[Intro: Baul male lead, open-throated cry over the ektara twang] Ore, moner manush, where you hidin' now Ore, ore [Verse 1: Baul male lead, heavy drums and khol drum landing] Six a.m., the Howrah local, I am squeezed between the doors One ektara on my shoulder and an orange cloth, no more Man in a suit says, "Baba, sing," and drops a coin into my palm Two stations on, a widow with a baby on her arm So the coin goes to the baby and my hand is clean again That's the deal I make all day from Sealdah down to Bardhaman Joy Guru, I got no wallet and I got no lock and key Everything I'm ever handed passes right on through me [Pre-Hook: Baul male lead, dotara riff rising] Close your fist around a coin and you can hold a coin all day Open up your hand and you can hold the whole wide world that way [Hook: Baul male lead, full band, khol drum pounding] They say I'm walkin' empty-handed, every night I'm empty-handed Ore, a hand with nothin' in it is the only hand that's open Catch the rain and catch a stranger, catch a song before it's broken I'm the richest man on the platform, walkin' empty-handed [Verse 2: Baul male lead, rawer, the dotara snapping] I been offered rooms in Kolkata, I been offered rice and land Rich man in a garden said, "Stay here and be my singin' man" Gold chain for my throat, a bed with sheets as white as milk And I lay there one whole night and felt the weight of all that silk 'Cause a man who owns a garden spends his whole life watchin' gates While the river goes on singin' and the open road just waits So I left the chain on the pillow and walked out before it was bright With an ektara and a cloth, and both my hands up to the light [Pre-Hook: Baul male lead, dotara riff rising] Close your fist around a coin and you can hold a coin all day Open up your hand and you can hold the whole wide world that way [Hook: Baul male lead, full band, khol drum pounding] They say I'm walkin' empty-handed, every night I'm empty-handed Ore, a hand with nothin' in it is the only hand that's open Catch the rain and catch a stranger, catch a song before it's broken I'm the richest man on the platform, walkin' empty-handed [Bridge: Baul male lead, ektara bend, the one string pressed and bent up under his voice] Moner manush, man of the heart, you live inside the open hand Not inside the bank, not in the house, not inside the land Every coin I let go of buys a stranger one more day And the stranger hands a song back, and I carry it away [Final Hook: Baul male lead, full band, open-throated] They say I'm walkin' empty-handed, every night I'm empty-handed Ore, a hand with nothin' in it is the only hand that's open Catch the rain and catch a stranger, catch a song before it's broken I'm the richest man on the platform, walkin' empty-handed [End]
0/500