Three Dog Night: Shambala
[purchase]
Shamb(h)ala is the Buddhist “Pure Land” (Wikipedia). In the
1960s and 70s, the West adopted it as a mythical spiritual land of perfection
and peace. Like many beliefs and concepts from the hippie 1960s and 70s,
knowledge about the philosophy/concept was based on “fragmented accounts” and
uninformed stories. It was a land
somewhere around Tibet.
What was important for the “peace/love” hippies was its
mythical value as a land of inspiration and promise. In many ways, it was
nearly a synonym for Shangri-la: a hidden, mystic land in the Himalayas where everyone lived and worked for the good
of mankind: a lot like the American (hippe) commune.
Three Dog Night – still touring today – hit their prime in
the late 60s and early 70s. The Internet tells us that Shambala – typical of
most Three Dog Night songs – was not of their creation. It did, however, rise
pretty high on the charts in 1973. They sang:
Wash away my sorrow, wash away my shambala
Everyone is lucky, everyone is kind
On the road to Shambhala
Three Dog Night is credited with 7 Gold records. Among their
hits that you ought to/are probably familiar with are:Everyone is lucky, everyone is kind
On the road to Shambhala
One (written by Harry Nilsson),
Momma Told Me Not to Come
Joy to the World
Easy to be Hard
