composers

"Crawling on your knees through the desert sand. Your dress is torn and blood on your hand. The Southern Cross, a giant tower of light. Your silhouette, your laughter - then your bite! I feel real."

"The world's all gone to pieces - Hangin' upside down. You might as well deep-freeze us until the cure is found. And every time the sun - And every time the sun, that blazing, callous gun, will rise again."

"Thinking of your smile makes me crawl for a mile through the rain, you know."

"Nothing we can't buy: rhino-horn with ham"

"Give your heart to the devil - you get a cell phone for free, yah! Bigger, faster and louder - Pretend we cannot see"

"A craving for the haven that is on no maps"

"Oceans of time passing through space, beings and things – come and slip away. Like tears in a stream drift into the sea, no shape, no soul – faint memories of dreams."

"I’m going down in the 7th round of this fight that I thought was just a joke."

"To be able to run you gotta learn how to walk with these demons inside."

"Countries, borders, anthems and flags keep us apart those ancient gags. All their speeches, adverts and hymns to feed their greed and keep us dim. Call me insane, call me brave, but I won't slave for the pharaoh's grave. I’d rather dance my life away for this could be our final day."

"Limousines and pearls - she wants to rule the world. Assassins in the brain - the white light leaves no stain. Money in his hand - waiting for the man, who’ll steal his soul away. This is our last dance!"

"Tonight, I saw a star breaking through the clouds, oblivious to its light – just like you."

"His thoughts are flowing like a straightened river into the ocean."

"Every day that you’re gone, I think of you. The colours of your portrait never dry."

"When your eyes are shut, you start seeing in ways that we’ve always known! Living so many ways of shaping these days - and feel those rays warm the skin on our face."

"Holding on to the same old ground, when all inside is screaming ‘out’!"

"Our mirrors are you and me and through them, we learn to see."

"All these days that I strive so hard to calm the waves of the oceans and seas with the palm of my hand. Every day like a lifetime – oh, save me a piece, a piece of the cake. Past, just like a haze – trying all so hard to cling to fake. And still, I haven’t worked it out that there’s nothing to work out. Still, I haven’t worked it out that there’s nothing, there’s nothing"

"As the number plates drift by, my restless scanning eyes search for you."

"Fake-flower-flattery, broken glass, ancient rituals - a farce. I close my eyes and gaze at the stars. Fatal scent engraved on the brain, crumpled words spring to life in the rain, shape a face or just a stain. You come, you go and all this time, I strive, I die, I fall in love. And all that is new, is just another you."

"You’ve taught me to blend in, wearing your fake cobra skin; It fits so tight, I can’t breathe in, but you make me hang in. Oh, every time and time again, you aim to stop my fire with paraffin. And while I play the mandolin, you’re dancing with Rumpelstiltskin; Oh, I can hold my breath for longer than you think."

"Soon, the red of dawn will rise and you and I will close our eyes; Escape together from the light until we meet again tonight. I wanna see you in the night."

"Have you danced in the rain - seen all your money go down the drain? Picked yourself up with nothing to lose? Let someone else sing the blues! Ride this crazy life – day by day!"

"You walk with shoes on fire while you complain about the smoke."

"Smile at strangers on the London tube."

"Oh, the teachers told me he is real. Yeah, the preachers told me he is real. If you buy into, into their fear, oh, the devil is real in your mind."

"This time something’s wrong. This time I hear no song. This time, I feel this could be real, this could be love."

"I finally came to see that all I ever was and all I’ll ever be is always here."

"There’s no such thing as fairness; There must be other plans for us. No existence of justice; Our laws just build walls between us. There’s no such thing as freedom from the results of our deeds. No easy way in or out of this life, no escape from our needs."

"I always had one goal, and that was to become a musician. I had no other choice."

"I was 12 when I first realized, there is a Bengali musician who plays the guitar like Jimi Hendrix. He was one of the pioneers of Bengali rock music. My teenage was inspired by his music. He became a family friend when I was in Bangladesh. His simplicity was outstanding. His contributions to music will be remembered by generations to come."

"The great man not only taught us about music, but taught us how to be a great human. I always admired how much he loved his mother, and requested other people to take care of their parents."

"When Ayub Bachchu started his career, the guitar wasn't as prominent as an instrument. He made sure that it was the heart and soul of his music, and the entire country followed. That alone is enough to explain his legacy."

"The fact that people from all walk of life were affected by the departure of Ayub Bachchu is testament to his greatness as an artist. I was fortunate enough to have personally known him since his starting days. He was an immensely passionate person."

"Please pray for my father so that he can secure a place in heaven. Please forgive my father if you hold a grudge against him. Perhaps my father could not give his best to you, but he gave his inexorable love. He tried his best. My last words to you, please pray for my father's departed soul."

"The trend in Bangladeshi music that Azam Khan initiated, was taken to a new height by Ayub Bachchu."

"I have released a lot of albums. They're all fine. Somewhere down the road, I made a few mistakes. Since music is my profession. I'm not doing music for it's a fashionable thing to do. This is my only living. So maybe I had to sing some songs that I didn't like at all. I sometimes regret it and think that I could've avoided doing those 4-5 songs. Other than those, all my songs are like my children - those that I composed, LRB songs, my solo album songs. All of those are my favorite - all of them. But I don't think I have yet been able to make that song, the song I may have dreamt of all my life, a song that will make the listeners know Bangladesh. The world will know Bangladesh through that song."

"Not at all. It is a spiritual song. Some people take it negatively and try to make a different meaning out of it. When we enter the 2nd verse, the song becomes clear. "Bhetorete thakle kalo, upore jol jotoi dhalo" (If you are not clean in your heart, no external force can cleanse your soul). We first have to make our hearts beautiful by surrendering our body and soul to the highest power. We won't get the real meaning of this song if we don't open up our minds"

"This song has a background that I'll never reveal. Ever! It is everyone's story, not only mine. Listeners from both East and West Bengal - all love this song. They have the lyrics memorized and they sing it for their partners, their loved ones. Maybe I sang this for someone I loved. Let the rest of the story remain a secret. Why I asked for forgiveness, why I said "Cholo Bodle Jai" (Let's Change) - let's keep these undisclosed. When you marry your loved one, things change a great deal. You sometimes can't help but feel like going back to being lovers again after marriage. Life would've been better if you could just stay lovers."

"Rock music makes me alive, it makes me awake, so that tiredness can touch me and make me say – It's enough, I have earned much popularity."

"I left Souls because of two different tastes in sounds. They liked one kind of music, I liked another. I was into loud, rocking, powerful sounds, and the rest of the members wanted quiet, melodious sounds. You cannot just compromise day after day. We never really had any big arguments, but it occurred to me that it would be better if I just quit and do something different."

"Most of all I like Hendrix. He did not make the guitar playing very critical note after note. He played the guitar as per his feelings. I have been trying that."

"LRB is disenchanted in cheap popularity. Whatever the language of the song is or from what country it's from, music is for everyone. That's why we've composed this two cassette's about the world around us. If any of these two cassette touches the heart of a good listener, we will find the satisfaction of all our hard work. LRB makes music for those people who loves to listen to good music and takes the problems around them as their own problem."

"Not everyone in this country is a thief or corrupt. If I was, I would be a politician and be doing far better in life."

"Personally, for this reason, I feel great professional satisfaction and I think we can all be satisfied. Our generation certainly needs to be satisfied. If the next generation are young, this youth is accepted as their own, as something in common, it will be a great reason to be personally very happy."

"Being an atheist must be like living in a closed cell with no windows. I’d hate to live like that, wouldn’t you? We see them, mind you, on television today, many brilliant people who are professional atheists who say they know for a fact that it’s insanity to have a God or to believe in religion. Well, OK, God bless them for feeling that way and I hope they’re happy. But I couldn’t live with that certainty, and I wonder about some of them: why are they protesting so much? How are they so sure of what is out there? And who am I to refute the beliefs of so many great philosophers and martyrs all the way down the years?"

"To act is to decieve, and to decieve, one must forget oneself."

"I don’t know what it is, truthfully, I think part of it is being still and all that. I don’t know. I like to kind of come in at the side door. I like to act like a submarine; just don’t do much and just let it evolve. It’s resisting the urge to push the envelope. It’s very difficult for an actor to avoid, you want to show a bit. But I think the less one shows the better"

"I learn from thinking about the future, what hasn't been done yet. That's kind of my constant obsession."

"John Cale is a f*cking elitist. He did not like the people he was playing for. He's Welsh, and they're all nasty bastards."