Sunday, July 26, 2009

Midnight shakes the memory




I was goofing off, replying to comments on Facebook, when I realized that most of the answers that come to mind are lines from songs. So then I got to thinking (and then I got to weeping / I really had a flash this time / Gonna set my watch back to it / ‘cause you know I’ve been through it …) about lines that resonate in the memory (as a madman shakes a dead geranium, and yes, I KNOW that’s not from a song).

What fun. Let’s play at lists. Lines – lines from songs - that you think are great. Or maybe almost great. Or maybe just lines that stick in the mind. (Nothing from Robindro Shongeet, that needs a whole separate volume.) And while we’re at it, cokernuts all round if you get the sources for all of mine.

· How terribly strange to be seventy

· And the flowers bloom like madness in the spring

· Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose

· In sooney andherey aankhon mein / aansoo ke jagah aata hai dhuan

· Jee mein aata hai tere daman mein sar chhupa kar hum rote rahein

· I sit by the window and I watch the cars roll by / I fear I’ll do some damage one fine day

· Jo aankh se naa tapka woh lahoo kya hai

· Forsaken, almost human, he sank beneath his wisdom like a stone

· Ko jon aar hridoy diye gaaitey jaane

· And the Indian said, Nothing at all

· Wiping the dirt from his hands as he walks from the grave. No-one was saved.

· Just the way it changes, like the shoreline and the sea

· Ei aaNdhaarey, megher-o chhaya-e, akasho paarey

· The arc of a love affair / His hands rolling down her hair / Love like lightning shaking till it moans

· Hum thahar jaayen jahan, usko shahar kahte hain

· To dance beneath the diamond sky with one hand waving free / silhouetted by the sea

· Bhuley jaao phike chNapa rong ti tomaye manaye bhari

· It’s the dirty story of a dirty man, and his clinging wife doesn’t understand

· I was lying in a burned out basement with the full moon in my eyes

· And how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see

· Borney gondhey chhondey geeti-te, hridoye diyechho dola

· But she breaks like a little girl

· And so it goes, and so will you too I suppose

More to come, I’m sure.


Idea from KM - This Can Be A Meme.

Meh, Mame, May We?



20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eksau sola chandni raatein, ek tumhaari kandhe ka til
These boots are made for walking, and that's just what they'll do
And if you're offering me diamonds and rust, I've already paid
Tum bhi kho gaye, hum bhi kho gaye, ek rah par chal ke do kadam
These are just lines that just stick in the mind, there are some others which i think are great,but that is for later.

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Yes, of course - I missed out on "Ijaazat" and Darling Joan.

J.A.P.

sandeip said...

~~in my thoughts,i have seen | rings of smoke, through the trees~~

~~the end of laughter,and soft lies | the end of nights we tried to die~~

~~And the Anzio bridgehead | Was held for the price | Of a few hundred ordinary lives~~

U hit the G String! said...

Khilte hain Gul yahan, Miltey hain DIL yahan

km said...

Since you quoted from that classic Don Williams song in the opening, I am sure you are aware that listening to "I believe in love" causes one to respond to ALL of life's situations with lines from that song....("I don't believe in....organic food or foreign cars")

But "how terribly strange to be seventy" still gives me chills.

This post has the potential to be a fun meme.

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Sandiep, there ARE good lines outside of rock too.

G String, for me, that line doesn't cut it.

KM, would you believe I only heard the Don Williams version last year? But I heard the song 30 years ago on "Just one night" and it started me off on Old Slowhand.
Meme good idea. Will you do the honours? And start off on your blog?

J.A.P.

km said...

The song remains the same, JAP.

Shrabonti said...

Ok let me attempt the Gulzar ones:

In sooney andherey aankhon mein / aansoo ke jagah aata hai dhuan: Ek akeyla is shahar mein (Gharonda)


In sooney andherey aankhon mein / aansoo ke jagah aata hai dhuan: Tere bina zindagi se koi (Aandhi)

Hum thahar jaayen jahan, usko shahar kahte hain: Raahon mein rehte hain (Can't remember film)

And a Dylan: But she breaks like a little girl (Just like a woman)

shrabonti said...

Sorry, mishtake.

Jee mein aata hai tere daman mein sar chhupa kar hum rote rahein: Tere bina zindagi se koi (Aandhi)

Deboleena said...

Kochi Shonshod -- xD Rofl. Koto din pore shunlam. :)

Anonymous said...

Jhootha Hi Sahi Pyaar To Kar...

Anonymous said...

Bewafa yeh bhi kya yaad nahin...

Anonymous said...

Mann Shyam Ho Ya Sawera
Laga Teri Hi Yaadon Ka Dera
Tune Bandhan Kyon Ye Toda
Tune Kahe Ko Mu Moda...

Sougata said...

It's hard to bargle nawdle zouss
With all these marbles in my mouth.

--Smells Like Nirvana

...What, Weird Al is out? I mean come on, this is a classic.

J. Alfred Prufrock said...

Shrabonti, that one's from "Namkeen"

M Maiden, Poroshuram?

Triple Anonymous, for the "Parineeta" thought, try Neeraj - "Yaad tu aaye, man ho jaaye, bheer ke beech akela"

Saugata, how about "Eat it"? More topical now.

J.A.P.

Sougata said...

Saugata, how about "Eat it"? More topical now..

Ah ha, hahaha, hahahaha...waitaminnit...

JOP, you da man.

Anonymous said...

Waqt ne kiya kya haseen sitam, tum rahe na tum, hum rahe na hum

Or I could ride with kings and conquer many lands
Or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands
I could be cannon food, destroyed a thousand times
Reborn as fortune's child to judge another's crimes....

It's love's illusions I recall
I really don't know love at all

Anything from the movie Guide

shakester said...

cohen dylan s&g...I like...nice way to come back to your blog after a break (for me, I mean)
:)

Anonymous said...


So many things i would have done, but clouds got in my way

Mere ghar se tumko, khucch samaan milega, deewane shayar ki, kuchh deewan milega

Yeh chiraag bujh rahi hain, mere saath jalte jalte
and these entirely for sentimental reasons

How many special peole change/how many lives are living strange, where were you while we were getting high


Tattoos and memories and dead skin on trial, for what it's worth, it was worth all the while

ignorable said...

my eyes turned within only see starless and bible black

weaving time in a tapestry - won't you stop and remember me

the man ain't got no culture

and the poet sheaths his pen while the soldier lifts his sword

i stepped into an avalanche - it covered up my soul

and death shall have no dominion (can't say that doesn't stick in the mind)