Poetry/Lyrics
This is the comlete text for Samia's CD JAAGO WAKE UP
The songs in Urdu are followed by a translation (in brown) :
1.Jaago
Jaago han jaago jaago
Han mut soh laina
Jaago han jaago jaago
Oojala hoai ga
Rung chehrai ka na dekh humarai
Dil ahon rung eik humarai
Kaisa ajeeb sa khail chulayai
Na upon ka saath na sung puraye
Jaago han jaago jaago
Han mut soh laina-
Aiseh ruwajo she kioon durroon me?
Aiseh sumaj se roz luroon me
Upna des hai, upna watan hai
To kioon yaha purdesi bunoon me?
Jaago han jaago jaago
Han mut soh laina-
1. Wake Up
Wake up, wake up
Don't stay asleep
Wake up, wake up
The dawn is coming
Don't look at the colour of my face
Our hearts and dreams are of the same colour
What a strange game is this
Neither my kin nor strangers are with me
Wake up, wake up
Don't stay asleep
Wake up, wake up
The dawn is coming
Why should I be afraid of these traditions?
I will fight this system every day
This is my country, my land
Why should I be an outsider?
Wake up, wake up
Don't stay asleep
Wake up, wake up
The dawn is coming
2. Haseen Khwaab
Jaage jaage kaisai huseen khwaab aya
Is watan meh akhir inqalab aya
Gureebon ka luhoo peeh ke turuki kurnai waale
Oon ke jurmo ke liya ab hisaab aya
Jaage jaage kaisai huseen khwaab aya-
Haath me haath ik saath hum chul ruhai the
Behe ye mehel bundon ka salaab aya
Jaage jaage kaisai huseen khwaab aya-
Be-insaaf kanoon ko julla ke dekha
Ke badul hut gayai aaftaab aya
Jaage jaage kaisai huseen khwaab aya-
2. Beautiful dream
I was awake, how did I dream such a beautiful dream?
A beautiful dream of revolution?
When those who prospered by drinking the blood of the poor
Must pay for their crimes
I was awake, how did I dream such a beautiful dream?
When we walked, all hand in hand
To sweep away palaces of privilege
I was awake, how did I dream such a beautiful dream?
When unjust laws were burnt we saw
The clouds part and the sun came out
I was awake, how did I dream such a beautiful dream?
3. Colour of Her Heart
It's not the colour of her heart
It's the colour of her face
It's not the whisper of her dreams
It's the roar of her race
So hard to give so hard to take
These words of love these words of hate
Words can free her
Words can keep her in her place
It's not the colour of her heart-
What must be wrong cannot be right
No shades of grey just black and white
Words may heal you
She may die in their embrace
It's not the colour of her heart-
These scars cut deeper than the skin
One world without one world within
Only see them
They may fade without a trace
Its not the colour of her heart-
4. Raat Meh
Raat me akailai meh
Lurkian kioon roti hae?
Buchpan ki masoom khwaabe
Lurkian kioon khoti hae?
Khaae jo dil pe choat
Dagh kaise mitten ge?
Rugur rugur naazuk budun ko
Lurkian kioon dhoti hae?
Raat me akailai meh-
Zehen ko choro
Aahen loot chooki hae
Bhool ki gehri kaali nudi meh
Yaade kioon diboti hae?
Raat me akailai meh-
Khoon ke ansoon
Tupuk tupuk ruhae hae
Ghairo ki busti meh na dekho
Upne ghar me hohti hae
Raat me akailai meh-
4. In the Night
In the night all alone
Why do girls cry?
Why do they lose
Their innocent dreams?
When the heart itself is scarred
How will it heal?
Why do they rub
Their fragile skin so hard?
In the night all alone-
Never mind their thoughts
They have lost their hopes
Why do they sink memories
In the deep black seas of oblivion?
In the night all alone-
Tears of blood
Drip drip drip
Don't point at others
Look in your own homes
In the night all alone..
5. Anticlockwise
Even if my eyes become the soles of your feet
This fear will not leave you
For even though I cannot see
I can still feel bodies and sentences like a fragrance
This fear will not leave you
Even if I rub my nose in the dirt ëtil it bleed
This fear will not leave you
For even though I cannot smell I can still speak
This fear will not leave you
Even if my voice in praising you becomes weak
This fear will not leave you
For even though I cannot speak I can still walk
This fear will not leave you
Even after you have paralyzed me, tied the chains of domesticity,
Shame and modesty around my feet
This fear will not leave you
For while I can see
This fear will not leave you
While I can feel
This fear will not leave you
While I can speak
This fear will not leave you
While I can walk
This fear will not leave you
While I can think
This fear will not leave you
While I am free
This fear will not leave you
Based on Hijarat by Kishwar Naheed, translated by Rukhsana Ahmed
Published By The Womens Press 1991 in We Sinful Women
Rewritten words, music, arrangements S. Malik
The Third Daughter
I was the third daughter
In a culture that worships the first son
So I tried to reason
Look, I said, it’s not really fair to treat me differently
Just because I’m a girl
I even tried to give an example from the Koran
And said Look at how Mohamed (peace be upon him)
Treated women as equals,
Read what it says, just here, look
But it was no good
I was still the third daughter …
So I shouted, and beat my fists
I wailed, and complained,
I stamped on the floor
Even threw a few plates
(Which later of course I had to clean up)
It was still no good
I was still the third daughter …
So I tried to be quiet and good
Listened, looked after, visited and telephoned often
And did my best to bury any feelings
In my cooking and sewing
(My curries became delightful at this time)
I made babies, and kept house
Dressed modestly, looked down a lot
Never answered back
And watched, hopeful
But it was no good
I was still the third daughter …
So I became ill
Raging panic attacks, palpitations
I could see nothing, say nothing, feel too much
Sank down to hell
My mouth tasted bitter
My skin was all open sores
But it was no good
I was still the third daughter …
So
I left
Embraced the new culture warmly
And with feeling,
Gratitude even.
I thought, here at last I can be me,
Where it doesn’t matter what I have, or haven’t
Between my legs.
Where I will be seen for what I am
Really what I am.
I can be free!
Free to be me!
So I cut my hair short
Put on my trousers
Went out to work
Learned to name my feelings
And even show a few
I could live how I wanted
Be who I wanted to be
The whole world was mine
Now that I was free
But
But
But it was still no good
I was a daughter
Still in a culture that worships the son
(It just doesn’t admit it quite so openly)
Still in a culture so afraid of difference
It seeks to destroy all it doesn't understand
Still in a culture so afraid of change
It tries to hold back the tide
There is talk, there is action,
There is change, there is Re-action
Each step that is won, is fought over again and again
No-woman’s land
The casualty list goes on
Does anything really change?
Is anything really different?
Now
I am a daughter
Of my rage
I am a daughter
Of my love
I am a daughter
Of my self
And have as much right as anyone
To the bounty of the world
Now
I hold my own hands
From the inside
Now
The flowering of acceptance
The fire of the challenge
The vision of freedom
6. Ik Sheher
Ik sheher phookarta hae
Kaise waha me jaoon?
Dil me pahar-e-khoaf oothe hae
In ko kaise hutaoon?
Oonhe me yaad hoon mugur
Upnai aap ko bhool gayi
Kaha dhoondoo wo masoom lurki
Oos ko kahan she meh laoon?
Ik sheher phookarta hae
Sudian beet gayi hae
Bichhur gayai sarae saathi
Be-jurr hoon, me soorat upni
Roz roz nahi bunaoon
Ik sheher phookarta hae
Ik sheher phookarta hae
Do jahan me reheti hoon
In ko kaiseh munaoon?
Kaha dhoondoo upnai khooda?
Kis zubaan me me gaoon?
Ik sheher phookarta hae
6. A City
A city calls me
How can I go there?
My heart is a mountain of fear
How can I move this?
They remember me
But I have forgotten myself
Where shall I look for that
Innocent child?
A city calls me
Centuries have passed
All I knew are lost
Rootless, I invent
A new face every day
A city calls me
How can I reconcile
These two worlds?
Where shall I seek my gods?
In which language shall I sing?
A city calls me
7. Khailti hoon
Khaliti hoon puraane raho me
Upni tukdeer ki bunyaadon me
Aina ya gullon ke chehrai hae
Yaad aate ho in baharon me-
Terai khaito pe khizan chhaee nahee
Phool khiltae hae terai baghon me-
Teri hunsee jo gungunaati thi
Raag bunti hae ye huwaon me-
Ansoo-o behene ki fursut hae kaha
Guftagoo hae humari khaabo me-
7. Playing
I am playing in alleyways of memories
In the roots of destinies
Is this a mirror or the faces of new flowers?
I remember you in this blossoming-
Autumn has not come to your fields
Flowers bloom in your gardens-
Your laughter used to sound so loud
Now it is a song in the wind-
How can I have time to cry
When we speak in dreams?
8. Land of Hope
Land of hope
Land of glory
Land of hope
Mother of the free
I colour in the flag in thick crayons
Struggling to keep within the straight lines.
My father says,
There, the streets are paved with gold.
Gold, I echo. Really?
I read it, he says with a straight face.
Then it must be true, I think.
Above my head, I hear him laugh
The crayon slips, the red goes right
Over the white
And blue
Land of hope-
Salt Street
The two boys play here every day after school
They don't notice
The frayed ropes on the swings
That their clothes catch on exposed nails
The rough grass
Or the broken adventure slide
Its end stand like guillotines
Under which they shoot imaginary villains
Pow! Pow! Take that!
At times, their mother calls them urgently
They huddle together in the cellar
Giggling
As men with small heads and big boots gather
And march down their street
Throwing bricks, and worse.
Their mother mutters under her breath
New symbols appear on their walls overnight
Which they use as target practise
Today, the younger of the two
Uncovers a frayed union jack
In a clump of weeds
He throws it up with a whoop
It arcs into the air
Even its faded colours
Vivid against the grey sky
The black houses
They both shriek with delight when
It flutters like a bird
Then lands silently
In a pool of mud
Land of hope-
We struggle to keep within straight lines
Separated, we find
These streets were never paved with gold
They are hot with burning cars
Who will ever connect
An end with its cause?
Land of hope-
This year, the streets are different
Straight lines and colours shimmer and melt
Flags multiply, meanings shift and fade
Is the dragon finally being slayed?
This year
For the first time I do not turn away my face
Cross to the other side of the street, increase my pace
For the first time I can cheer on the same side
Feel the same sense of despair, and an odd sense of pride
This year, when my daughter colours in the same flag
Waves it in proudly in class
A fluttering sea of red white and blue
I manage a clap and a smile or two
But still I feel, deep down, there's something it lacks
Perhaps it ought to be red white and blue
And black
Land of hope-
Written for the Dragons Show at the 2002 Sidmouth International Festival
9. Junum ke Dookh
Junun ke dookh me kioon purri ho?
Moht ki khooshi me gaya kurro
Char din ki zindagi hai
Ga ke dil behlaya kurro
Tor do bundhan kioon durti ho?
Chhor do rishte kioon rookti ho?
In dustooron se kia ghubrana?
Moht ki khooshi me gaya kurro-
Upnai sutch ko maan lo
Upnai huq ko thaam lo
Keh do keh do upna fasana
Moht ki khooshi me gaya kurro-
Ghoongroo pehno surma lugao
Jaam piyi aur mehfil bunao
Chahe roothai sara zumana
Moht ki khooshi me gaya kurro-
10. Hosh
Choopa do is hosh seh
Simut lo aghosh meh
Zehen ho khamosh reh
Simut lo aghosh meh
Loot gayi kis josh meh
Simut lo aghosh meh
Duniya ke afsos meh
Simut lo aghosh meh
10. Awareness
Shield me from this awareness
Hold me close in your arms
Let my mind be still
Hold me close in your arms
I am lost in madness
Hold me close in your arms
I feel the pain of the world
Hold me close in your arms
11. Kaale Kaale
Kaale kale gaal re gorai gorai baal
Musti ki chaal re aja morai laal
Jab se mehne toom ko dekha hai
Tab se mehne sohchna forsaka hai
Musti ki chaal re aja morai laal-
Lajawaab cheez ho mana
Light up kur do sara zumana
Musti ki chaal re aja morai laal
Jhoot nahi ye itna sutch hai
I love you very very much re
Musti ki chaal re aja morai laal
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