Urr_Tang_Tang - Another song by Hemanga Biswas

British East India Company acquired the right to collect tax on behalf of the emperor in 1765. The British colonialists pursued a formidable tax income, introduced a new land tenure regime through the Permanent Settlement Act and also invited moneylenders, merchants into the region as well as employ tax collectors from Greater Bengal to act as intermediaries. Many of them ruthlessly exploited the Adibashi population by a mounting tax load which made many Adibashis trapped to the Zaminders and money lenders. Thus trapped the simple Adibashis resorted to further debts. Many Adibashis were evicted or forced as a result of such unending debt trap and trickery to give up their ancestral lands and forests. The historic Santal Hool rebellion took place during 1855-1857 led by Santal-brothers Sidhu and Kanhu against the British government to protest such excessive land rents and forced dislocation of Santals and other Adivasis from their ancestral lands. This song is composed by Comrade Hemanga Biswas as a tribute to the historic Hool Bidroho. Some confusion about the date. While Com. Biswas has stated the date to be 20th August in his narrative, according to some history books the date is 30th June.

Long Live Comrade Bhupen Hazarika

We have lost Comrade Bhupen Hazarika on 5th November, 2011 but his songs will remain immortal. This section of the blog is dedicated to him.

Here Com Hazarika sings "Aamraa Karbo Jay":

We Are In The Same Boat Brother

First, the original english song by Huddie William Ledbetter (Lead Belly):



Now Bhupen Hazarika sings the same song:



And, now the Bengali version:



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The Lyric:

We're in the Same Boat Brother

By Huddie “LeadBelly” Ledbetter


We’re in the same boat brother,
We’re in the same boat brother,
And if you shake one end,
You gonna rock the other
It’s the same boat brother

The Lord looked down from his holy place
Said Lawd duh me, what a sea of space
What a spot to launch the human race
So he built him a boat for a mixed-up crew,
With eyes of Black and Brown and Blue.
S that’s how’s come that you and I
Got just one world and just one sky.

We’re in the same boat brother,
We’re in the same boat brother,
And if you shake one end,
You gonna rock the other
It’s the same boat brother

Through storm and grief,
Hit many a rock and many a reef,
What keep them going was a great belief.
That the human race was a special freight
So they had to learn to navigate.
If they didn’t want to be in Jonah’s shoes,
Better be mated on this here cruise.—Why—

We’re in the same boat brother,
We’re in the same boat brother,
And if you shake one end,
You gonna rock the other
It’s the same boat brother

So the boiler blew, somewhere in Spain,
All the kettle was smashed and 40 cranes.
Steam boat out from the Oregon Main.
Oh, it took some time for the crew to learn
What is bad for the bow ain’t good for the stern.
If a fire took place in China today
Pearl Harbor just gonna blaze away.

We’re in the same boat brother,
We’re in the same boat brother,
And if you shake one end,
You gonna rock the other
It’s the same boat brother.
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Maanush Maanusher Janye:



The Assamese Translation:

Hemanga Biswas again

This song was composed by Hemanga Biswas in the year 1944 on the eve of a students' uprise in Assam. It is a sin to forget this master-piece.

The song is "Mashaal Jwaalo Mashaal Jwaalo" :

Where Have All The Flowers Gone

One More Song "Where Have All The Flowers Gone" by Pete Seeger followed by its Bengali translation by Hemanga Biswas - "Fulguli Kothaay Gyalo"

First, the Song by Pete Seeger



Now, the Bengali translation by Hemanga Biswas

We Shall Overcome - The evergreen song of the fighting mass

And now that song which is ever-green.

We shall overcome

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The Background of the Song

"We Shall Overcome" is a protest song that became a key anthem of the African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968). The lyrics of the song are derived from the refrain of a gospel song by Charles Albert Tindley. The song was published in 1947 as "We Will Overcome" in the People's Songs Bulletin (a publication of People's Songs, an organization of which Pete Seeger was the director and guiding spirit).

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Firstly by Pete Seeger:



And now the Bengali Translation by Hemanga Biswas
i.e. Aamra Karbo Jay:

Songs on John Brown

Here two more songs. One the original english song "John Brown's Body" by Pete Seeger and side by side the Bengali version made by Hemanga Biswas - "John Brown-er Deho".

Firstly the song by Pete Seeger:



And now the one by Hemanga Biswas:

To start with I would like to share with you these two songs of Hemanga Biswas about which I have already mentioned in my earlier post. -

(1) Oraa Aamaader Gaan Gaaite Dyay Naa

I have received a comment from sohinil through Youtube that I want to add here and at the same time earnestly thank sohinil for kindly rectifying the mistake made unknowingly by me.

"Dear eskusari, The song was written by Kamal Sarkar , not Hemanga Biswas. He was part of Hemanga Biswas's troop named Mass Singers. They used to sing the song quite often. I know, because I am Kamal Sarkar's daughter and grew up attending rehearsals at Hemanga Jethu's house. Hope you do not mind my clarifying the etiology."


(2) Bhedi Anoshana Mrityu Tushaar Tufaan

Introduction - Why This Blog

This is more a store-room for Bengali Ganasangeet than a blog. This is built with a view to make available those treasures of Bengal which are gradually going out of our memory. Even now, whenever I listen to "Ora Aamaader Gaan Gaaite Dyay Naa" or "Bhedi Anoshana Mrityu Tushaar Tufaan" I travel back to my college days. To those days, when we the students of our Economics Department used to sing these songs at the pitch of our voice thumping the desks of our class room whenever we got any free period. I am afraid we lacked in quality but the great amount of enthusiasm, energy and emotion that we used to pour into our songs, I am definite, were more than sufficient to make good the deficiency. Here I fondly remember Ashish - Ashish Adhikary who was our lead singer. He had a bass voice like Debabrata Biswas. Now Ashish is a teacher in a school. He is still associated with direct politics but most probably no connection with 'Sangeet' any more.

I sincerely hope this humble attempt by me would help some one like you to walk down his memory lane too. I hope this store house would help those young boys and girls who feel or will some day feel interested in these songs.

This blog, as I have already said, is mainly dedicated to the genre of "Peoples' Song" or "Mass Song" of Bengal. But here we may find some songs of some other languages also which have been included for obvious reasons. I have tried to provide the back-grounds, the lyrics as well as the notations wherever possible.

Permit me to request you all to enrich this reservoir with your valuable contribution in the form of songs, lyrics or notations from your personal collection.

Some songs of Ranjan Prasad, Pratul Mukhopadhyay, Anup Mukhopadhyay, Ajit Pandey, Anushree & Bipul Chakraborty, Meghnad, Kabir Suman and the likes, in my humble opinion, should also find place here. And I would like them included. Some folk songs may also enter this store house for the simple reason that they speak about the plight of the common men e.g. "Aamaar Ghare Basat Kare Kayjana". Well, many folk songs became famous as Peoples' Song during the golden era of the IPTA also - isn't it ?

Then of course comes a question about the songs of the Peoples' Theatre or Group Theatre. Here also I strongly feel that this store room of Peoples' Song cannot be complete without the songs of say Bertolt Brecht. I, for myself, would be delighted if this store house can give people an opportunity to listen to "Mary Baba" from "Marich Sanbad" of "Chetana".

And lastly, if some body has some video clipping of some good recitation of say, one "Birendra Chattopadhyay-poem" should he not also be invited to please contribute it to this store house ? Or some clipping from a good theatre or street drama ? What do you think ?