• Each sentence seems a quarry of rich meditations. 每一句话似乎都给人以许多冥思默想。
• I'm sorry to interrupt your meditations. 我很抱歉，打断你思考问题了。