Words:

Was a cowboy I knew in south Texas,
His face was burnt deep by the sun,
Part history, part sage, part mesquit,
He was there when Poncho Villa was young.
And he’d tell you a tale of the old days,
When the country was wild all around,
Sit out under the stars of the Milky Way,
And listen while the coyotes howl.

And they go… hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo

Now the long horns are gone And the drovers are gone,
The Comanches are gone, And the outlaws are gone,
Geronimo is gone, And Sam Bass is gone,
And the lion is gone, And the red wolf is gone.

Well he cursed all the roads and the oil men,
And he cursed the automobile,
Said this is no place for an hombre like I am,
In this new world of asphalt and steel.
Then he’d look off some place in the distance,
At something only he could see,
He’d say all that’s left now of the old days,
Those damned old coyotes and me.

And they go hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo

Now the long horns are gone, And the drovers are gone
The Comanches are gone And the outlaws are gone,
Now Quantro is gone, Stan Watie is gone,
And lion is gone, And the red wolf is gone.

One morning they searched his adobe,
He disappeared without even a word,
But that night as the moon crossed the mountain,
One more coyote was heard.

And he’d go, hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoodi hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo
hoo yip hoo yip hoo
hoo di hoo di yip hoo di yip hoo

Now the long horns are gone, And the drovers are gone
The Comanches are gone And the outlaws are gone,
Now Quantro is gone, Stan Watie is gone,
And the red wolf is gone – And “Treadwell” is gone…

Notes:
1.) Timothy Treadwell (April 29, 1957 – October 5, 2003) was an American bear enthusiast, environmentalist, amateur naturalist, eco-warrior and documentary film maker. He lived among the coastal grizzly bears of Katmai National Park in Alaska, USA, for approximately 13 seasons. At the end of his 13th season in the park in 2003, he and his girlfriend Amie Huguenard were killed and eaten by a brown bear. Treadwell’s life, work and death were the subject of the 2005 documentary film by Werner Herzog titled Grizzly Man. (Wikipedia)

2.) Drovers in this case refers to the cowboys who drove the cattle across the prairies to the rail heads.
3.) Sam Bass: Outlaw in the old west
4.) Stan Watie: American Indian, Civil War Confederate
5.) Quantro: Fighters during American Civil War

I decided to record a trial run today on my Hohner Acoustic whose strings I changed this weekend. Guitar is tuned a step down with Capo on 5th Fret. Audio is a bit distorted due to my innovative idea of using the capo as a Mic stand..got too close!

Lyrics:

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there,
She once was a true love of mine.

Tell her to make me a cambric shirt
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Without no seams nor needlework
Then she’ll be a true love of mine

Tell her to find me an acre of land
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
Between salt water and the sea strands
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.

Tell her to reap it in a sickle of leather
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme
And gather it all in a bunch of heather
Then she’ll be a true love of mine.

Are you going to Scarborough Fair?
Parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme.
Remember me to one who lives there,
She once was a true love of mine.

A quick recitation to go along in my rather cough-ish voice.

Words:

Now I’ve come to the cross-roads
In my life and I will say
I still dream of tomorrow
When the stars will show the way
Yes I say

Now we stand here together
Still apart, so far away
There’s a time there’s a season
When the feeling must go away
Yes I say

Oh the valleys and the sea
I long to be in arms of thee
I’ll sail away – hey wild and free

When the rain comes-a-calling
At my door – Yes I’ll sing
Sing to you – there’s a story
Of a Maiden & the king
Yes I’ll sing

Oh the forest and the stream
I wish I were in arms of thee
I’ll sing along, come sing with me

Here I stand at the cross-roads
In my life and I must say
I still dream of tomorrow
When forever we will stay
Yes I say.

-Gautam Dhar (12th Dec. 09)

Lyrics:

Any way the wind may blow
Any way the creek may flow
Any way the crow may fly, within the confines of the sky
I will prove my love to you
In everything I say and in all I do

Anywhere the song is king
Anywhere the robin sings
Anywhere the lake is cold
Anywhere the bell is tolled
I will prove my love to you
In everything I say and in all I do

Anytime our paths don’t cross
And the losing dice are tossed
Anytime you know what’s best
Anytime I can’t care less
I’ll make it up to you
In everything I say and in all I do

Any way the wind may blow
Any way I stub my toe
Any way the tree might bend
Any way the day might end
I will prove my love to you
In everything I say and in all I do
I will make it up to you
In everything I say and in all I do

This weekend, Nikhil and I finished composing one of our best songs so far and I, on the other hand, finished a Nazm that had been in my mind all this past week. I would like to dedicate this Nazm to all the down-trodden Women who put up with the daunting task of eking out a life for themselves and their families. People who take little things for granted must stop and look around and remove the garb of arrogance and ignorance. This is the hour to lend a helping hand, as I have realized lately. Helping the needy is not charity, it’s everyone’s Obligation.

Meanwhile, enjoy the Nazm, which is a slight continuance from the last one, Chalo Dafn Karo.

Here’s a recording that I just made of the recitation for Non-Hindi readers [13 OCT 2009]

Last night while trying to sleep I came up with a few words and by the time the tattered notepad’s page was full this evening, a Nazm was born. Since my last Ghazal in April, Akhiri Padaav – I haven’t been able to do much writing due to my travel to India and being extremely busy at work. I did compose Jalpari in May, however, I would call it more a Geet than Nazm. Looking forward to hear what people think of it. While writing this, I was thinking of Arun Joshi’s lines in the book Strange Case of Billy Biswas, “the most futile cry of man is his impossible wish to be understood..”

I wanted to share a recording of In the Paradise song written & composed by Nikhil. We did this dual Guitar recording at Rohtak – the night before our trip to Khajjiar, Himalayas in July 2007.

There are no vocals, but just the Instrumental where we tried to add a second Guitar to this song. While I reminisce the memories of my recent Himalayan Travels, enjoy this recording meanwhile!