Cry me a River

RockLite, the Islamabad-based music group that has gone through a line-up change and become compact, has unveiled a song that is more than an ordinary pop track. With the original line-up with which they first made a mark, the band is back with its fourth song called ‘Paani’ in as many weeks.It could be a lullaby sung to young children about the scarcity of water and the need for us to not waste it without coming off as a horror tale. It could’ve been the theme song for Climate Action Pakistan – that held marches in multiple cities across the country on September 20, 2019. The idea was to create awareness about the need for significant climate action change(s) to secure the planet’s future and offer solutions, especially in Pakistan, on how it can be done. And the release of ‘Paani’ could’ve coincided had a multinational not backed off from investing in the song after initially showing strong interest. But that’s the lie of the land. Coming back to the song, it is beautifully constructed with the words ‘Boondh Boondh Paani Paani’ being the chants that stay with you. The music video is a reminder of how Zeeshan Parwez can tell a story that needs to be told and seen for it to have a deeper impact on your subconscious. The song in some ways is a celebration of water – shown as a sign of nature and divinity with a protagonist showing us what we have forgotten. Life without water is not possible and the song paints a picture only Zeeshan Parwez could’ve done; an animated visual dream that tells the truth. Apart from featuring the band that made the track, playing their instruments, important messages have been embedded within the music video such as “water sustains life everywhere” and so on. Individuals in multiple languages such as French, German and others say within the song: ‘There is no life without water’. Though RockLite has gone compact now, this song features the initial line-up that included Allan Smith, Bilal Ashraf, and the sensational siblings Varqa Faraid and Parham Faraid, apart from Rizwan. Recorded at Sarmad Ghafoor’s studio, according to Rizwan, he conceived the song and for good reason. “I knew about the Climate Action marches and wanted to release it at that time and I had told myself that if things don’t work out with Pepsi – the multinational in question – I will release it myself,” Rizwan told Instep. “I did want it to coincide with the marches…”As for why Rizwan came up with this song and felt it was imperative to release it, either with a multinational or without it, he told Instep, it’s because he feels very strongly about the issue. “My initial idea was to write about the scarcity of water even though it rains. But there is no concept of storage. We need to build dams. We need to build hydel power dams,” he told Instep. “It was in my head and I thought I’ll write a song about hydel power for the storage of water but then drifted away from the idea. Being a Pakistani musician and a Pakistani artist, why can’t I (in my own small way) spread the word universally?” asserted Rizwan. The former Vital Signs member added: “We all know that without water there is no life. Then I came up with this song, a universal song as a public service message. I realized that I need widely spoken languages in the world and all those languages have one message: no water, no life. It’s a message from Pakistan to the whole world.” The video was executive produced by Nasir Rao, who is a Pakistani promoter in the USA. The song is being released in the USA through him, noted Rizwan. “He was at the Emmys and mingles with that crowd.” It’s the second song Zeeshan Parwez has directed for RockLite after the retro ‘Kon Hai Woh’ but while ‘Kon Hai Woh’ didn’t come with a public service message, this one does and thus should be shown to children, adults and anyone who still hasn’t understood that scarcity of water is something to think about and not wasting it would be a good start.

from The News International - Instep Today https://ift.tt/2nChSa4