"Pray for me brother" by A. R. Rahman

"Are you searching for a reason to be kind? 

Pray for me brother"

- A R Rahman

Ah this Rahman, who does not like him? He is the definition for cute in the dictionary of musicians.



Some of my favourite songs of his are:

• "Pray for me brother" - the UN anti-poverty anthem '07,


• "Yeh jo desh hai tera" - with Ustad Bismillah Khan,


• "Tamizha" - I heard him sing this one in an interview with Simi Garewal, and


• "Be a rebel" - of Rang De Basanti, the travel-freedom song, but I did not like the movie video it had, but yes I liked the lyrics so much, a wonderful song to listen to while traveling the country. 

As the world celebrates his awards for the Slumdog song "Jai ho", I am also happy for his recognition. But I got to say that it's one of the biggest jokes to all Indians that he gets so many awards for that "Jai ho". Because if it is so, then Man, this Rahman should be getting many, many more Grammies and Oscars and Globes for all his previous and future numbers. Something has gone crazy with some of those award-givers. Iraq/Afghan Warlord Obama gets a Peace for talking! Adiga gets a Booker for some guy killing his boss and making a living! Salman Rushdie gets a Booker of Bookers for I don't know. Slumdog Millionaire gets Academy for showing an Indian boy jumping into shit to see Amitabh Bachchan, but I believe that no sane boy in India would do that, even if Sachin turned up but instead that boy would use his brains to find some other way to get to his aim, ah but never mind, that Director Boyle always had a thing going on with toilets in some previous flicks too. I guess, it's his problem. God bless them all with the right path!



So back to our man, A. R. Rahman - Allah Rakha Rahman. I have a youtube video for you with a relevant  transcript to read carefully. Rahman talks about the song "Pray for me brother" released in the year 2007. Well if you listen up carefully, you will see this Grammy-Oscar-National-Filmfare-BAFTA-Globe award winning material making lots of mistakes while he speaks. This forty four year old man fumbles, he repeats the same lines again for later editing, he is nervous like anyone of us. But man, I just loved it the way he talks from his heart. The talented Mozart, the genius like any ordinary one, just like anyone of us, just some next door guy with that inside-out-outside-in Tamilian charm. A great lesson for all of us to remember that, just by being ordinary, we are extraordinary. So now, define the word "ordinary", can you!

 Rahman talks about the song "Pray for me brother"

Transcript



"Well, it is the first song for me, almost the first song for me singing in English. I have been listening to lots of westerns*. We have listened to Beatles, Imagine (By John Lennon), we have listened to Freddie Mercury, we have listened to Bono, it's high time, we had a voice of our own, and that's the reason I sang preferably English. And, it also a anti-poverty anthem for the UN Millennium development goals.



The idea of Prayer, I think, we believe that we are all created by one single Creator and He uses* a lot of good, we end up in misery because of own deeds, and the least we can do for our fellow human beings, probably wish, wish him good, probably a prayer, and then it comes all the rest of, the intention, the basic intention to help someone has to start within the heart and that's the reason I, 'Pray for me brother' the title is very close to me.



And, the song is actually not a solution, it's just a small step to inspire all of you out there, and we all earn money, but in our happiness we just have to think about somebody else also, I think we should, we should pull them to, to at least not, to what level we are, but at least pull them out of poverty, and that's important and if small drops could change, the whole ocean changes cleanses and we could probably have a fantastic solution, in probably ten years or twenty years or anything, but the basic notion and basic intention has to start right now, listen to the song, get inspired, God bless." - A R Rahman

Pray for me brother

Pray for me brother



"Pray for me brother

Pray for me brother

Pray for me sister

Are you searchin’….

Pray for me brother



Lookin’ for the answers

To all the questions In my life

Will I be alone 

Will you be there 

By my side

Is it something he said 

Is it something he did

I wonder why 

He is searchin’ for the answers

To stay alive



Could you ever listen 

Could you ever care

To speak your mind

Only for a minute 

For only one moment

In time



The joy is around us 

But show me the love

That we must find

Are you searchin’ for a reason

to be kind, to be kind…

He said… Pray for me brother



Pray for me brother 

Pray for me sister

Pray for me brother Say

what you wanna say now

But keep your hearts open

Be what you wanna be now

Let’s heal the confusion

Pray for me brother



Don’t let me take when you don’t wanna give

Don’t be afraid Just let me live

Don’t let me take when you don’t wanna give

Don’t be afraid Say what you wanna say now

But keep your hearts open



Be what you wanna be now 

let’s heal the confusion

Pray for me brother Pray for me brother

I’m ashamed ah, brother be dying of poverty

when he down on his knees its only then he prays

And it’s a shame ah, brother be dying of ignorance

cos the world is a trip and everybody’s a hypocrite

 Need to stop ah, 

taking a look at the other I’m not ashamed of poverty

need to be making his life better

So think about it, think about it once more

cos life is a blessing and it’s not just a show, ah

Round and round the world is spinning around



We need to be singing a prayer, we need to be singing it now

Round and round the world is turning around

We need to be singing a prayer, we need to be singing it now  

Need to be feeling the power, need to be feeling the faith

We need to coming together just to win this race  



Need to be feeling the power, need to be feeling the faith

We need to coming together just to win this race (twice)

Are you searching for a reason to be kind?"

Visit his cute website www.arrahman.com 

Buy the A.R. Rahman Foundation calendar here. 

Michael Jackson spotted his bubbling heart at the Oscar award function, and asked him to join him in making the second part for "We are the world". Glad to hear Quincy Jones recently asking Rahman to join in, for their remake of the 25 year old "We are the world" anthem, an initiative by the late MJ.

And to conclude with a prayer from my side!



 I pray so hard, so hard, 

that no matter how many awards they curse or bless you with,

 Rahman, please I beg you please, 

those awards can sometimes be like poison,

keep improving your work, you got a wonderful career ahead,

you really need to get even better lyrics for your tunes,

songs that should give the world a billion heartbeats to be kind,

to be kind at a worldwide threshold level.

Thank you for those soul-stirring tunes,

they inspire us indeed. 

God bless!