Tuesday, June 22, 2010

amassakoul


maybe it's the hot weather
or just the need to move around to a tight groove
but tinariwen, the poet guitarists and rebels from the southern sahara,
have been filling the air here after a bit of an absence.

this is pure summer music
in the golden fish definition of summer music.

groovalicious, soulful, feel-it-in-your-hips music.

never heard of them?
perhaps you didn't know me when i posted this.

i can listen to this group without understanding their songs
but their words, which come from their touareg heritage - born out of the desert -
are worth reading:

so here are the words for the song you can choose to listen to
or shake your ass to:

amassakoul

i am a traveler in the lone desert
it's nothing special
i can stand the wind
i can stand the thirst
and the sun
i know how to go and walk
until the setting of the sun
in the desert, flat and empty,
where nothing is given
my head is alert, awake
i have climbed up and climbed down
the mountains where I was born
i know in which caves the water is hidden
these worries are my friends
i'm always on familiar
terms with them and that
gives birth to the stories of my life
you who are organized
assembled, walking together
hand in hand, you're living
a path which is empty of meaning
in truth, you're all alone.

headphones out ladies and gentlemen! blinkers off!!

11 comments:

Tess Kincaid said...

I'm feeling it!!! I'm movin'!!!

Elisabeth said...

Wonderful groove, Steven.

I'd say, judging by the translation, their worries are not so different from ours and with no room for organised obsessives. Thanks

Bonnie Zieman, M.Ed. said...

'in the desert, flat and empty, where nothing is given'... makes me think anew how the land does shape the man. How privileged we are to live where so much is given ... and how so often we take it forgranted.

Lorenzo — Alchemist's Pillow said...

Great suff, Steven. Thanks for the intro ...

Valerianna said...

Wonderful.... I have a favorite band from Mauratania.... can't remember their name right now! But similar sound... beautiful lyrics....

thanks!

Reya Mellicker said...

Oh yeah! Going straightaway onto my playlists. You've introduced me to so much GREAT music, Steven. And now again today. THANK YOU!!

ellen abbott said...

I enjoyed this very much steven. I have a lot of foreign language music compliments of a friend who used to work for Putamayo, a recording company that goes around the world. Not understanding the words has never diminished my enjoyment of the music. One of my favorites is Turkish Groove.

Jenny Stevning said...

Wow! Very interesting! Something NEW!!

Titus said...

Yes, I got the groove.
And what lyrics! The pride and the insight.

Linda Sue said...

Just popped in quickly to feed the cat and the bird and thought I would check up on you...AWESOME! What a great find- I never would have known about this! LOVE it! So much better than the music I heard on Moroccan busses, back in the day...Thanks for this post!!!

Acornmoon said...

Groovy groovalicious in a hippy swinging kind way.