RIVER OF LIFE _samu©

This is another song which i scribbled down...


A cloudy day, a shadowed sky;
In dreams of what our world would be,
I saw a man who told a tale about a life renewed.
He said his past was full of pain, he was a victim of greed and power.
But…times change and situations change and…
Shadows all passed away
When destiny came knocking on his door;
He no more lives in pain, in agony, nor sorrow;
The Light of Life shines upon him,
He met someone who showed his love and care.

**Show that you Love, show that you Care;
Show you’re someone somebody depends on,
They’re calling your name, calling out of pain and suffering
So, show that you Love, cause Love is all they need.

Give your heart, all you have;
What you give is what you get.
Be the one to start the fire, and let it burn all through.
Trying hard but in vain, a silver lining is all they’ll ever need.
Lend your ears and hear the S.O.S. and…
Save them they’re drowning in the flood,
Destiny is what we choose to make.
They’ll no more live in pain, in agony, nor sorrow;
The Light of Life will shine upon them,
If you’re someone who shows his love and care.

***We’re building a heaven for everyone
Where men are men, life is life and free is free
So come…join the family, come…everyone,
A single ray of hope will flow into a river…
A River of Life.

IN THE BEGINNING THERE WAS…ROCK!!!

Elvis Presley (1935-1977) is called the King Of rock and roll, but today if you happen to drop by at Planet M you would probably find it in the Country Music section. So what is rock…what makes it rock and roll? What is it all about? Rock is a trend, a genre, a culture and a lifestyle. There is a long road down the history lane and rock as a music was born when some white Blues musicians started mixing their beat with a more country style. “Rock and roll” as it was named at first started way back in the late 40s. However, Chuck Berry was the one to re-write rock music as it is today. He was the first to use the guitar as a ‘lead’ instrument in his 1955 recordings and introduced the descending penta-tonic double stops (essence of rock guitar). Over the decades, this genre has had many ups and downs, hits and controversies, tales to tell but at the end of the day rock is all about the music and the great songs, live performances and guitar riffs. So if you want to know what rock is all about start looking for some names beginning from The Rolling Stones, The Yardbirds, The Beatles, Black Sabbath, Deep purple, The Doors, The Who, Pink Floyd, Jimi Hendrix, Van Halen, Queen and any rocking name you could ever think of. Rock is again made of a big family of some stray, some more classical offsprings -amongst the more popular are what we call Heavy metal, punk rock, acid rock, psychedelic rock, progressive rock, crunch rock, gothic, the new age modern rock, alternative rock and lots more. There is so much to say…

“Merseybeat” which developed in UK in the early 1960s changed the face of rock music forever. The huge popularity of this genre led veterans of that scene, or disciples of that scene, to the formation of bands such as the Rolling Stones, the Yardbirds and the Animals. The Rolling Stones became "the" sensation in London and went on to record the most successful singles of the era. The Yardbirds with its experimental music was an important connection of the British Blues and psychedelia. The band conceived great guitarists like Eric Clapton, Jimmy Page and Jeff Beck. Clapton, a Blues purist at the time left the band in protest with its move towards pop, later on joined Cream and after that pursued his solo career. Beck's playing style and bent for experimentation pushed the Yardbirds toward a "psychedelic rock” sound. Jimmy Page formed the band Led Zeppelin in 1968 after his departure from the Yardbirds. Led Zepplelin is considered to be one of the first hard rock and metal band with influences ranging from blues and folk genres. They never had huge hits in the US but their songs ruled over the airwaves and were more album oriented and never had huge singles. Their anthemic song "Stairway to Heaven," (Led Zeppelin IV 1971) remains among the most loved and respected songs in all popular music, routinely voted #1 on all-time best lists, possessing a status and reputation unlikely ever to be equaled.

The most commercially successful and controversial band of all time came up in the early 1960s, four young men from Liverpool- John, Paul, George and Ringo- The Beatles. They broke so many records and so many barriers and they will be remembered for being the most significant music creators of the twentieth century with 27 #1 singles in the UK and US billboard charts. The boom of “Beatlemania” swept fans across the world. In the mean time bands like The Doors (1965) in America and Pink Floyd in UK were produced whose influence would be gigantic. Pink Floyd’s progressive style influenced artists of the 1970s like Genesis, Yes, and contemporaries like Dream Theater and Nine Inch nails. Queen (19..) was a huge hit with its complex vocal harmonies and highly technical studio works. “Bohemian Rhapsody” a song written on bits of paper by Freddie will forever be a sensation. His mention of names like Bismillah, Scaramouch, Beelzebub and Galileo brought about lots of questions though he himself claimed that they were nothing more than “random rhyming nonsense”. Many, however, believed that Galileo in particular pointed out their guitarist Brian May who has a Ph.D. in Astrophysics.

The rock fever in US led to the resurrection of the Blues. Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin became stars. Jimi Hendrix was a singer and great blues guitarist and influencing a number of rock musicians that followed. His untimely death in 1970 at the age of 27 grouped him with Janis Joplin and Jim Morrison (the Doors) as one of contemporary music’s tragic “three J’s”. Joe Satriani, then a 14 year old boy picked up his guitar the day Hendrix died. Joe not only played in front of audiences but also taught guitar. Among his older students were Steve Vai, Kirk Hammet (Metallica) to name a few.

Heavy Metal is powerful, loud and fast with loads of everything. When you talk of the early days of Heavy, you talk of Led Zeppelin (1968), Black Sabbath (1968) and Deep Purple. They were a highly talented and innovative line-up who started it all influencing decades of rock bands that followed. Black Sabbath took up a dark satanic and occultic image and I still remember being frightened to listen to some of their songs as a child. But behind all the glads and glamour, the craziness of Ozzy biting off the neck of dummy crows and drinking fake blood on stage, there is art, there is music and great songs with wonderful lyrics. And ironically, songs like “Revelation (mother earth)”, “Children of the Grave” and the latest “Dreamer” carry messages of peace and preserving harmony. Judas Priest (1969) was another band which soon followed with a new face and powerful guitar riffs. Whereas their predecessors were more Blues influenced, their sound had the new age Metal look. They are dubbed ‘Metal Gods’. AC/DC (1973) a band of brothers Angus and Malcolm Young with brutal riffs, soccer crowded choruses and rattling lyrics is an Australian band and are on a “Highway to Hell” (song featured in School of Rock). After all the controversies about the full form of the name, they claimed that it just meant alternating current/direct current (AC/DC) something written on their sister’s motor powered sewing machine Angus saw as a child.

KISS was an answer to the call of the Americans at the time when all the great metal bands were from UK. This band is remembered for their glamorous make-up and stunning stage performances. Iron Maiden is another significant milestone, having three lead guitarists playing separate solos in each song with a great Gothic influence. Each of their songs seem to be classical pieces of music compiled together in a song like the ones of Bach or Beethoven. There are countless numbers of bands which followed the path of rockdom, but some are worth mentioning-Aerosmith, Scorpions, U2, Bon Jovi, Def Leppard, newer generations like the rivals Megadeth and Metallica and the list goes on.

The fans will never stop growing and the headbanging will never stop. Peace.