Songfacts®:

• The Dan Reed Network was an integrated funk band from Portland, Oregon who were thisclose to becoming big stars. They drew comparisons to Lenny Kravitz and Living Colour, got great reviews, and opened for The Rolling Stones and Bon Jovi. They sold nearly 2 million albums before calling it quits in the early '90s. Their frontman Dan Reed went on a spiritual journey, traveling to India where he interviewed the Dalai Lama for Spin magazine, and returning there to live with Buddhist monks for a few months before moving to Jerusalem for three years.
  
  In 2008, Reed returned to America, where he performed at Barack Obama's inauguration, and in 2010 he released a solo album called Coming Up For Air. That year, we spoke with Reed about meeting with the Dalai Lama and his journey from rock star to a more spiritual life. When we asked about this song, he told us: "'Ritual' was simply about the addiction to another human being, for better and for worse and the admission that deep down we are all desiring and searching for the same satisfactions in life. It was the last song to be written for the first DRN album and immediately everyone behind the scenes in the record company and in management wanted this to be a single. It is still performed today, but the meaning of the lyric has shifted a bit, to encompass more than the libido."