Crispian Mills, Vocalist
This melody isn’t ours; it’s been around forever. My first encounter with it was at a Krishna temple when I was young. George Harrison was the first person I’m aware of who recorded it — you can find it as the final track on the 1971 album ‘The Radha Krsna Temple’. At that time, our band was sharing a space in Swiss Cottage, London, and we played that album repeatedly. It became a part of me quite naturally.
Our first live performance of the song took place at the Glastonbury Festival in 1993. We sneaked in hidden in the back of a van and managed to talk our way onto the stage in the Hare Krishna free food tent, which felt right. The musical arrangement, with its droning chords and central chant, just came together there and then. We went on to perform it at every concert for the next two years until we landed a formal record deal.
This track is one that perpetually grows and astonishes you no matter how often it’s played. It’s more than just music. It serves as a gateway to millennia of traditions, rich in philosophy, ontology, and history, and it offers a glimpse into the spiritual explorations that lie ahead.
Even now, we continue to uncover new aspects of the song, thanks to its deep-rooted origins. You have to approach it with a service-oriented mindset because it truly belongs to everyone. It’s a rare kind of song where both the band and the audience equally share in the benefits.
Regarding the lyrics: Sanskrit is often revered as “the language of the gods”. Who wouldn’t want to incorporate that into a pop song? The name Govinda, one of the more “personal” names of God, translates to “reservoir of pleasure”. Generally, any names starting with “Go” (which means “cow”), such as Gopal or Govinda, celebrate Sri Krishna’s youthful adventures as a divine cowherder, enchanting the forests with his flute and captivating the hearts of the celestial milkmaids.
The song always elicited strong reactions during live performances. We never encountered a tepid response. A pivotal moment for us was during a tour of our debut album ‘K’, at a jam-packed concert in Blackburn with 2,500 fans, variously intoxicated, all with their arms raised, chanting this ancient spiritual tune. It dawned on me then: “We really don’t control this, do we? It has taken on a life of its own.” It was an absurd yet perfect blend, which is what pop music should always strive to achieve.
Alonza Bevan, Bass Guitarist
Our musical journey was rooted in the Camden scene of North London, but we also ventured to the West Country playing to a distinct, often hippy-like audience. Our drummer hailed from near Glastonbury, so playing at the Glastonbury Assembly Rooms with any psychedelic sitar artists was always a welcome opportunity.
We’ve always had a deep affinity for the hippy tunes of the 60s and 70s, and were equally captivated by Indian classical music and Eastern mysticism. A friend introduced us to the Bengali musicians who eventually played on ‘Govinda’, a Hindu family based in East London.
We collaborated with John Leckie, known for producing the Stone Roses’ first album and earlier, a remarkable psychedelic record by Dukes of the Stratosphear. The song’s repetitive verse was easy to master since we had been soaking in the George Harrison version for months. The tambura—a four-string sitar used in Indian classical and folk music—along with the tabla, a type of hand drum, are prominently featured throughout the track. We had to remember, though, that we were still Westerners laying down our groove.
It was thrilling to have a song entirely in Sanskrit played on Radio 1, though many might have seen it as a novelty. I recall early audiences humorously misinterpreting the lyrics as: “Go cash your giro giro.”
While some old songs can become tiresome to perform, ‘Govinda’ always feels invigorating, and it’s how we love to conclude our live sets. The song has a force that transcends us; we are merely conduits. All we need to do is play, and let the cosmos handle the rest.
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Fatima Clarke is a seasoned health reporter who bridges medical science with human stories. She writes with compassion, precision, and a drive to inform.
