"I Am the Shaman" is a song written by Scottish singer

Donovan Donovan Phillips Leitch (born 10 May 1946), known mononymously as Donovan, is a Scottish musician, songwriter, and record producer. He developed an eclectic and distinctive style that blended folk, jazz, pop, psychedelic rock and world mus ...

. It was originally released on his 2010 album ''Ritual Groove''. The song and its music video were produced by experimental director and musician

David Lynch David Keith Lynch (born January 20, 1946) is an American filmmaker, visual artist and actor. A recipient of an Academy Honorary Award in 2019, Lynch has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director, and the César Award for Be ...

, with whom Donovan has a shared interest in

transcendental meditation Transcendental Meditation (TM) is a form of silent mantra meditation advocated by the Transcendental Meditation movement. Maharishi Mahesh Yogi created the technique in India in the mid-1950s. Advocates of TM claim that the technique promotes a ...

. The music video was released in celebration of Donovan's 75th birthday on 10 May 2021.

Recording

Donovan wrote of the collaboration:

He had asked me to only bring in a song just emerging, not anywhere near finished. We would see what happens. It happened! I composed extempore… the verses came naturally. New chord patterns effortlessly appeared.

The song was recorded in Lynch's Los Angeles studio. While the verses are reflective of the folk music which Donovan has been associated with, the choruses, as with much of the ambient atmosphere, are of a more experimental nature. The instrumentation and lyrics of the chorus were produced by reversing the recording. The song was originally recorded for Donovan's 2010 album ''Ritual Groove'', but the music video was produced eleven years later.

It was all impromptu … I visited the studio and David said, "Sit at the mics with your guitar Don". David in same room behind control desk with my Linda. He had asked me to only bring in a song just emerging, not anywhere near finished. We would see what happens.

References

{{Reflist Donovan songs Songs written by Donovan 2010 songs