"Tattva" is a song by British psychedelic rock band

Kula Shaker Kula Shaker are an English psychedelic rock band. Led by frontman Crispian Mills, the band came to prominence during the Post-Britpop era of the late 1990s. The band enjoyed commercial success in the UK between 1996 and 1999, notching up a num ...

, released as the band's debut single. It was first released in the United Kingdom in 1996 as "Tattva (Lucky 13 Mix)", then re-issued on 24 June 1996 as a re-recording from their debut album, '' K'' (1996), with a different sleeve and track listing. The re-recording reached number four on the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

, number 11 on the Canadian ''

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or with the notation min−1) is a unit of rotational speed or rotational frequency for rotating machines. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 defines a unit of rotation as the dimensionl ...

'' Alternative 30 chart, and number 10 on the US '' Billboard'' Modern Rock Tracks chart. In '' Melody Maker'', critic Neil Kulkarni declared "Tattva" and follow-up release " Grateful When You're Dead" to be "the two worst singles of '96".

Meaning

The chorus of the song is: ''Tattva, acintya bheda abheda Tattva''. In Hindu philosophy ''

tattva According to various Indian schools of philosophy, ''tattvas'' () are the Classical element, elements or aspects of reality that constitute human experience. In some traditions, they are conceived as an aspect of deity. Although the number of ' ...

'' is a Sanskrit word meaning 'thatness', 'principle', 'essence', 'reality' or 'truth'. Likewise, ''

acintya Acintya (from Sanskrit: अचिन्त्य, "the inconceivable", "the unimaginable"), also known as Sang Hyang Widhi Wasa ( Balinese: "The Divine Order") and Sang Hyang Tunggal ("The Divine Oneness"), is the Supreme God of Indonesian Hind ...

'' can mean 'the inconceivable', 'the unthinkable', or 'he who cannot be imagined', ''bheda'' translates as 'difference', and ''

abheda Non-difference is the nearest English translation of the Sanskrit word ''abheda'', meaning non-existence of difference. In Vedanta philosophy this word plays a vital role in explaining the indicatory mark in respect of the unity of the individual ...

'' translates as 'non-difference'. For this song, ''

'' might best be thought of in terms of apophatic theology, also known as 'divine darkness', a Christian notion (which has clear parallels in all world religions) whereby God is so far beyond our conceptions that we can only speak of what God is ''not''. Not that the word ''

'' would necessarily correspond to the Western idea of God, but the same kind of ineffable mystery is implied here. As such, one possible translation of the chorus would be: "Truth, Mystery, difference non-difference Truth."

Releases

The "Lucky 13 Mix" was issued on

7-inch vinyl In music, a single is a type of release, typically a song recording of fewer tracks than an LP record or an album. One can be released for sale to the public in a variety of formats. In most cases, a single is a song that is released separat ...

and CD in the United Kingdom, both formats including "Hollow Man (Part II)" as the B-side. The 7-inch edition was limited to 1000 copies.kulashaker.net
This version of the single reached number 86 on the

. The second edition was released on the same formats but with an additional CD. The 7-inch comprised "Tattva" plus a different mix titled "Tattva on St. George's Day" as well as the principle B-side "Dance in Your Shadow". The first CD featured "Moonshine" and the "Lucky 13 Mix" as its exclusive tracks, and the second disc contained "Red Balloon (

Vishnu Vishnu ( ; , ), also known as Narayana and Hari, is one of the principal deities of Hinduism. He is the supreme being within Vaishnavism, one of the major traditions within contemporary Hinduism. Vishnu is known as "The Preserver" withi ...

's Eyes)". An Australian

maxi single A maxi single or maxi-single (sometimes abbreviated to MCD or CDM) is a music single release with more than the usual two tracks of an A-side song and a B-side song. The first maxi singles Mungo Jerry's first single, " In the Summertime" was t ...

was released in 1996 which contained most of the tracks from these latter releases. Both CDs (KULA CD3 and KULA CD3K) were housed in card picture sleeves. The second CD had a printed spine and also contained an inner sleeve, much like a vinyl LP. The first edition of "Tattva" came in a standard slimline jewel case.

Music video

Two

music video A music video is a video of variable duration, that integrates a music song or a music album with imagery that is produced for promotional or musical artistic purposes. Modern music videos are primarily made and used as a music marketing device ...

s for "Tattva" were produced: one for Europe and a second made for the United States.

Track listings

UK limited-edition 7-inch and CD single (KULA 71; KULA CD1) :A. "Tattva" (Lucky 13 mix) :B. "Hollow Man (Part II)" UK 7-inch single (KULA 73) :A1. "Tattva" :B1. "Tattva on St George's Day" :B2. "Dance in Your Shadow" UK CD1 (KULA CD3) # "Tattva" # "Dance in Your Shadow" # "Moonshine" # "Tattva" (Lucky 13 Mix) UK CD2 (KULA CD3K) # "Tattva on St. George's Day" # "Dance in Your Shadow" # "Red Balloon (Vishnu's Eyes)" European CD single (663353 1) # "Tattva" # "Dance in Your Shadow" Australian CD and cassette single (663436 2; 663436 8) # "Tattva" (Leckie radio edit) # "Tattva (On St George's Day)" # "Dance in Your Shadow" # "Moonshine" # "Tattva" (Lucky 13 Mix)

Credits and personnel

Credits are taken from the UK CD1 liner notes and the '' K'' album booklet. Studios * Recorded between January and May 1996 at various studios Personnel *

– writing **

Crispian Mills Crispian Mills (born 18 January 1973 as Crispian John David Boulting; spiritual name Krishna Kantha Das) is an English singer-songwriter, guitarist, and film director. Active since 1988, Mills is best known as the frontman of the psychedelic i ...

– writing, vocals, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, tambura ** Alonza Bevan – backing vocals, bass, piano,

tabla A tabla, bn, তবলা, prs, طبلا, gu, તબલા, hi, तबला, kn, ತಬಲಾ, ml, തബല, mr, तबला, ne, तबला, or, ତବଲା, ps, طبله, pa, ਤਬਲਾ, ta, தபலா, te, తబల� ...

Jay Darlington Jay Peter Darlington (born 3 May 1968 in Sidcup, London) is an English keyboardist, best known as a member of Kula Shaker. He went on to work as a touring member of Oasis and is currently a member of the Totnes, Devon based prog band, Magic Bu ...

– organ, Mellotron, piano **

Paul Winterhart Paul Winter-Hart (born 19 September 1971 in Hammersmith, London) is the drummer for the English band Kula Shaker. He grew up in East Pennard, Somerset, and is noted for being reserved in interviews. In between Kula Shaker splitting in 1999 and ...

– drums *

John Leckie John William Leckie (born 23 October 1949) is an English record producer and recording engineer. His production credits include Magazine's ''Real Life'' (1978), XTC's ''White Music'' (1978) and Dukes of Stratosphear's ''25 O'Clock'' (1985), t ...

– production, mixing, engineering * Stylorouge – artwork design

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Tattva (Song) 1995 songs 1996 debut singles Columbia Records singles Indian mythology in music Kula Shaker songs Song recordings produced by John Leckie Songs written by Crispian Mills Music videos directed by Nigel Dick