Appreciating the Uncertainty with DJ Koze - XTC

I discovered this song on an Anjunadeep podcast a couple years ago, but I was never able to find it for at least a year because I didn't think to Shazam it back then. When I finally found it I was surprised to find out this gem from Pampa Records wasn't from the late 90s or early 2000s, but actually 2015. It feels like such an old school house song to me in its duration and patience to develop into something great.

What stood out to me on first listen was the calm resonance of the spoken word sample - that woman sounds like she's levitating while doing yoga. And the way she says "Ec-stasy" right on the beat. The sample is taken from a lecture conducted by an Indian mystic named Osho, where a woman compares the effects of ecstasy vs. meditation, to Osho's definition of a LIE ( a lie is sweet in the beginning bitter in the end - like rolling and coming down) and the TRUTH (bitter in the beginning and sweet in the end - like practicing meditation). You can find the transcript here on page 114.

The song doesn't have a drop, but that's what I really enjoy about it. I love how it builds ever so gradually, but never breaks. It's obviously supposed to mirror the physical and emotional sensation of coming up on ecstasy, which I think it accomplishes. It's like that famous quote about happiness being about the journey, not the destination. Throughout the song it feels like you're traveling, but by the end you don't know if you've exactly arrived, because the question posed by the woman was never answered. And that's just alright because in a lot of instances in life, there are no definitive answers. There are important questions we as humans universally wonder but may never know. But if you look at life through the lens of being on a journey, you may start living in the present.

DJ Koze - XTC