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
Devil and Midnight
Nitin Sawhney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Painting years of rain clouds waiting for the day.
Nothing comes from killing time as you crawl inside your mind,
Close your eyes and blame the world.
Ooh, If you could change the world from within,
The lines of your precious dome.
Arm's length's a perfect prison,
It's an easy life for the angry kind,
For a heart that's growing cold.
Just close your eyes and blame the world.
Just close your eyes and blame the world.
Close your eyes and blame the world!
And words will never reveal sincere emotion
When the soul chooses to hide,
Nothings colder than dead compassion
Hiding behind the eyes.
If you keep the venom behind your lips,
A kiss could make you cry
And ashamed you lied,
And blamed the wolrd.
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind,
The answers whistling on down the line.
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind,
The answers whistling on down the line.
It's a sin you deny, the gift that's given,
A circle of a lie.
Revealing every emotion if only in good time,
Wind will blow through than any fear
Residing in your mind.
Just close your eyes and blame the world.
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind,
The answers whistling on down the line.
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind,
The answers whistling on down the line.
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind,
The answers whistling on down the line...
Nitin Sawhney's song The Devil and Midnight delves into the theme of blaming the world for one's internal struggles and conflicts. The opening lines, "Deep beneath the Devil and midnight hours you threw away, Painting years of rain clouds waiting for the day", suggest that the singer is trapped in a cycle of negativity, feeling helpless and unable to change their circumstances. As they blame the world for their problems, they lose themselves in their thoughts, crawling inside their mind, and killing time.
The chorus reinforces this mindset, advising that it's easier to blame the world than to take responsibility for one's actions. The line "Nothing's colder than dead compassion, Hiding behind the eyes" suggests the singer has become emotionally distant, and their lack of sincerity means their words offer no respite for their troubles. The second verse implores the singer to confront their anger and take steps to change their circumstances, as self-isolation only serves to make problems worse.
In conclusion, Sawhney's song encourages listeners to take action and own their situations, rather than taking the easy way out by blaming the world. The singer is urged to stop denying the gift of life and to acknowledge their emotions, even if it means facing their fears head-on.
Line by Line Meaning
Deep beneath the Devil and midnight hours you threw away,
In the dark depths of the night, you let go of everything
Painting years of rain clouds waiting for the day.
Living in a state of constant negativity, always waiting for something better
Nothing comes from killing time as you crawl inside your mind,
Wasting time by being trapped in your own thoughts leads to nothing productive
Close your eyes and blame the world.
Avoid taking responsibility by blaming the world for your problems
Ooh, If you could change the world from within,
If you could make a positive change in your own life, it could spread and affect the world
The lines of your precious dome.
The boundaries of your mind and thoughts
Arm's length's a perfect prison,
Keeping people at a distance allows you to protect yourself from emotional hurt, but also isolates you
Right inside your home.
You don't have to leave your own home to feel trapped and isolated
It's an easy life for the angry kind,
It's easy to get caught up in anger and let it control your life
For a heart that's growing cold.
When your heart becomes cold towards the world, it's harder to find joy and love
Just close your eyes and blame the world.
Once again, blaming the world is a coping mechanism for avoiding responsibility for one's problems
And words will never reveal sincere emotion
Words can hide true emotions, making it hard to connect with others
When the soul chooses to hide,
When someone intentionally hides their true self or feelings
Nothings colder than dead compassion
Feeling no empathy or compassion for others is a very cold and isolating feeling
Hiding behind the eyes.
Pretending to be someone you're not or hiding one's true feelings behind a façade
If you keep the venom behind your lips,
If you keep your anger and negative thoughts to yourself
A kiss could make you cry
A positive moment could bring out negative emotions if you're holding onto negativity
And ashamed you lied,
Being ashamed that you weren't honest about how you truly feel
And blamed the wolrd.
And once again, blaming the world for one's problems
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind,
Continuing to blame the world instead of taking responsibility for your life
The answers whistling on down the line.
The answers or solutions to one's problems are already known or available
It's a sin you deny, the gift that's given,
Denying the good things in your life and not appreciating them is a mistake
A circle of a lie.
Lying to oneself and others creates a never-ending cycle of denial and negativity
Revealing every emotion if only in good time,
Letting out emotions in a controlled and positive way can be beneficial
Wind will blow through than any fear
residing in your mind.
Facing your fears and being honest with yourself can lead to a sense of relief and freedom
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind,
Once again, avoiding responsibility by blaming the world for problems
The answers whistling on down the line...
The answers are still there, waiting to be found and acted upon
Writer(s): Nitin Sawhney, Yolanda Quartey
Contributed by Micah O. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@mannyross3820
Deep beneath the Devil and midnight hours you threw away
Painting years of rain clouds waiting for the day
Nothing comes from killing time as you crawl inside your mind
Close your eyes and blame the world
Ooh, If you could change the world from within
The lines of your precious dome
Arm's length's a perfect prison
Right inside your home
It's an easy life for the angry kind
For a heart that's growing cold
Just close your eyes and blame the world
Just close your eyes and blame the world
Close your eyes and blame the world!
And words will never reveal sincere emotion
When the soul chooses to hide
Nothings colder than dead compassion
Hiding behind the eyes
If you keep the venom behind your lips
A kiss could make you cry
And ashamed you lied
And blamed the wolrd
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind
The answers whistling on down the line
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind
The answers whistling on down the line
It's a sin you deny, the gift that's given
A circle of a lie
Revealing every emotion if only in good time
Wind will blow through than any fear
Residing in your mind
Just close your eyes and blame the world
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind
The answers whistling on down the line
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind
The answers whistling on down the line
Blaming the Wooooooooorld, inside your mind
The answers whistling on down the line...
@wolfnstein2294
Spent a very good time in 2002 as his Tour driver around Europe. We sat in the downstair lounge of the tour bus and chatted for a long time about world eclectic music. Have a special copy of Prohesy signed by Nitin.
@hakichiki
#TotallyTrippyRoadTripping:
#DoingWhatYouAreGoodAtAndLove... #AndStillGettingPaidOverAndOverInManyManyWaysToKeepDoingIt.
#Epic.
@drogonmon
No amount of remixing could ever keep the beauty of this song.
@cipaMD
Blaming the world inside you'r mind....briliant ..
@Crampo17
this new tune makes me a day - deep into my soul, thx Nitin
@ozgunzaman4131
wow. Good music never gets old
@Djin2itive
i just felt in love with her amazing voice! pure emotion!!! o.O
@KOALAsounds
what an incredible musician
@tehgermangirl
True bliss to listen to.
@ZachyDoodles
This and the Engine-EarZ Experiment remix are amazing!