reliving Cirque du Soleil's Totem experience through music

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My mom and the Totem banner outside the Grand Chapiteau
during the post-performance photo op.
After the Totem performance, I just had to get a copy of the souvenir program for my scrapbook. Luckily, the cashier at the souvenir shop said that I could get the CD with the souvenir program with the promo; so I did. A few weeks back at home, I finally got around to looking into the pockets of my suitcase. When I saw the CD with all the mementos I collected during my vacation, I thought I should listen to it when I drive. And so I did...

The soundtrack features fourteen songs from Totem. I honestly have no idea what the lyrics mean because they're not in English but the rhythm was enough to bring back my memories of watching the show. The composers were so successful in blending different genres together that it was difficult to dissect the songs into different styles (for someone like me who's not an expert on world music). There's a healthy dose of North American, Central American, and South Asian influences in the songs featured in the CD, as far as I could tell. Here are some of the songs I loved:

The suspense-filled atmosphere opens with the first track: "Ome Kayo". It set the tone of the show and it also sets the pace of my drive, easy but not boring. Somehow, the song struck me as similar to The Lion King's "Circle of Life". The song also reminded me of Peter Pan, the Lost, Boys, and Tiger Lily. It certainly kept me in an alert state of mind while driving. What a way to start a CD!

Then there's "Indie-Hip". After the first few notes, I knew I've traveled from the Americas to the Indian subcontinent; to Bollywood, in fact. A bit disconcerting in the beginning because it sounded familiar (exposure to Jai Ho, perhaps?); after a few rounds of the CD, I still don't get how Indie-Hip blends into the whole Totem storyline, but I enjoy listening to it, nonetheless.

One of my favorite songs is the emotional "Que Viyera". It feel like it's meant for the tango... maybe because the title, the lyrics, and the sounds have a Spanish feel in them. I certainly think that this is a sad song, but it is a welcome change in tempo from all the energetic songs.

"Onta" is one of the most powerful, or forceful, songs in the soundtrack, in my opinion. The strong bass and the chants, plus the notes from the electric guitar gave it a lot of impact.

The CD ends with "Ome Yo Kanoube". Again, a song that I don't understand but it has a "happy ending" feeling to it, just like the encore of the Totem cast before their final bows during the show I saw in San Francisco. I still feel the urge to clap to the beat as the song plays in the car!

Cirque du Soleil's hour-long Totem soundtrack is enough to keep me alert during long drives and it's not a tiring set to listen to. I know because I've tried it yesterday. I traveled north in the afternoon and then south in the evening because I had to visit my two grandmothers on New Year's Day. A total of more than 110 km in one day, certainly one of my longer-than-usual day trips. And I kept Totem in the background the whole time.

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