Nitin Sawhney (raised in Rochester, Kent, England) is a London-based compos… Read Full Bio ↴Nitin Sawhney (raised in Rochester, Kent, England) is a London-based composer and DJ of various styles of music, including jazz, drum and bass, hip-hop, flamenco and modern orchestral compositions. His major works include Beyond Skin, Prophesy, Human, and Philtre. He is considered one of the pioneers of what is known as the Asian Underground music scene, defining a music genre that mixes south-Asian musical influences with western electronica and breakbeat style. He does however dislike the tag of "world" music, describing it as musical apartheid.

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

Run
Nitin Sawhney Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Holy girl
Don't get up
For running

Stay with me
I feel sad
When you run

Sands of time
Are lying
On my chest

Stay in bed
I feel sad
When you run

Stay like this
On the hills
Of my chest

Don't wake up
I feel strange
When you go

Stop the night
Hold me tight
Holy girl

Don't stand up

I feel strange
When you go

Overall Meaning

In Nitin Sawhney's song "Run," the artist sings about his desire for a holy girl to stay with him and not leave. He implores her to remain in bed with him, not to wake up, and not to run away. Nitin Sawhney describes the singer's feeling of sadness and strangeness when the girl moves away from him. The song suggests that the singer has an intense connection with this holy girl, and he wants to hold onto her for as long as possible.

The lyrics of this song can be interpreted in several ways. Some listeners may see the song as a love song, while others may see it as a plea to hold onto something meaningful in one’s life, something that becomes even more important in the light of the brevity of life. The "sands of time" image in the song could be interpreted as a metaphor for the fleeting nature of human existence. The singer recognizes this and wants to hold onto something that feels "holy," special or meaningful.

Overall, "Run" by Nitin Sawhney presents a poignant image of the human desire to hold onto something that feels special. The song's poetic lyrics offer a sense of melancholy while simultaneously capturing the beauty of love and the preciousness of life.

Line by Line Meaning

Holy girl
Addressing someone as a pure, innocent girl

Don't get up
Don't leave the current situation or change it

For running
To escape from the situation or person

Stay with me
Remain in the current situation or with this person

I feel sad
Expressing an emotion of sorrow or disappointment

When you run
When you choose to escape or leave

Sands of time
Metaphor for the passage of time

Are lying
Passively existing or remaining present

On my chest
Physically present on the artist's body

Stay in bed
Remain in the current location or situation of comfort

Stay like this
Remain in the current position or state

On the hills
Metaphor for the shape of the artist's chest

Of my chest
Physically present on the singer's body

Don't wake up
Don't change the current situation or awareness

I feel strange
Expressing an emotion of discomfort or unease

When you go
When you leave or disappear

Stop the night
Metaphor for slowing down time or prolonging a moment

Hold me tight
Requesting physical comfort and closeness

Don't stand up
Don't leave the current situation or change it

Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, THE BICYCLE MUSIC COMPANY, Peermusic Publishing
Written by: JOHN C. POPPER

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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