---
title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: I had already done Rainbow in Curved Air…"
description: "\"I had already done Rainbow in Curved Air and had a big record on CBS. I was launched to have a long career and then I just dropped out and went to Indi..."
image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/terry-riley-27340_air_i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air_1658729.jpg"
---

#  I had already done Rainbow in Curved Air and had a big…

![“I had already done Rainbow in Curved Air and had a big record on CBS. I was launched to have a long career and then I just dropped out and went to India.” quote by Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/terry-riley-27340_air_i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air_1658729.jpg)   [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/terry-riley-27340_air_i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air_1658729.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/terry-riley-27340_air_i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air_1658729.jpg)

> “I had already done Rainbow in Curved Air and had a big record on CBS. I was launched to have a long career and then I just dropped out and went to India.”

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

## About This Quote

This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation.

He abandoned a promising music career to seek deeper meaning in India, prioritizing spiritual growth over fame.

**In simple terms:** He left success for spiritual quest.

Key Takeaway

Seek purpose beyond fame.

Themes

career spirituality renunciation self‑discovery

Mood

contemplative inspirational

Type

musical philosophical

When to use this quote

- music industry
- personal crisis
- spiritual pilgrimage
- life re‑evaluation

Key Concepts

existential search cultural immersion

Questions to Reflect On

- What does success mean to you?
- How can you balance material goals with inner growth?

A Different Perspective

Renouncing success may lead to financial instability.

★ ★ ★ ★ ★   No ratings yet

[India](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/india/) [Long career](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/long-career/) [Rainbow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rainbow/)

## Related quotes

> [Janet Jackson's 'wardrobe malfunction' cost CBS Five hundred and Fifty grand this week. Boy, what a tough week for the network. First, the false…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bill-maher/janet-jackson-s-wardrobe-malfunction-cost-cbs-five-hundred-and-fifty/)

[Bill Maher](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bill-maher/)

> [“Two coconuts dropped beside him. Each went about its death throes with a slight bounce and languorous crawl then fell still.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/darrell-drake/two-coconuts-dropped-beside-him-each-went-about-its-death-throes-with/)

[Darrell Drake](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/darrell-drake/)

> [I do recall one moment when I went to India by myself. I was paralyzed with fear to travel alone, but I had this…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jen-sincero/i-do-recall-one-moment-when-i-went-to-india-by-myself-i-was-paralyzed/)

[Jen Sincero](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jen-sincero/)

> [I went to India and was quite taken with it. There's a feeling there that things are holy first and useful second.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-went-to-india-and-was-quite-taken-with-it-there-s-a-feeling-there-2/)

[Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/)

> [When I went to India, I became absolutely obsessed with the idea of building a hotel in India. I've never done a hotel, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hugh-hardy/when-i-went-to-india-i-became-absolutely-obsessed-with-the-idea-of/)

[Hugh Hardy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hugh-hardy/)

> [By looking at the suffering when I went out to India, I saw how people had nothing and were still trying to be happy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jay-shetty/by-looking-at-the-suffering-when-i-went-out-to-india-i-saw-how-people/)

[Jay Shetty](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jay-shetty/)

> [“He went to India to "find himself" last year, but evidently he wasn't there, and he came back empty-handed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-mclay/he-went-to-india-to-find-himself-last-year-but-evidently-he-wasn-t/)

[Craig McLay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-mclay/)

> [When I was 17, I went to India for six weeks and had what, at the time, was a very challenging trip. You walk…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-hughes/when-i-was-17-i-went-to-india-for-six-weeks-and-had-what-at-the-time/)

[Chris Hughes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-hughes/)

> [I never was a hippie! I went to India because so many friends like Mia Farrow and the Beatles were going there to discover…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jane-fonda/i-never-was-a-hippie-i-went-to-india-because-so-many-friends-like-mia/)

[Jane Fonda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jane-fonda/)

> [India's had two groovy moments. Once when the Beatles went to India and now when Madonna has embraced yoga.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/padma-lakshmi/india-s-had-two-groovy-moments-once-when-the-beatles-went-to-india/)

[Padma Lakshmi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/padma-lakshmi/)

> [I went to India, lived, and studied.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rick-james/i-went-to-india-lived-and-studied/)

[Rick James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rick-james/)

> [I went to India as a missionary to save England from spiritual collapse.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/william-carey/i-went-to-india-as-a-missionary-to-save-england-from-spiritual/)

[William Carey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-carey/)

> [I went to India and was quite taken with it. There's a feeling there that things are holy first and useful second. And in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mary-oliver/i-went-to-india-and-was-quite-taken-with-it-there-s-a-feeling-there/)

[Mary Oliver](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mary-oliver/)

> [I went to India with UNICEF in connection with Manchester United to raise money for children's education.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-nesbitt/i-went-to-india-with-unicef-in-connection-with-manchester-united-to/)

[James Nesbitt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-nesbitt/)

> [I've had a long career and I want to continue to have a long career. The way to do that is not to go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/chris-cornell/i-ve-had-a-long-career-and-i-want-to-continue-to-have-a-long-career/)

[Chris Cornell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/chris-cornell/)

## More by Terry Riley

> [We are either going to dissolve as a human race or we are going to break through into a new understanding of what it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/we-are-either-going-to-dissolve-as-a-human-race-or-we-are-going-to/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [The great thing about string quartets is the players are kind of like family. They work really well as a unit, so you can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/the-great-thing-about-string-quartets-is-the-players-are-kind-of-like/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [Out of doing all that experimentation with sound I decided I wanted to do it with live musicians. To take repetition, take music fragments…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/out-of-doing-all-that-experimentation-with-sound-i-decided-i-wanted/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [Essentially my contribution was to introduce repetition into Western music as the main ingredient without any melody over it, without anything just repeated patterns,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/essentially-my-contribution-was-to-introduce-repetition-into-western/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [I was using tape loops for dancers and dance production. I had very funky primitive equipment, in fact technology wasn't very good no matter…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/i-was-using-tape-loops-for-dancers-and-dance-production-i-had-very/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [I had been interested in Indian music and I actually started studying Tableaus before I met him.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/i-had-been-interested-in-indian-music-and-i-actually-started-studying/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [It's not what happens to you in life that matters; what matters is how you deal with it!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/it-s-not-what-happens-to-you-in-life-that-matters-what-matters-is-how/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [I really didn't have a plan, I just went in and started playing. one of my specialties was to be able to play for…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/i-really-didn-t-have-a-plan-i-just-went-in-and-started-playing-one-of/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [It is important that we are coming up on the millennium because what I am experiencing, just being one person out of billions, is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/it-is-important-that-we-are-coming-up-on-the-millennium-because-what/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [Acceleration is finite, I think, according to some laws of physics.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/acceleration-is-finite-i-think-according-to-some-laws-of-physics/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [Throughout the evening I would be recording these long saxophone delays and about four hours into the concert, if I wanted to take a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/throughout-the-evening-i-would-be-recording-these-long-saxophone/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [I had always been more interested in playing and improvising than sitting down at a desk and writing out a piece. I'd always found…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/i-had-always-been-more-interested-in-playing-and-improvising-than/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [The incredible thing about the human mind is that is didn't come with an instruction book.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/the-incredible-thing-about-the-human-mind-is-that-is-didn-t-come-with/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [Music can also be a sensual pleasure, like eating food or sex. But its highest vibration for me is that point of taking us…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/music-can-also-be-a-sensual-pleasure-like-eating-food-or-sex-but-its/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

> [The highest point of music for me is to become in a place where there is no desire, no craving, wanting to do anything…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/the-highest-point-of-music-for-me-is-to-become-in-a-place-where-there/)

[Terry Riley](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

[Explore all 20 Terry Riley quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/)

## More Air quotes

> [I will be a tireless advocate for our District's defense priorities including Sheppard Air Force Base, Pantex, Bell Helicopter, universities conducting important research, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ronny-jackson/i-will-be-a-tireless-advocate-for-our-district-s-defense-priorities/)

[Ronny Jackson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ronny-jackson/)

> [I have lifted my plane . . . for perhaps a thousand flights and I have never felt her wheels glide from the Earth…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/beryl-markham/i-have-lifted-my-plane-for-perhaps-a-thousand-flights-and-i-have/)

[Beryl Markham](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/beryl-markham/)

> [If U.S. air, naval, missile, and ground forces were not in and around Korea, and if we were not treaty-bound to fight alongside South…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pat-buchanan/if-u-s-air-naval-missile-and-ground-forces-were-not-in-and-around/)

[Pat Buchanan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pat-buchanan/)

> [The cooler days have brought a wistful mood upon him. The smell of coalsmoke in the air at night. Old times, dead years. For…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cormac-mccarthy/the-cooler-days-have-brought-a-wistful-mood-upon-him-the-smell-of/)

[Cormac McCarthy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cormac-mccarthy/)

> [It's easy to say, let's go in and get the bad guys. But you have a divided country of Sunnis and Shias. The United…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tulsi-gabbard/it-s-easy-to-say-let-s-go-in-and-get-the-bad-guys-but-you-have-a/)

[Tulsi Gabbard](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tulsi-gabbard/)

> [I'm a candle flame that sways in currents of air you can't see. You need to be the one who steadies me to burn.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nadine-gordimer/i-m-a-candle-flame-that-sways-in-currents-of-air-you-can-t-see-you/)

[Nadine Gordimer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nadine-gordimer/)

> [It is sometimes said that scientists are unromantic, that their passion to figure out robs the world of beauty and mystery. But is it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carl-sagan/it-is-sometimes-said-that-scientists-are-unromantic-that-their/)

[Carl Sagan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carl-sagan/)

> [ Just between you and me, shouldn’t the World Bank be encouraging MORE migration of the dirty industries to the LDCs \[Less Developed Countries\]?... I… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lawrence-summers/just-between-you-and-me-shouldn-t-the-world-bank-be-encouraging-more/)

[Lawrence Summers](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lawrence-summers/)

> [After a few mouthfuls of moon-flavored air, even the stubbornly drowsy can find themselves wide-eyed.. All the normal noises of life were gone, leaving…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/n-d-wilson/after-a-few-mouthfuls-of-moon-flavored-air-even-the-stubbornly-drowsy/)

[N.D. Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/n-d-wilson/)

> [There was a little nook on Air Force Two that contained the vice presidential seal, and I would sort of wedge myself in there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jill-biden/there-was-a-little-nook-on-air-force-two-that-contained-the-vice/)

[Jill Biden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jill-biden/)

> [Words are substance strange. Speak one and the air ripples into another's ears. Write one and the eye laps it up. But the sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-beachy-quick/words-are-substance-strange-speak-one-and-the-air-ripples-into/)

[Dan Beachy-Quick](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-beachy-quick/)

> [ \[A\]s you partake of the world's bill of fare, that's darned good advice to follow. Do a lot of spitting out the hot air.… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dr-seuss/a-s-you-partake-of-the-world-s-bill-of-fare-that-s-darned-good-advice/)

[Dr. Seuss](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dr-seuss/)

> [...As the disparity between the rich and the poor grows, the fight to corner resources is intensifying. To push through their "sweetheart deals," to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arundhati-roy/as-the-disparity-between-the-rich-and-the-poor-grows-the-fight-to/)

[Arundhati Roy](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arundhati-roy/)

> [Washington bureaucrats have classified the very air we exhale as a pollutant and have gone unchallenged in this incredible assertion. The logical consequence is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ron-paul/washington-bureaucrats-have-classified-the-very-air-we-exhale-as-a/)

[Ron Paul](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ron-paul/)

> [“It is unnatural to fear something natural.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/steven-magee/it-is-unnatural-to-fear-something-natural/)

[Steven Magee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/steven-magee/)

Browse all 6,278 Air quotes

```json
{
    "@context": "https://schema.org",
    "@graph": [
        {
            "@type": "Quotation",
            "text": "I had already done Rainbow in Curved Air and had a big record on CBS. I was launched to have a long career and then I just dropped out and went to India.",
            "creator": {
                "@type": "Person",
                "name": "Terry Riley"
            },
            "isPartOf": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website"
            },
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air-and-had-a-big-record-on-cbs/",
            "about": {
                "@type": "Thing",
                "name": "Air"
            },
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air-and-had-a-big-record-on-cbs/#quotation",
            "image": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/terry-riley-27340_air_i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air_1658729.jpg",
                "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/terry-riley-27340_air_i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air_1658729.jpg",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/b24/terry-riley-27340_air_i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air_1658729.jpg",
                "width": 1080,
                "height": 1080,
                "caption": "“I had already done Rainbow in Curved Air and had a big record on CBS. I was launched to have a long career…” — Terry Riley",
                "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
                "creator": {
                    "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
                }
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "BreadcrumbList",
            "itemListElement": [
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 1,
                    "name": "Home",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 2,
                    "name": "Quotes",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 3,
                    "name": "Terry Riley",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-riley/"
                },
                {
                    "@type": "ListItem",
                    "position": 4,
                    "name": "I had already done Rainbow in...",
                    "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air-and-had-a-big-record-on-cbs/"
                }
            ],
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-riley/i-had-already-done-rainbow-in-curved-air-and-had-a-big-record-on-cbs/#breadcrumb"
        },
        {
            "@type": "WebSite",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "publisher": {
                "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization"
            }
        },
        {
            "@type": "Organization",
            "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization",
            "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes",
            "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/",
            "logo": {
                "@type": "ImageObject",
                "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png",
                "width": 512,
                "height": 512
            }
        }
    ]
}
```
