Early life
L. Shankar was born in Madras, Tamil Nadu. Growing up in Jaffna, Ceylon, where his father V. Lakshminarayan was a professor at the Jaffna College of Music, Shankar was exposed to Carnatic music and other styles from an early age. His father was an esteemed violinist, his mother L. Seethalakshmi played the veena and all his five older siblings were also proficient in music. The most well known of his brothers is another acclaimed and renowned violinist - L. Subramaniam, who has recorded a number of records himself; another brother, L. Vaidyanathan was a music composer for Indian films. Shankar cites his family and Tyāgarāja as early inspirations.
Shankar began singing at the age of two, playing violin at the age of five, and learning to play drums at seven. At the age of seven L. Shankar gave his first public concert, at the Nallur Kandaswamy temple. He gained considerable reputation in his early youth as an accompanist to some of the most eminent names in Carnatic music such as Semmangudi Srinivasa Iyer, Chembai Vaithyanatha Baghavatar, Palghat Mani Iyer and Alathur Srinivasa Iyer. Following the ethnic riots in Sri Lanka in the 1950s his family escaped to India.
Summary of career
After obtaining a Bachelor's degree in Physics in India, Shankar moved to America in 1969 and earned a doctorate in ethnomusicology at Wesleyan University. Here he met jazz musicians Ornette Coleman, Jimmy Garrison, and John McLaughlin while working as a teaching assistant and concert master of the University Chamber Orchestra. In 1975 Shankar and McLaughlin founded Shakti, a pioneering, groundbreaking and highly influential east-meets-west collaboration, with a fluid sound that managed to successfully combine seemingly incompatible traditions. His first solo album, Touch Me There, was produced by Frank Zappa in 1979. Shankar founded his own band - The Epidemics, in 1982, with the composer Caroline. He released three albums with the band.
During the 1980s, Shankar recorded periodically as a leader, doing both jazz-based material and Indian classical music. His 1980 release of the album Who's To Know on ECM introduced the unique sound of his own invention, the ten-string, stereophonic double violin. This instrument, designed by Shankar and built by noted guitar maker Ken Parker, covers the entire orchestral range, including double bass, cello, viola and violin. He has recently developed a newer version of his instrument which is much lighter than the original.
1990 saw Shankar co-producing a one hour film directed by H. O. Nazareth, which went on to be nominated for Best Documentary film at the Cannes film festival. Shankar worked on the score of the film The Last Temptation of Christ (1988),composed by Peter Gabriel, with his music ending up on both albums of the score - Passion: Music for The Last Temptation of Christ and Passion - Sources. He won a Grammy for his work on the latter in 1994. 1996 saw a Grammy nomination for the album Raga Aberi. Shankar has performed on several of Peter Gabriel's records such as So and Us. Since 1996, Shankar has toured internationally with fellow-violinist (and his niece) Gingger as Shankar & Gingger, garnering critical acclaim and popularity. The two performed at events including the Concert for Global Harmony and Nelson Mandela's 80th birthday celebrations. Shankar & Gingger released their first DVD One in a Million in 2001. After a critically successful tour of North America, the DVD went to number 1 on the Neilsen Soundscan DVD charts and stayed there for four weeks. In 2004, Shankar composed additional music with Gingger Shankar for John Debney and performed on the score for the film The Passion of the Christ (2004).
Shankar has played with some of the greatest musical contemporaries of his time, including Lou Reed, Echo & the Bunnymen, Talking Heads, Frank Zappa, Peter Gabriel, Elton John, Eric Clapton, Phil Collins, Charly García, Steve Vai and many more. Shankar has been praised for his ability to mix Eastern and Western influences, assimilating Carnatic music with pop, rock, jazz and contemporary world music. He admits "Ultimately, I would like to bring the East and West together. That, I think, is my role," he says.
More recently, Shankar has used a new stage name, Shenkar, and has created recordings under this name. In 2006 – 2007, Shenkar provided the vocals for the opening credit music and other themes for all episodes of the hit TV series Heroes. He has been lately working in Jonathan Davis', Stephen Day and Ana Maria Lombo's next records.
See the detailed discography at Wikipedia.
Part 2
L. Shankar Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Leaving just a memory
Snapshot in the family album
Daddy what else did you leave for me?
Daddy, what'd'ja leave behind for me?
All in all it was just a brick in the wall
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall
The lyrics to L. Shankar's song Part 2 appear to be referencing a father who has left his family, likely by flying across the ocean, and has left just a memory behind. The line "Snapshot in the family album" adds to the idea that the father has left nothing tangible behind for his child to remember him by. The repeated phrase "Daddy, what'd'ja leave behind for me?" could represent the hurt and confusion of the child left behind, wondering what their father's legacy is. The final lines "All in all it was just a brick in the wall / All in all it was all just bricks in the wall" suggest that perhaps the father's absence is just one piece of a larger, societal issue or problem, and that his legacy may not ultimately matter in the grand scheme of things.
Overall, the lyrics seem to delve into themes of parental abandonment and the pain and confusion that can come with it. The repetition of the phrase "Daddy, what'd'ja leave behind for me?" emphasizes the idea that a parent's legacy can have a significant impact on their child, while the final lines suggest that this legacy may ultimately be insignificant in the face of larger issues or societal structures.
Line by Line Meaning
Daddy's flown across the ocean
Father has travelled across the sea
Leaving just a memory
Only a remembrance is left behind
Snapshot in the family album
A captured moment in the family records
Daddy what else did you leave for me?
Father, what other things have you left for me?
Daddy, what'd'ja leave behind for me?
Father, what have you left me with?
All in all it was just a brick in the wall
Overall, it was merely a single element in a larger system
All in all it was all just bricks in the wall
In total, they were all just similar blocks in the structure
Lyrics © Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, BMG Rights Management
Written by: Roger Waters
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@ullasrajchellappan1
In one second of listening i am like "what am i hearing"!!!!!!! I could not believe my ears...honestly my ears have never heard anything like this before..thank you God for giving me the gift of hearing!!! Thank you
@samprasadmajumdar1697
THE VERY FINEST ON EARTH THAT IS POSSIBLE.
@PaulPrudence
makes sound turn into light. a m a z i n g
@mkfs.mumbai
With that speed, yes!
@sathviknmusic
This is the first time i have listened to Shankar's music and is is so enchanting 2 hear! He's a true musical genius.
@danielbrownstein7137
holy shit , this song is crazy . You can play it , open up the same thing in a new tab and play it at any time and it sounds incredible together .
@GoranHaluzan
Just tried this. Genius..
@metalforlife4ever
+Goran Halužan (Hal) Just tried it with three tabs. Still genius.
@M3gaCowlick
on 7 tabs and still sounds amazing
@mayaboughandjioua9165
daniel brownstein thenks.♡%%%%%%%%%%☆.