Nitin attended Sir Joseph Williamson's Mathematical School and studied law at Liverpool University for a short time. He then went to London, where he met Sanjeev Bhaskar. The pair became friends and created a comedy double act, The Secret Asians, together. The show sought to turn absurdly dated Asian stereotypes on their heads. It led to a contract with BBC radio and eventually grew into the award-winning BBC TV sketch show Goodness Gracious Me.
During that time he met up with an old school friend, acid jazz keyboards-player James Taylor. He joined Taylor for a 40-date tour in as part of The James Taylor Quartet. It introduced him to the jazz club scene and provoked him into forming his own band, The Jazztones. He moved on to join forces with tabla master Talvin Singh to form the Tihai Trio and, after that collaboration ended in 1993, released his debut album, Spirit Dance on his own label. Shortly afterwards, he signed with Outcaste Records.
Sawhney's music is intensely political, commonly approaching themes of multiculturalism, empowerment, identity, immigration, poverty, and spirituality. He is active as an artist in residence for five different performing arts organisations in Europe and Asia, and along with George Martin is a patron for the British Governments Access-to-Music Program which brings music education to the inner-city students.
Sawhney's skills include classical and jazz piano and flamenco guitar. He has released six studio albums, as well as countless remixes and collaborations. After releasing Beyond Skin on London's Outcaste Records in 1999, he was signed by V2 to do six albums. His first album with the Virgin subsidiary, the millennial/apocalyptical Prophesy, in 2001 won a MOBO Award and a BBC Radio 3 Music Award.
Sawhney's music is influenced by his roots in India, utilising and featuring Urdu and Hindi lyrics, Qawwali singing, tablas and other instruments from the subcontinent, and Raga phrasings in music which is often primarily meant for the dance floor.
Sawhney's work in production and arrangement has led to his working in film and television scores. He has scored television ads for Sephora and Nike, as well as more than 25 films from his London-based Spirit Dance Studios. He was nominated for an Ivor Novello Award for Film and TV Composition in 2004 for his music on Channel Four's film, Second Generation. From there, he has begun to see acceptance from the "classical" community, and in 2004 he was commissioned by the city of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra and the Britten Symphonia to compose new performance works. London's Royal National Theatre invited him to write, direct, and score a work to be opened in 2005.
For photographs and additional information visit Nitin's official site, www.NitinSawhney.com
Broken Skin
Nitin Sawhney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
India conducted three underground nuclear tests
In the Bogram range
Hope falls softly from your hands
Dreams burn deep beneath the land
Time casts shadows overall
Sweating fever, rain or river
Broken skin, distant fear
Shattered worlds of endless tears
Hidden fires, distant lies
Buried hopes beneath the cries
Broken skin, distant fears
Silent lips, so far, so near
Silence, it is every hope apart
Two flames burn deep beneath one heart
Teardrops flow faster with the tide
Raging over calmer waters
As the timeless land divides
Broken skin, distant fear
Shattered worlds of endless tears
Hidden fires, distant lies
Buried hopes beneath the cries
Broken skin, distant fears
Silent lips, so far, so near
Broken, distant, shattered
Hidden, distant, buried
Broken, distant, silent
Cold games repeat on eastern shores
Strong winds blow over colder wars
Proud lips stay silent in the rain
There are half a million voices in the song without a name
Broken, distant, shattered
Hidden, distant, buried
Broken, distant, silent
Shattered
Hidden, distant, buried
Broken, distant, silent
(So far so close)
Shattered (There are half a million voices)
Distant
Shattered
Distant
Shattered (There are half a million voices)
Just five miles from Indias nuclear test site
Children play in the shade of the village water tank
Here in the Rajahstan desert people say they're proud
Their country showed their nuclear capability
The lyrics to Nitin Sawhney's song Broken Skin are reflective and delve deep into themes of hope, fear, and deception amidst the backdrop of nuclear testing in India. The first stanza opens with an announcement about the underground nuclear tests being conducted in the Bogram range in India at 15:45 hours. The following stanzas explore the complexities of human emotions and the impact of such testing on a personal level. The lines "Hope falls softly from your hands, Dreams burn deep beneath the land" speak to the loss of hope and the destruction of dreams, while "Broken skin, distant fear, Shattered worlds of endless tears" symbolise deep-seated emotions of pain and despair felt by people everywhere. The use of the phrase "buried hopes beneath the cries" captures the despair and helplessness felt by those affected by the nuclear tests.
The lyrics go on to focus on the dichotomy of silence and division, as well as hope and helplessness. The lines "Silence, it is every hope apart, Two flames burn deep beneath one heart, Teardrops flow faster with the tide, Raging over calmer waters, As the timeless land divides" speak to the ways in which silence can lead to division, while also highlighting the pain and sorrow that is often left unstated. The final lines describing children playing in the shade of the village water tank just five miles from the nuclear test site highlight the stark difference between the beauty of life and the devastation of war.
Line by Line Meaning
Hope falls softly from your hands
The person feels hopeless and is giving up on their dreams.
Dreams burn deep beneath the land
The person's unfulfilled dreams are causing them deep pain.
Time casts shadows overall
The person feels overwhelmed by time and its effects on their life.
Sweating fever, rain or river
The person is experiencing intense physical and emotional turmoil.
Brushing winds beneath your call
The person feels helpless and is being pushed around by external forces.
Broken skin, distant fear
The person is wounded and scared, but the source of their fear is far away.
Shattered worlds of endless tears
The person's world has been destroyed and they can't stop crying.
Hidden fires, distant lies
There are secrets and untruths that are causing the person pain, but they are far away.
Buried hopes beneath the cries
The person's hopes have been dashed and they are crying because of it.
Silent lips, so far, so near
The person is remaining quiet even though they are close to the source of their pain.
Silence, it is every hope apart
The person is so alone and hopeless that everything around them is silent.
Two flames burn deep beneath one heart
The person is conflicted and has two powerful emotions that are tearing them apart.
Teardrops flow faster with the tide
The person is crying harder as time goes on.
Raging over calmer waters
The person is struggling internally even when things seem calm on the surface.
As the timeless land divides
The world around the person is changing, and it's causing them even more pain.
Cold games repeat on eastern shores
Conflict and pain keep repeating themselves in the same places.
Strong winds blow over colder wars
Things are getting worse and more hostile.
Proud lips stay silent in the rain
People are hiding their pain and pretending to be strong in difficult situations.
There are half a million voices in the song without a name
There are many people suffering in silence.
Just five miles from Indias nuclear test site
The source of conflict and pain is very close by.
Children play in the shade of the village water tank
Life goes on even in the midst of conflict and pain.
Here in the Rajahstan desert people say they're proud
Despite the conflict and pain, people are finding reasons to feel proud of themselves and their country.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, RESERVOIR MEDIA MANAGEMENT INC
Written by: Hussain Yoosuf, Nitin Sawhney
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind