If, like me, you cut your teenage devotee teeth on Mangalananda's Change of Heart L.P. (yes, dear reader, MP3s and CDs had not yet been invented!), you will remember the cool album artwork.

Today I came across a place you can hear a gritty new version of the Change of Heart song. For those who want to make a comparision, you can hear the original version by Mangalananda online too, or even buy the CD.

A caterpillar changed his mind, And woke to find himself refined
His old self had to die, For him to be a butterfly
He tired of walking on the ground, And so around himself he wound
A screen of silken strand, A veil untouched by human hand
Then something subtle changed within. Reflected by his changing skin
He had a change of heart, And wished to play another part
He changed from worm to butterfly, And if he could then so could I
I want to free my mind, And rise above the waves of time
Beyond this burning dark abyss, Up to that land of love and bliss
Where grows a flower sweet, I'll fly to Krishna's lotus feet
And there to live eternally, My soul at last from matter free
A song will fill the sky, The love song of a butterfly

Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare
Hare Rama, Hare Rama Rama Rama, Hare Hare

I like the new version! I had forgotten that my dear friend Jeffrey Armstrong wrote the lyrics. I knew Mangalananda and his wife too, of course, from my L.A. days. In fact I have a picture taken on my son's birthday with Mangalananda and Lakshmi Pati's son. They were close in age.

Michael Cassidy (Mangalananda das) –

Oh Govinda

Oh Lord the sun's effulgence hides Your face

Your blissful form lies far beyond my eyes

But now Your wonders call my heart's embrace

As dawn displays your beauty in the sky


The rainbow shows the colors of Your dress

The movements of the moon reflect Your mind

Your smiling is the cause of happiness

And love exists because You are so kind


Oh Govinda within my heart, Celestial herdsman lotus eyed one

Your precious gift of love impart, Oh you who stand behind the sun

You're the one, You're the one in my heart


Rolling rivers flow forth from your veins

The clouds that fill the sky come from Your hair

The seeds of life are watered by Your rains

And from Your breathing blows the might air

My Lord you are the source of all I see

Your movements are the passing days of time

You are the resting place of all that be

And love exists because you are so kind


Lyrics: Jeffrey Armstrong Music: Michael Cassidy

'Gritty' ?
It sounds like 'The Residents'.

I was gonna post something about this but I found this topic to add my contribution!

I'm not a big fan of charity shops but I occasionally pop in just to see if they have any interesting books. For a laugh, my local Oxfam shop always have some book or other by Prabhupada which just goes to show how successful book distribution is in my area. The HK's sell their books on the street and a couple of weeks or months later they are given away to the charity shops! Most of my HK book collection has come from this Oxfam shop where I got seriously reduced prices, ha ha ha. I once bought a first-part of Bhagavatam for 35p!

Anyway so I went into the shop yesterday and sure enough they had a copy of Sri Isopanisad. Something drew me to the stock of old LP's they've got. I dunno, I figured that they might have a Motorhead LP or something, and I noticed stuff by John Lennon, Bangles, Blondie and Simon & Garfunkel. But riiiiight at the back they had two HK LPs; this Mangalananda 'Change Of Heart' album and also the British release of 'Goddess Of Fortune' by George Harrison! What a find! I snapped them up quickly. I haven't heard them yet though, I need to get my LP player out of storage. But what a find!

I wonder how many of these I sold in my day?

I like a couple of the numbers.

wow, I love the residents

I like them too. It's a pity the link to the Mangalananda 'gritty version' isn't working, it really did sound similar. I met Mangalananda back in '79 when he came to Dublin in order to research Irish music in it's cultural setting; nice man.

'here I come constantiople' is an eery classic that still reverberates in my brain, or what about their cover of James Brown's 'its a man's world'

Constantinople is great (I can't remember 'It's a man's world'); their version of 'Satisfaction' is perhaps the best Stone's cover ever - by anyone.

I had that Mangalanada LP. The TP of Baltimore gave it to me when I was a teen. I remember the last song most of all: going back to Godhead - time for goin' home... I much prefered the London Radha-Krishna album on apple records. The TP gave me that one as well.

Brainiac: tell me about charity shops! I got my first BG-AIS at a local flea market - from the stall run by my Roman Catholic Church. I never heard of ISKCON but was moved by the intro by George Harrison. This was the beginning of an adventure that would last me 16 years of my life

would that be Mahacrumb?

I wonder if we're actually talking about the same album, Preyo? Here's the track listing for what I've got:

- Govinda
- Sri Guruvastak
- Bhaja Bhakata /Arotrika
- Hare Krsna Mantra

- Sri Isopanisad
- Bhaja Hure Mana
- Govinda Jai Jai

Is it like this for the Radha-Krishna album?

Long before that! Sama dasa - the one who had the harem of brahmacarinis. circa 1976.

My ex and I frequently hung out with Mahakrama and his (now ex) wife after they "blooped."

MK went back to school and got a psych degree and was working at McLean here in Mass. But that was a long time ago and I don't know what he's up to now. I think my ex keeps in touch with them. They were two friends I lost after my divorce. They were all a bit more into alternative substances than I was (I don't like them at all)

Yep. That's the one. Has the London deities on the cover.