The Darjeeling Limited Soundtrack

I know; it is odd that I’m reviewing a sound track, especially one that is made up primarily of traditional Indian music.
I can’t explain my obsession with the sitar, but I do know that my favorite Beatles songs including George Harrison strumming away madly on the sitar.
It’ll be tough for those who haven’t seen the movie to understand the significance of any of the songs, so if you haven’t, I recommend first that you go see the movie. It is one of my personal favorites, but I won’t promise that you’ll like it.
You will, however, like the soundtrack. It’s full of beautiful Indian music interlaced with the occasional Kinks song and one from the Rolling Stones.
The Kinks’ songs on the album are some that I haven’t been able to find anywhere else, and not for lack of trying. Strangers, Powerman, and This Time Tomorrow are three of my favorite Kinks songs.
The Stones’ song Play With Fire is also on the album and is one of the reasons I was so set on finding this album.
In the context of the film, the music doesn’t have a particular role in assisting in the telling of the story, but to me, when listened to without the film; the music tells its own story. By that I mean you can watch the movie and the music only adds to the environment of the story. On the other hand, the music on its own creates separate imagery. This alone makes the album worth while to me and is perhaps why I like it so much.
Apart from the three tunes by The Kinks and the one by the Stones, there are only a few others among the 22 songs with lyrics. Probably the strangest of these is Typewritter, Tip, Tip, Tip by Asha Bhosle & Kisore Kumar. Listening to it, I have no idea what would inspire someone to write a song like this. It is perhaps on of the weirdest songs I’ve ever heard.
For the most part though, there are very few lyrics and so once again you need to be prepared for a largely instrumental album.