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
Street Guru Part One
Nitin Sawhney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
into the city and they've enriched the city
both like, from uh, you know work ethic
and you know the restaurants
and the music
and it's really a diverse city.
I mean you walk through the Vany Avenue,
Old Jewish neighborhoods, Arabic neighborhoods,
uh, Pakistani-Indian neighborhoods.
It's incredible.
The intensity... I think yeah,
development has pushed us away from other people.
You know a lot of times people are rude
because they want like immediate access
or immediate information.
You know some things in life can't be immediate,
sometimes you gotta wait and let things happen...
People are like, are increasingly rude.
Like I'll say somebody will get in a cab, we'll say
"I'll get em there in 5 minutes."
And they'll say,
"Well, It should only take 3."
Now who gives a shit if it takes 5 minutes or 3 minutes,
who cares?
At the end of your life
nobody's gonna put at your tomb stone
"shit I got in a cab in five, in seven minutes instead of three".
You know, It doesn't matter,
and technology has made us slaves to time.
Naw, a lot of people that are really have technical jobs,
they're slaves to time.
And time is the essence of life it seems like.
And they're basically like losing it
They're losing the essence of their life because,
you know, their life is like just going away and,
They're not enjoying it because their so engrossed
in efficiency and productivity and shit like that.
That it's almost sad.
They all come here from somewhere else
like seeking their fame and fortune or,
The top jobs and they're and career-you know,
in their, in their industries.
They get very engrossed,
and they into these
you know these cell phones and computers and...
I think the real important things in life are you know,
people and your family.
I think you don't realize that,
a lot of people don't realize that until they're older.
I think there's going to be
a backlash against technology
The lyrics of Nitin Sawhney's "Street Guru Part One" talk about the various cultures and values that have blended into the city and how they have enriched it with their work ethic, food, music, and diversity. However, with the advent of technology, people have become increasingly impatient and rude. Technology has made people slaves to time and efficiency, causing them to lose sight of the important things in life like family and relationships. The song talks about how people come to the city seeking their fortune and career and get engrossed in technology, but in the end, it is people and relationships that truly matter.
The song is a commentary on the impact of technology on society and how it has changed the way people interact with each other. The lyrics point out how people have become slaves to time and efficiency, losing sight of the important things in life. The song also celebrates the diversity of cultures in the city and how they have enriched it.
Line by Line Meaning
They've incorporated their culture and their values
into the city and they've enriched the city
both like, from uh, you know work ethic
and you know the restaurants
and the music
and it's really a diverse city.
The city has embraced and absorbed various cultures and values which has resulted in the city becoming more diverse and enriched. This includes work ethic, restaurants, and music.
I mean you walk through the Vany Avenue,
you know you go through Korean neighborhoods,
Old Jewish neighborhoods, Arabic neighborhoods,
uh, Pakistani-Indian neighborhoods.
Walking through Vany Avenue, one can go through different neighborhoods such as Korean, Old Jewish, Arabic, and Pakistani-Indian. The diversity of the city is evident in these neighborhoods.
It's incredible.
The intensity... I think yeah,
development has pushed us away from other people.
The author finds the city and its intensity incredible but believes that development has caused a gap between people and communities.
You know a lot of times people are rude
because they want like immediate access
or immediate information.
You know some things in life can't be immediate,
sometimes you gotta wait and let things happen...
Some people tend to be rude because they want immediate access to information. However, some things in life cannot be rushed, and waiting is required for certain things to happen.
People are like, are increasingly rude.
Like I'll say somebody will get in a cab, we'll say
"I'll get em there in 5 minutes."
And they'll say,
"Well, It should only take 3."
Now who gives a shit if it takes 5 minutes or 3 minutes,
who cares?
The author believes that people are becoming increasingly rude even when it comes to insignificant things such as the duration of a cab ride. The author questions the importance of such trivial matters.
At the end of your life
nobody's gonna put at your tomb stone
"shit I got in a cab in five, in seven minutes instead of three".
You know, It doesn't matter,
and technology has made us slaves to time.
The author believes that time is not as important as people make it out to be, and technology has made us too dependent on being efficient with our time.
Naw, a lot of people that are really have technical jobs,
they're slaves to time.
And time is the essence of life it seems like.
And they're basically like losing it
People with technical jobs are slaves to time, which seems to exist as the very essence of life. However, because they are so focused on efficiency and productivity, they are losing the important moments in life.
They're losing the essence of their life because,
you know, their life is like just going away and,
They're not enjoying it because their so engrossed
in efficiency and productivity and shit like that.
People are losing the true essence of life because they are too focused on efficiency and productivity, causing their lives to pass them by without them properly enjoying the moment.
That it's almost sad.
They all come here from somewhere else
like seeking their fame and fortune or,
The top jobs and they're and career-you know,
in their, in their industries.
It's almost sad that many people come to the city from elsewhere with the desire to achieve fame and fortune, without realizing that the most important things in life are their friends, family, and relationships.
They get very engrossed,
and they into these
you know these cell phones and computers and...
People become engrossed in technology such as cell phones and computers, which takes away from their ability to be present and engage with the people around them.
I think the real important things in life are you know,
people and your family.
I think you don't realize that,
a lot of people don't realize that until they're older.
I think there's going to be
a backlash against technology
The author believes that the most important things in life are people and family. Many people don't realize this until they're older, and the author believes there will be a backlash against technology in the future.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: NITIN SAWHNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind