“I think there is a song out there to describe just about any situation.” (Criss Jami)
A friend and long-time loyal blog follower recently sent me a 30-Day Song Challenge meme in the hope that I couldn’t resist taking the challenge and blogging about it. Here’s Day #28 – A Song You Used to Hate but Love Now: Santana Song of the Wind.
I grew up on classic Santana songs like Black Magic Woman, Oye Como Va and Evil Ways. The band’s fourth album Caravanserai was a major departure from the salsa/rock/jazz fusion that made them famous. Legendary record exec Clive Davis said that Carlos was ruining his commercial career with it. And I detested it, too. I just didn’t get it.
Until I did.
And it became one of my favorite albums ever.
Except for three tracks, this album was made up of long, complex and contemplative instrumentals. And the best one is Song of the Wind. That said, one of the things that makes the entire album so magical for me is that each song exists in the context of the others. There’s an ebb and flow to the journey the music takes you on. Every song is impacted and enhanced by every song that came before it. No song was written to be heard in a standalone fashion.
And yet, here it is – Song of the Wind in standalone fashion. It’s still beautiful, anyway. “Yo Carlos, man, you’re making that guitar cry.”[1]
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[1] Wyclef Jean at the end of Santana’s Maria Maria from the album Supernatural
Ray's Musings 
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