Ethnic and rhythmic, with a mixture of spoken word and Bowie-esque choruses.
The Chillum Brothers
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Story style song inspired by a journey Shankarji made to Afghanistan in 1972 - a song to smoke chillums by!
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“Chicken Street”
We were walking side by side in a strange delightful land
I looked into your eyes and then I took hold of your hand
There were sights you'd never seen and there were sounds you'd never heard
As if suddenly we were on the moon and walking through a dream
And I well remember times when Kabul city lived and breathed
Green parks and boulevards and a sunlit hotel room
In the background there’s a snow-peak just a glimpse of Hindu Kush
And the hotel guy brings chai and smiles - asalāma lekoom!
We smoked together and drank tea upon our balcony
We laughed in the sun - no sign of darkness closing in
Chorus:
An old man sits and stares
with rags around his feet
walls scarred with bullet holes
Now strangers fear to meet
Down on Chicken Street
In the morning we would pick our way through narrow alleyways
(and find a) market selling fruit and guns and hash and all you want for cash
A guy comes past and shakes my hand as if I’m from the promised land
He smiles and grins, invites us in and shows us where to stand
It was five hours later – shit that guy could smoke!
When we staggered into Ziggy’s for some coffee and more dope
They were playing Jimi Hendrix and the hippies were all trippy
And your eyes were telling stories of the coming morning glory
I wish my western friends could see Afghanistan like this
Way back before the war - when the darkness closed right in
Chorus
Faceless Buddha towers above us awesome in the dawn
An old man prays to Allah - chai shop vents a cloud of steam
We break our fast on eggs and tea and sticky black hashish
The air is cool and crystal clear and sparkles like a dream
So we mount ourselves on horseback and we ride into the hills
And see a turquoise lake whose waters glittered in the sun
I tried to tell you how I felt when I played my old guitar
But in the desert heat your love for me had never quite begun
You might have thought you’d seen a peaceful land of dusty hills
Out there in the distance with the darkness closing in
Chorus
We were walking side by side in a strange delightful land
I looked into your eyes and then I took hold of your hand
There were sights you'd never seen and there were sounds you'd never heard
As if suddenly we were on the moon and walking through a dream
And I well remember times when Kabul city lived and breathed
Green parks and boulevards and a sunlit hotel room
In the background there’s a snow-peak just a glimpse of Hindu Kush
And the hotel guy brings chai and smiles - asalâma lekoom!
We smoked together and drank tea upon our balcony
We laughed in the sun - no sign of darkness closing in
Chorus:
An old man sits and stares
With rags around his feet
Walls scarred with bullet holes
Now strangers fear to meet
Down on Chicken Street
In the morning we would pick our way through narrow alleyways
And find a market selling fruit and guns and hash and all you want for cash
A guy comes past and shakes my hand as if I’m from the promised land
He smiles and grins, invites us in and shows us where to stand
It was five hours later – shit that guy could smoke!
When we staggered into Ziggy’s for some coffee and more dope
They were playing Jimi Hendrix and the hippies were all trippy
And your eyes were telling stories of the coming morning glory
I wish my western friends could see Afghanistan like this
Way back before the war - when the darkness closed right in
Chorus
Faceless Buddha towers above us awesome in the dawn
An old man prays to Allah - chai shop vents a cloud of steam
We break our fast on eggs and tea and sticky black hashish
The air is cool and crystal clear and sparkles like a dream
So we mount ourselves on horseback and we ride into the hills
And see a turquoise lake whose waters glittered in the sun
I tried to tell you how I felt when I played my old guitar
But in the desert heat your love for me had never quite begun
You might have thought you’d seen a peaceful land of dusty hills
Out there in the distance with the darkness closing in
Chorus
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