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The Sitar in Today's Music

We've already taken a look at the beginnings of the sitar through musical works of jazz and The Beatles. Then we watched guys like The Rolling Stones, The Monkees and even Stevie Wonder use the sitar in Classic Rock.

Now let's take a look at the sitar in today's music. Bands like R.E.M., Metallica and Green Day have all used sitar sounds.


Take a look at the music videos below.

You should know that that electric sitars don't have as strong a resonance as a traditional acoustic sitar.

The 1980s

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers - Don't Come Around Here No More (1985)
This song was pretty popular in the mid-80s. The music video is well-known for its use of wacky Alice in Wonderland-style concepts. The sitar use is obvious at the beginning of this song.

Paul Young - Every Time You Go Away (1985)
I can't believe I'm telling you to listen to this song - played on soft rock radio stations everywhere, "Every Time You Go Away" uses the electric sitar. I've heard this song enough times, but I never realized it was a sitar playing in the background. Check it out!

Chill-out Music


Thievery Corporation - Lebanese Blonde (1998)

This song is already quite old, but it recently surged in popularity after it was featured in the movie soundtrack Garden State. This sort of music can be classified as house, chill-out or electronic music. "Lebanese Blonde" is actually a slang term for high purity Lebanese hashish.

Progressive Metal

Dream Theater - Home (1999)

This song comes from Dream Theater's concept album, Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes from a Memory. The album is about the story of a man named Nicholas who discovers his past life, which involves murder, love and infidelity. hat deals with the story of a man named Nicholas and the discovery of his past life, which involves love, murder, and infidelity. "Home" is Act 2, Scene 6 of the album.

Contemporary Pop-Rock

Oasis - Who Feels Love? (2000)

Oasis often draws comparison to The Beatles, and there's no doubt they were influenced by them in making this song. It has a psychedelic sound, but many critics found it to be a 'mockery of spirituality' and lacking any true feeling.