He put a new song in my mouth, a song of praise to our God..

This came up in conversation today, not many of us know that some of the better songs of our times trace back to religious texts...so this is a quick trivia post directly quoting wikipedia..all for your trivial delight :P



"Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a Season)", often abbreviated to "Turn! Turn! Turn!", is a song adapted entirely from the Book of Ecclesiastes in the Bible (with the exception of the last line) and put to music by Pete Seeger in 1959. Seeger waited until 1962 to record it, releasing the song on his The Bitter and The Sweet album on Columbia Records.45% of the royalties for the song are donated to the Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions, due, in Seeger's own words, to the fact that "[in addition to the music] I did write six words."

The lyrics are taken almost verbatim from the book of Ecclesiastes, as found in the King James Version (1611) of the Bible(Ecclesiastes 3:1), though the sequence of the words was rearranged for the song. Ecclesiastes is traditionally ascribed to King Solomon and for a time, the book was prohibited by the rabbis, who deemed it too cynical and depressing.
“

1. To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
2. A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, a time to reap that which is planted;
3. A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
4. A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
5. A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
6. A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
7. A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
8. A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace. ”

The Biblical text posits there being a time and place for all things: laughter and sorrow, healing and killing, war and peace, and so on. The lines are open to myriad interpretations, but as a song they are commonly performed as a plea for world peace, with an emphasis on the closing line: "a time for peace, I swear it's not too late." This line and the title phrase "Turn! Turn! Turn!" are the only parts of the lyric written by Seeger himself.



"Rivers of Babylon" is a song written and recorded by Brent Dowe and Trevor McNaughton of The Melodians in 1970, and popularized mainly by the 1978 Boney M. cover version. The Melodians' original versions of the song appeared in the sound track to the 1972 movie The Harder They Come.

The song is based on the Biblical hymn Psalm 137, a hymn expressing the yearnings of the Jewish people in exile following the Babylonian conquest of Jerusalem in 586 BC. The namesake rivers of Babylon are the Euphrates river, its tributaries, and the Chebar river. The song also has words from Psalm 19:14. It is one of a few pop songs whose lyrics come directly from the Bible

Psalm 137

1 By the rivers of Babylon we sat and wept
when we remembered Zion.

2 There on the poplars
we hung our harps,

3 for there our captors asked us for songs,
our tormentors demanded songs of joy;
they said, "Sing us one of the songs of Zion!"

4 How can we sing the songs of the LORD
while in a foreign land?

5 If I forget you, O Jerusalem,
may my right hand forget its skill .

6 May my tongue cling to the roof of my mouth
if I do not remember you,
if I do not consider Jerusalem
my highest joy.

7 Remember, O LORD, what the Edomites did
on the day Jerusalem fell.
"Tear it down," they cried,
"tear it down to its foundations!"

8 O Daughter of Babylon, doomed to destruction,
happy is he who repays you
for what you have done to us-

9 he who seizes your infants
and dashes them against the rocks.



"40", also known as "40 (How Long)", is the tenth and final track from U2's 1983 album, War. The song is noted for its live performances, often involving the audience singing along for minutes after the band has left the stage. The lyrics are a modification of the Bible's Psalm 40.

The song did not get a commercial release. It was, however released as a promotional single only in Germany, simply to promote U2's appearance at the Loreley Festival in 1983.[1] The single was released on a 7" gramophone record with a B-side of the album version of "Two Hearts Beat as One". Since its live debut on February 26, 1983, in Dundee, "40" has been a staple of U2's live concerts, having been performed over 300 times.

1 I waited patiently for the LORD; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.

2 He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.

3 And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the LORD.

4 Blessed is that man that maketh the LORD his trust, and respecteth not the proud, nor such as turn aside to lies.

5 Many, O LORD my God, are thy wonderful works which thou hast done, and thy thoughts which are to us-ward: they cannot be reckoned up in order unto thee: if I would declare and speak of them, they are more than can be numbered.

6 Sacrifice and offering thou didst not desire; mine ears hast thou opened: burnt offering and sin offering hast thou not required.

7 Then said I, Lo, I come: in the volume of the book it is written of me,

8 I delight to do thy will, O my God: yea, thy law is within my heart.

9 I have preached righteousness in the great congregation: lo, I have not refrained my lips, O LORD, thou knowest.

10 I have not hid thy righteousness within my heart; I have declared thy faithfulness and thy salvation: I have not concealed thy lovingkindness and thy truth from the great congregation.

11 Withhold not thou thy tender mercies from me, O LORD: let thy lovingkindness and thy truth continually preserve me.

12 For innumerable evils have compassed me about: mine iniquities have taken hold upon me, so that I am not able to look up; they are more than the hairs of mine head: therefore my heart faileth me.

13 Be pleased, O LORD, to deliver me: O LORD, make haste to help me.

14 Let them be ashamed and confounded together that seek after my soul to destroy it; let them be driven backward and put to shame that wish me evil.

15 Let them be desolate for a reward of their shame that say unto me, Aha, aha.

16 Let all those that seek thee rejoice and be glad in thee: let such as love thy salvation say continually, The LORD be magnified.

17 But I am poor and needy; yet the Lord thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my God.

Comment as Long as Posts

Since i've written a bloody long comment might as well save some energy and use it as a post (yes lazy bum title goes well here :P)

So here goes...quite a hotly debated article... do read it, coz only then will you have the context to make my text seem comprehensible

Priya Ramani's: I may not be an Indian

Lots of interesting parts to this article, all different and yet tied up into one theme...i gotta learn to do that.

The whole part where you talk about your tastes and mannerisms not being atypical of an Indian made me wonder...what is this Indianess we keep talking about. Is it that we are tied to each other by a national boundary, because within this mannerisms and tastes vary to such large extents that you could never identify one common 'culture'. Will have to give that a thought, one is so used to be called an Indian that we assume we actually understand what the term means, confusing ubiquitous usage with comprehension.

Having said that for that matter all countries have fake Pride. Name one that has achieved anything of great significance and i'll tell you where they are faking it.

Everyone's on steroids...be it for festivals, weddings, SRK / Bips stage shows, football, F1...name it...people like being on steroids they just find their own excuse for it.

"Personally, I’ve always believed Ram was a loser and I have no idea why Sita didn’t leave him many years before he threw a tantrum that resulted in her walking through fire"


Aah the much spoken of why if Ram was supposed to be so just and a god did he do such injustice to Sita. You are not the first to have found the glitch in the lovely story called Ramayan; sadly however you are also not the first who has looked at a stone on the road and announced to the world...lo behold..stone on the road!!! Doesn't take much thought to come to that conclusion does it.

What would have been more interesting is if you could have tried to think why the author put the glitch there. After all he built an almost perfect character throughout his story, why couldn't he end it at..and they lived happily ever after...fat chance that his publisher told him, good mush, fancy action, but ain't gonna sell...add some spice and he went back to add that. Give it a thought maybe then some interesting perspective may strike you :)

Aah the what if question (i'm doing quite a bit of the 'aah' ain't I :P )
Some times it takes people to explore the what if option to realize why they made the original decision in the first place. Sometimes they explore both and don't find meaning in either. Some however know why they value what they do. I'll leave you to your dilemma. You could always try being a writer in the country you did your masters, 40 ain't that old to stop experimenting :)

Ok now here's where i get real cheeky. So you're sitting at this fantabulous restaurant which evidently caters to gentry who are used to being asked still or sparkling (instead of mineral or regular :P). It's a lovely building, someone studied architecture to design it, some contractor got labour to build it, someone dug the iron out of the ground, turned it into steel, others got the cement. A lot of effort went into getting you to sit into that chair at that restaurant to ask for that water and eat the food you did or will, what do you feel has been your contribution to building something, how do you feel, you have added value to someone else's life?

Cute Little Love Stories 11: The close dance

Cute Little Love Stories 10: A dogged life

"You think I'm weird?" she asked, like she always did, a random question out of the blue

"Well" he said giving it some pause "Yes you are, I always see you in the house wearing panties, never even shorts, unless some guest comes"

"Err so"

"So its more like a guy thing"

"Wearing panties?"

"Right, that!!! roaming around in underwear"

"Oh ya, i see what ya mean"

"So that confirms it, I am weird"

"Most definitely"

"What do you find weirdest about me?"



"That you're always the first person on the dance floor, when you don't even dance"

"I can't help it, I don't love dancing, but I love holding in my arms, someone who is..."

{This line is courtesy a colleague, was too good to waste}

Cute Little Love Stories 10: A dogged life

Cute Little Love Stories 9: The unnerving silence

"You think I have ego issues, don't you" She asked of him in a manner which made it less of a question and more of a condemnation

"What makes you say that" he asked back wondering where did this come from

"Because you simply won't believe I couldn't call because I was busy"

"Yes, I won't buy that but I won't attribute it to ego, it might be ego, it may be a hundred other things. You probably don't care enough, probably you do but are afraid to admit it to yourself"

"But why can't you believe I just couldn't call because I was too busy?"

"Because if that is so that means I haven't had an impact on you enough to take time out from whatever else is on your mind, and that will mean we will both have to again be born"

"Huh?"

"You think, our lives crossed path accidentally? Well you may, I don't. I believe we have been doing this for many lives before this and we'll have to keep doing this till we give in to each other,....completely. I knew you when I met you, I was hoping you'd also, but evidently you don't and so we'll have to repeat this all over again"

"What makes you so sure we are meant to be. Because I know you and I know me."

"I don't know me" she replied with the shallow tone which she spoke in when her steeled heart let her speak her emotions out

"Maybe, not this time, but one day, one life time you will"

"Ass!!!"

"No dog"

"Huh?"

"I was thinking since we wasted this human form and won't get it again for so many thousand births, lets be dogs in the next life, what say"

"Why dogs?"

"You like dogs, I like dogs...it would be fun being a dog"

"You just want to hump like one" She said in her smart assy tone


"Now that you mention it, sounds like a good idea. But i was more thinking like being nice golden Labradors and we'll be in a family with kids and we'll be the best pets those kids could ever have"

"Sounds good, you can make even this nonsensical talk, sound good"

"Yes but try doing one thing though"

"Don't play so hard to get next time"

"Why you wanna end this in the next life only, don't ya have patience to convince me through a few life times more"

"I'll follow you till eternity,...just that"

"Just what?"

"Without you i can't feel myself complete. I want you in me, so deep that our spirits mix, I want you in a way that no one can tell us apart, I want you so that there is no I left"

A burning police station

What made a small incident make Gandhi call of the quit India movement?

Was it so wrong for a group of villagers to voice their fury over ruthless policemen in their own way

Cut to the present, anybody whose got a point to make be it the Maoists or the well respected 'soldiers' of Maharashtra or their newer counterparts the 'New construction army' takes to the stick, brick or gun

And you get to realize the old man was talking sense. One man's freedom fighter another man's terrorist, whose violence will u justify whose will you condemn?

When taking up a cause, it is essential to take care, that we in our zealousness are not replacing one evil with another