Paper-Picker

Dedicated to the Streetchildren of the world.


V1 He would wake up at dawn
While the other kids slept on
His grubby sack thrown over his shoulder
He would start his day in search of discarded paper

V2 His clothes were as tattered
As the paper he gathered
While he stalked the city on foot
Sore little feet thrust deep into oversized boots

V3 At the end of the day
He sold the paper away
All for the price of a single bowl of rice
Sometimes he wished he could have just a little bit more
It was time for him to grow
It was time that he should grow

CH Paper-picker, paper-picker
Picking waste-paper
From morn to dusk
Just for a bowl of rice (X3)

V4 On the pavement he would sleep
And sometimes he would weep
When the roar of a train brought him awake
For he always dreamt that he lived in a silver castle

V5 His dreams came true
From rags to riches he grew
There are bowls of rice by the score
But now he has no time for even one more

V6 For he walks all night
While the other paper-pickers
Are sleeping Oh! So tight!
For his paper-picking days have only begun
He’s a Super Paper-Picker
Picking paper – Paper-money!

CH Paper-picker, Paper-picker
Picking waste-paper
From morn to dusk
Just for a bowl of rice


Noel Gama
Daman, 26.9.1991

Rhythm of Life

Dedicated to honest daily-wage workers.


V1
Back home from work
Night-shift, over-time
6 days a week
Skunk-dirty, dog-tired

V2
Low-wage, price-hike
Deductions & Fines
On daily-wage
Bitterness, frustration

Chorus
What is our crime?
Answer us you self-made masters
We beg of you
Can’t you see the situation
You’ve forced us into
Close your eyes to the illusion
See reality
Just how long will the charade last
Before the façade comes down

V3
Pay-slip in hand
One Saturday night
Went home dead-drunk
T’was just about mid-night

V4
Hungry children
Tear-streaked faces slept
Wife’s eyes cried out
What did we do to deserve this?

V5
Bright-side of town
Down Affluent Street
Law-makers, Law-breakers
Socializing, victimizing, legalizing

V6
This great divide
Within nations
We have reached a stalemate
Is there a solution?


Noel Gama
7.6.1990

Girl Child

Dedicated to the girlchild.

1. A new child is born
And you’re filled with great happiness
And if you really love your mother
You’d be proud to be the father of this child
As a sign of your love and affection for her
When a Girl Child is born

2. Give the child a fair chance to survive in the world
Give her all the care, love and attention she’ll need
And though she may outshine the little boy at the back of your mind
All she’ll ever ask for is to be treated as a friend, a partner, an equal, no more

3. Woman, you’re not alone
The Man who saved you from hypocrites’ stones
And worked great wonders in your honour
Has shown us what we should have known all along
Oh! Well, now we are here to celebrate the birth of a beautiful Girl Child

4. You called my name and clothed my naked body
You sheltered and cherished me 9 months, day and night
You quenched my thirst for life with your blood
And, as if that were not enough
You risked yours for mine
So I could take my first breath
Unconditionally, you accepted me


Noel Gama
29.09.1990

The Greatest Gift Of All

Inspired by a sermon in church.

V1 Be it the picture in your television
Or just the people out in the street
Color or Black & White don’t matter to him
He can’t tell the difference at all
He can’t tell the difference at all

V2 His friends don’t agree with his notion of beauty
Beauty’s in the soul, not skin-deep
So they say he’s a sensitive philosopher
Shedding light so others may see
Shedding light so others may see

V3 The World is an illusion, he says
Blinding everyone, concealing the truth
Making you believe what you think you’re seeing
And seeing what you want to believe is the truth
Believe in what you think is the right thing, he says
And see that you do what is right
And see that you do what is right

CH White cane in hand
His blind eyes covered
With the dark glasses, they make him wear
Day & Night
He is happy for his fellowmen
They have the great gift of sight
And thankful for the greatest gift of them all
The God-given gift of Insight
The God-given gift of Insight


Noel Gama
17.12.1989

The Rendering of Accounts (By a Singer)

THE RENDERING OF ACCOUNTS (By a Singer)


Prologue : I asked Jesus : ‘How much do You love me?’
And He opened up His arms and died for me.

Chapter I : Life
Then it was my turn to tell Jesus
How much I loved Him
And this is what I said :

Epilogue : Judgement Day (The Rendering of Accounts)

V1 It’s been a long, and hard journey Lord
I’ve traveled over land and sea
Through good times, bad times, rain, sun and snow
Forgetting you when the going was good
And blaming you Lord
When the going got too rough

V2 It seems like it were yesterday, Lord
I’d set out with the silver pieces
But, Alas! Time waits for no one
The day has come and I stand before you Lord
For the rendering, of my accounts

CH Lord, I hereby render my accounts to You
Of what I have done and of what I have failed to do
The silver talents You put into my hands
Most I let go just too easily
Some I let be as they were
But one Lord, I made the most of
Singing is all I have done Lord
Singing is all I can do, Lord
Singing is all I have done

V3 When I arrived on the scene, Lord
The whole world lay there at my feet
I could have had my pick or walked on by
I tried my best to be true to you
But I did cheat at times
When I thought You would’nt be looking

V4 Beautiful was I when I set out Lord
Now I stand in rags before You
But it does’nt matter now anymore
It’s the end of the road and I stand before you, Lord
For the rendering, of my accounts

NOEL GAMA
13.05.91

The Rendering of Accounts (By a Soldier)

Written and performed in Daman for raising funds during the Kargil conflict.


V1 It’s been a long, and hard journey Lord
I’ve traveled into No Man’s Land
Through good times, bad times, rain, sun and snow
Forgetting you when the going was good
And blaming you Lord
When the going got too rough

V2 It seems like it were yesterday, Lord
I’d set out with my ‘brothers-in-arms’
But, Alas! Time waits for no one
The day has come and I stand before you Lord
For the rendering, of my accounts

CH Lord, I hereby render my accounts to You
Of what I have done and of what I have failed to do
The fighting weapon fate thrust into my hands
I did let go at the enemy
Some I shot down as they ran
But one took a shot at my heart, Lord
There’s a name on every bullet
Fighting is all I can do, Lord
Fighting is all I have done

V3 When I arrived at Kargil battlefield
The whole world lay there at my feet
I took my turn at the LoC then
And tried my best to defend my Motherland
But its only human when
You shudder beneath roaring Bofors guns

V4 It seems like it were yesterday, Lord
I kissed goodbye to my family
Tell them, I don’t feel the pain and cold now
The day has come and I stand before you, Lord
For the rendering, of my accounts

NOEL GAMA
16.07.99

A Message from the heart

This song is dedicated to the youngest band-member of my first band who passed away suddenly in 1993.


Intro

Can you hear me? I’m calling you
Its your best friend; bet you know just who
Reggae-music? How we both loved it
Emanuel! This is Noel, calling from the heart

V1
You were just a kid
Struggling with your dad’s guitar
When we two first met
And you could only strum ‘C’
We joined our first band that day
Played side by side for years
Keeping time all the while
Never lookin’ at the clock

Refrain
And you sang: “Sha-la-la, Sha-la-la, Sha-la-la
Baby, I love you”

V2
At first it was Country
And later Rock ‘N’ Roll
Next it was Disco
Oh! How it made you go!
But then came in Reggae
The music of the soul
And it sure got us jamming
And jamming till dawn


Refrain
And you sang: “Sha-la-la, Sha-la-la, Sha-la-la
Sweet Reggae-music, I love you”

V3
Do you remember
The trip to Rajasthan?
Lucknow & Delhi
And Gujarat too?
You made a hit in Macau
We heard you on the radio
But most of all buddy
You’re missed in Daman

Refrain
And you sang: “Sha-la-la, Sha-la-la, Sha-la-la
Glad to be back home, I love you”

V4
Last night as I lay sleeping
And crying in my dream
You wiped away the tears
And sang your best song
This morning when I woke
I found a kerchief on my pillow
I bet it was left there
By you, just for me

Refrain
And I sang: “Sha-la-la, Sha-la-la
Sweet memories will never die
“Sha-la-la, Sha-la-la,
Sweet memories they never die
Sweet memories can never die”


Noel Gama
1.10.93

The Miracle at the Home for the Aged

This song was born out of what happened one night at the Home for the Aged in Big Daman. A sick old lady had been left in the home because the wife of her only son did not want her in their house. The visits of her son decreased over the months while the permanent pain in her arm increased till it was so unbearable that night that she walked to the beach in the dead of night and laid down in the water to sleep and never wake up. But the tide was receding and local fishermen (not the Great Fisherman!) found her fast asleep in the wee hours of the morning!


DESTITUTE WOMAN


V1 She sits there all alone
By the window of the institution
She’s dressed up for the evening
Looks like she’s waiting for someone dear
(Yes, she’s waiting for someone)
She looks out expectantly
Into the fading daylight outside
But no, there is no one calling on her

V2 She gets up all by herself
And then she limps back into the dorm
She rests her head on the pillow
And through the tears
Thinks of her son (He has forsaken her)
Her lips move as she whispers
“Lord, watch & keep him when I am gone
Ah! Till we meet someday up there in paradise”

CH1 No one to talk to, when she’s feeling so blue
No one to cry on, when the pain comes on
No one to lean on, when she cannot go on
She’s a destitute woman (x 4)
Just a destitute woman

V3 So she lays awake all the night thru
Still she’s all dressed up
Waiting for someone
She looks up expectantly
Up at the ceiling, ready for Him
(Always ready for Him)
Tonight she’s very sure
That the Lord will knock on her door
Ah! Yes, tonight He’ll be callin’ on her

CH2 And then there’ll be, no more feeling the blues
No limp, no shame, no more tears of pain
No ‘old’, no ‘young’, no more sorrow beyond
She’ll be destitute no more
(Repeat Ch2 & fade out)

Noel Gama
11.07.1992

The Song of Daman

Let me introduce you to Daman with the lyrics of a song I wrote dedicated to my home-town:-

DAMÃO

This is the story of Damão
My sweet little home-town
And if you are a visitor
You’re bound to hear it somehow

For the talk of the town, is the town itself
The story is short you’ll see
But it sure is the best place
In the whole world for you to be

‘Da Mao’ is Portuguese for ‘handshake’
Peaceful people we are
We still make lots of salt dear
Down by the riverside

In Damão we are all good friends
And related to one another
We all do great business dear
In the name of personal favour

Many wonder, ‘why do we need
The little light-house at all?’
With 350 bars my friend
Daman’s the world’s wettest place

We have three wonders which please don’t miss
The jig-saw puzzle over the creek
Is nothing but an upside down
Three-piece, rusty, old, hanging bridge

The old fort which could never be
Invaded from the outside
Is now being invaded dear
Righta from the inside

The aquarium’s rare fishes, caught
From the Daman Ganga River
On the brink of extinction have earned
The distinction of ‘endangered species’

And last, but not the least dear
We too have our share of beaches
Devka Beach and Jampore dear
Sister-concerns of Singapore

So can’t you see, we are self-sufficient
And just to make it more convenient
We have our own currency dear
Which is strongly anti-apartheid!

Noel Gama
Daman
4.5.89