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
The Immigrant
Nitin Sawhney Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
That they are encouraging for people to come down and work
And then we went to the embassy and they showed us
Kew garden pictures and pictures of the various parts of england
That it is all that beautiful and everything is just right
And that's why we just applied for the voucher.
You burn my flame within your hands
This time has insecurity
I feel, makes me restless inside
Will you take me there
To a distant place I've never been before
I could leave this world
I could follow you like oceans to the shore
You could take me there
Make the rivers of my mind flow to my dreams
You hold your secrets from my eyes
You see where the furthest rain falls
The day breaks over in the streams
You know where my rivers will flow
Will you take me there
To a distant place I've never been before
I could leave this world
I could follow you like oceans to the shore
You could take me there
Make the rivers of my mind flow to my dreams
And I dream of places far from here
And I call your name to the wind
And I wish the night would take me to another world
Where no one knows a face or has a name
Will you take me there
To a distant place I've never been before
I could leave this world
I could follow you like oceans to the shore
You could take me there
Make the rivers of my mind flow to my dreams
Make the rivers flow
Will you take me there
Will you take me there
Oh yeah
Take me there
Take me there
Take me there, yeah
Take me there, yeah yeah
Take me there
Will you take
Will you take
Me there
Take me there
Take me there
Take me there, yeah
Take me there, yeah yeah
Take me there
Take me there
Take me there, yeah
Take me there, yeah yeah
Make the rivers flow x7
The lyrics to "Immigrant" by Nitin Sawhney speak of the experiences that immigrant individuals go through. The first verse describes the process of immigration as being heavily advertised in newspapers and embassies, painting a beautiful picture of the new land. This leads the singer to apply for a voucher in hopes of starting a new life there. The second verse speaks about the relationship between the singer and someone who seems to hold mystical or spiritual qualities. The singer asks this person, whom they trust, to take them to a place they have never been to before – physically or emotionally. The third verse continues with the theme of escape and travel as the singer dreams of far-off places, calling out to the wind and wishing to be taken to another world, where they are anonymous and free from their past life.
The song is powerful in its ability to capture the feelings of immigration, from both the hope and excitement to the fear and uncertainty that comes with starting a new life in a foreign place. It also highlights the importance of trust and connection with others when facing such a monumental change.
Line by Line Meaning
Also heavily advertised in local newspapers and daily's
The government is promoting and encouraging people to come and work in their country through widespread advertising.
That they are encouraging for people to come down and work
The government is promoting employment opportunities for immigrants.
And then we went to the embassy and they showed us
The singer went to the embassy and was shown promotional materials to entice immigrants.
Kew garden pictures and pictures of the various parts of england
Promotional materials included pictures of beautiful places like Kew Garden and other parts of England.
That it is all that beautiful and everything is just right
The promotional materials conveyed that England is beautiful and everything is just right for immigrants.
And that's why we just applied for the voucher.
The singer applied for a voucher to immigrate to England because of the promises in the promotional materials.
You burn my flame within your hands
The singer is deeply in love and their passion is in the hands of their beloved.
You know when my destiny falls
The singer's beloved is aware of when their fate takes a turn for the worse.
This time has insecurity
The present moment is filled with uncertainty and risk.
I feel, makes me restless inside
This uncertainty creates a sense of restlessness in the singer.
Will you take me there
The singer asks their beloved to take them to a new, unknown place.
To a distant place I've never been before
The singer desires to go somewhere completely new and unfamiliar.
I could leave this world
The singer is willing to leave behind their current life to follow their beloved to this new place.
I could follow you like oceans to the shore
The singer is willing to follow their beloved anywhere, just like the oceans follow the shore.
You could take me there
The singer pleads with their beloved to offer them passage to this distant place.
Make the rivers of my mind flow to my dreams
The singer wants their beloved to help them make their imagination a reality and fulfill their dreams.
You hold your secrets from my eyes
The beloved is keeping secrets from the singer.
You see where the furthest rain falls
The beloved has an understanding of the furthest reaches of the world.
The day breaks over in the streams
A new day begins and freshwater streams start to flow.
You know where my rivers will flow
The beloved knows where the singer's imagination will take them.
And I dream of places far from here
The singer longs to be in a completely different place, far from their current location.
And I call your name to the wind
The singer is calling out to their beloved, even if they can't hear them.
And I wish the night would take me to another world
The singer desires to be whisked away to another place or reality during the nighttime.
Where no one knows a face or has a name
The singer wants to be in a place where identity is irrelevant and everyone is anonymous.
Take me there, yeah yeah
The singer repeatedly begs their beloved to take them to this distant, unknown place.
Make the rivers flow
The singer repeats this line as a plea for their beloved to help them make their dreams a reality.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Reservoir Media Management, Inc.
Written by: NITIN SAWHNEY
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@deesizzle79
My sister used to listen to this song a lot ... And today is her birthday... She passed away 7 years ago ... I miss her so much
@MCJustiz
Straight cried through this song, thinking about all the now grandparents who came here, so many dreams in their minds, for the future generation knowing fully well they were sacrificing everything they know to go live in a foreign land just so their seeds can flourish. Kinda puts things in perspective when they go on at us to do better, they made the ultimate sacrifice and I thank them all 🙏🏽
@ArpenTucker
Nitin Sawhney - Pure Genius - Love you brother
@sophialovesyou467
Such a beautiful song, how talented? I wish more people listened to classy beautiful cultural music like this!
@martacarrete735
Twenty years later since the first time that I listened this theme and I still feel that huge emotion inside. Is like a call from my destiny. Thanks!
@kohanaroy
The bengali part here is sang by my guruji Acharya Jayanta Bose one of the best musician of this era. I regard myself to be immensely fortunate to be able to learn music from a living legend like him.
@Floating_Lotus
Can you translate for us please 🙏 thank you!
@Cloud10Sounds
Just a beautiful song. The message to any immigrant hating, xenophobic, flag wavers here is simple. Before you vilify minority communities as not integrating, being hotbeds of fundamentalism, not contributing to our culture or economy - all of which are simply not true - remember we invited most of them here in the first place. Our Asian and Afro-Carribean communities were sold a dream of a better life which they took and now they tell them to go home. Educate yourselves, they are home and I am proud to call them brother and sister.
@metamorphiclouds
The Bengali lyrics go something like this, "Where are you going, Fisherman?", "O where do you wander?", "Where do you swim, leaving your home?"
@btf11dey
I saw a play named "Jungle" today. And i can't do anyting but think about... EVERYTHING... They use this music as a soundtrack and i just wanna hear this song again. Thank you.. For making me think.