Jesus Camp, Bread of Life), and many Christians like to share their religion through song. That's a whole other topic.Īt US gatherings, there are several Christian camps (e.g. This page is definitely not about bhajans. I believe that most rainbow people would agree that while there are many bhajans at rainbow, bhajans are not rainbow songs. The Hare Krishna people are famous for this kind of practice, and many bhajans heard at rainbow come from the Hare Krishna repertoire. By repeating the same verses over and over again, they hope to "get closer to the ultimate or to merge into God". They are part (sometimes a major part) of some people's spiritual practice. Bhajans are devotional songs, originally from India. What about the songs known as bhajans-songs in Sanskrit, Hindu and other languages of India? Many rainbow people love them. Others yet, more meditative, belong to the general class of "heart songs". Others are rhythmic and dynamic and raise the energy around the fire. Some of these songs are playful and sound like children's tunes. Songs often build up until the voices reach a peak, after which the verses are repeated with a softer voice, often slower, until the song fades into yummy silence.Īnother feature of rainbow songs, at least in the English-speaking world, is that their lyrics are either in the English language or a mixture of English and other languages-such as the Hopi language, Sanskrit, and so on. The verses of a great song are repeated until everyone gets drunk on the energy of the group singing. This gives everyone a chance to pick up the lyrics within the first two minutes of singing. Most rainbow songs are quite compact-sometimes as short as two verses.
Perhaps the main feature of rainbow songs is that their verses are repeated over and over again. I don't claim to be the authority on the subject, but my sense is that the vast majority of people who attend rainbow gatherings would agree with what follows. To jump straight to the songs, click here.Īt rainbow gatherings, many kinds of songs can be heard around the fire, so clarification is needed about what constitutes a "rainbow song". This page contains lyrics and streaming audio of rainbow gathering songs. The rainbow culture page contains a primer about the culture of rainbow gatherings. The introduction to the rainbow gathering page contains narrative about my experience at gatherings I have attended around the world.