Illusions?

And you wish you’d never taken that last detour sign
And you say to yourself just what am I doin’
On this road I’m walkin’, on this trail I’m turnin’
On this curve I’m hanging
On this pathway I’m strolling, in the space I’m taking
In this air I’m inhaling
Am I mixed up too much, am I mixed up too hard
Why am I walking, where am I running
What am I saying, what am I knowing
On this guitar I’m playing, on this banjo I’m frailin’
On this mandolin I’m strummin’, in the song I’m singin’
In the tune I’m hummin’, in the words I’m writin’
In the words that I’m thinkin’…

-Dylan (Last Thoughts on Woodie Guthrie)

The Dangling Conversation

Its a still life water color,
Of a now late afternoon,
As the sun shines through the curtained lace
And shadows wash the room.
And we sit and drink our coffee
Couched in our indifference,
Like shells upon the shore
You can hear the ocean roar
In the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

And you read your emily dickinson,
And I my robert frost,
And we note our place with bookmarkers
That measure what weve lost.
Like a poem poorly written
We are verses out of rhythm,
Couplets out of rhyme,
In syncopated time
Lost in the dangling conversation
And the superficial sighs,
Are the borders of our lives.

Yes, we speak of things that matter,
With words that must be said,
Can analysis be worthwhile?
Is the theater really dead?
And how the room is softly faded
And I only kiss your shadow,
I cannot feel your hand,
Youre a stranger now unto me
Lost in the dangling conversation.
And the superficial sighs,
In the borders of our lives.

- Simon & Garfunkel

The answer, my friend…

How many roads must a man walk down
Before you call him a man?
Yes, ‘n’ how many seas must a white dove sail
Before she sleeps in the sand?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times must the cannon balls fly
Before they’re forever banned?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many years can a mountain exist
Before it’s washed to the sea?
Yes, ‘n’ how many years can some people exist
Before they’re allowed to be free?
Yes, ‘n’ how many times can a man turn his head,
Pretending he just doesn’t see?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

How many times must a man look up
Before he can see the sky?
Yes, ‘n’ how many ears must one man have
Before he can hear people cry?
Yes, ‘n’ how many deaths will it take till he knows
That too many people have died?
The answer, my friend, is blowin’ in the wind,
The answer is blowin’ in the wind.

–Bob Dylan

Sounds of silence

Hello darkness, my old friend,
I’ve come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left its seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.

In restless dreams I walked alone
Narrow streets of cobblestone,
‘Neath the halo of a street lamp,
I turned my collar to the cold and damp
When my eyes were stabbed by the flash of a neon light
That split the night
And touched the sound of silence.

And in the naked light I saw
Ten thousand people, maybe more.
People talking without speaking,
People hearing without listening,
People writing songs that voices never share
And no one dare
Disturb the sound of silence.

“Fools” said I, “You do not know
Silence like a cancer grows.
Hear my words that I might teach you,
Take my arms that I might reach you.”
But my words like silent raindrops fell,
And echoed
In the wells of silence

And the people bowed and prayed
To the neon god they made.
And the sign flashed out its warning,
In the words that it was forming.
And the sign said, “The words of the prophets
are written on the subway walls
And tenement halls.”
And whisper’d in the sounds of silence.

Sounds of Silence (Simon & Garfunkel)

shaam-e-gam kii qasam

This beautiful song by Talat Mahmood, in the movie "Footpath", lyrics by Majrooh Sultanpuri and Sardar Jafri…

shaam-e-gam kii qasam aaj gamagiin hain ham
aa bhii jaa aa bhii jaa aaj mere sanam
shaam-e-gam kii qasam
dil pareshaan hain raat viiraan hain
dekh jaa kis tarah aaj tanahaa hain ham
shaam-e-gam kii qasam

chain kaisaa jo pahaluu mein tuu hii nahiin
maar daale na dard-e-judaai kahiin
rut haseen hain to kyaa chaandnii hai to kyaa
chaandnii zulm hai aur judaai sitam
shaam-e-gam kii qasam

ab to aajaa ke ab raat bhii so gayee
zindagii gam ke seharaav mein kho gayee (2)
Dhoondtii hain nazar tuu kahaan hain magar
dekhte dekhte aayaa aankhon mein gam
shaam-e-gam kii qasam

cheers

jayjay

Starry, starry night

This beautiful song dedicated to vincent

Starry, starry night
Paint your palette blue and grey
Look out on a summer’s day
With eyes that know the darkness in my soul
Shadows on the hills
Sketch the trees and daffodils
Catch the breeze and the winter chills
In colours on the snowy linen land

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

Starry, starry night
Flaming flowers that brightly blaze
Swirling clouds and violet haze
Reflect in Vincent’s eyes of china blue
Colours changing hue
Morning fields of amber grain
Weathered faces lined in pain
Are soothed beneath the artists’ loving hand

Now I understand
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They did not know how
Perhaps they’ll listen now

For they could not love you
But still your love was true
And when no hope was left inside
On that starry, starry night
You took your life as lovers often do
But I could have told you Vincent
This world was never meant for one as beautiful as you

Like the strangers that you’ve met
The ragged men in ragged clothes
The silver thorn of bloody rose
Lie crushed and broken on the virgin snow

Now I think I know
What you tried to say to me
And how you suffered for your sanity
And how you tried to set them free
They would not listen
They’re not listening still
Perhaps they never will…

jayjay

Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai….

Ho, khaanto se kheench ke yeh aanchal
Tod ke bandhan baandhi payal
O koi na roko dil ki udaan ko
Dil woh chala ha a aa aa aa aa.

Apne hi bas mein nahin main
Dil hain kahin to hoon kahin main, ho

Jaane kya paa ke meri zindagi ne
Has kar kahaan ha ha haa aa aa aa

Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai
Aaj phir marne ka iraada hai

Main hoon ghubaar yaa toofaan hoon
Koi bataaye main kahaan hoon, ho

Dar hain safar mein kahin kho na jaaoon main
Rasta nayan ha a aa aa aa aa

Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai
Aaj phir marne ka iraada hai

Kal ke andheron se nikal ke
Dekha hain aankhen malte malte, ho
Phool hi phool zindagi bahaar hai
Tay kar liya ha a aa aa aa aa

Aaj phir jeene ki tamanna hai
Aaj phir marne ka iraada hai

Funeral blues

Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.

Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead.
Put crepe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.

He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last forever: I was wrong.

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the woods;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

–W H Auden

Chalo ik baar phir se

This masterpiece penned by Sahir Ludhianvi, was sung by Mahendra Kapoor for the movie Gumraah (1963)..

Chalo ek baar phir se, ajnabi ban jaye ham dono -2

Na main tumse koi ummeed rakhoon dilnavaazi ki
Na tum meri taraf dekho galat andaaz nazaron se
Na mere dil ki dhadkan ladkhadaaye meri baaton mein
Na zaahir ho tumhaari kashm-kash ka raaz nazaron se
Chalo ek baar phir se..

Tumhen bhi koi uljhan rokti hai peshkadmi se
Mujhe bhi log kehte hain, ki yeh jalve paraaye hain
Mere hamraah bhi rusvaaiyaan hain mere maajhi ki -2
Tumhaare saath bhi guzri hui raaton ke saaye hain
Chalo ek baar phir se..

come, once again
let us become strangers
you and I

* Dard (urdu): Ache, Affliction, Pain

jayjay

Fearless

You say the hill’s too steep to climb,
Climb it!
You say you’d like to see me try,
Climb it!
You pick the place and I’ll choose the time
And I’ll climb
The hill in my own way
just wait a while, for the right day
And as I rise above the treeline and the clouds
I look down hear the sound of the things you said today
Fearlessly the idiot faced the crowd, smiling
Emotionless the magistrate turns ’round, frowning
and who’s the fool who wears the crown
Go down in your own way
And everyday is the right day
And as you rise above the fearlines in the frown
You look down
Hear the sound of the faces in the crowd

cheers

jayjay