Rebel Warrior

About Rebel Warrior

The song "Rebel Warrior" appears on British musical group Asian Dub Foundation's 1995 debut album, Facts and Fictions, and also on the group's fourth album, Community Music, under a slightly different arrangement. The song was inspired by the poem Bidrohi, translated from Bengali as "The Rebel", and written by Kazi Nazrul during the 1920s. Kazi Nazrul was a Bengali poet, patriot and composer during the end of the colonial era in India who supported Indian unity. Nazrul wrote Bidrohi as a call to arms for those oppressed in India by the British and a call for unity between Muslims and Hindus. The poem politically and metaphorically called for Indians to oppose British colonialism, by physically taking the government back and by mentally removing the imitation of British ideals and ideas from the country and returning to more traditional ways. His poem was the first aggressive poem published against colonialism and it was immediately successful and popular with both Muslims and Hindus. In his quest to unify India, Nazrul attempted to make Hindus and Muslims overlook their internal issues with each other and instead fight against the British. Kazi Nazrul went on to write more poems, as well as the first Bengali protest music, though he was later arrested for his outspoken beliefs, becoming one of the most important men in the Indian independence movement. Asian Dub Foundation roughly translated the original text of Bidrohi on their track "Rebel Warrior" and used the song to support a modern take on Nazrul's original stance. The poem was chosen in part because of its significance to the Indian independence movement and because of its place in Indian traditional culture and its powerful and unifying lyrics. It speaks out against neo-colonialism, both in England and South Asia, while also expanding the message to oppose modern racism in post-colonial England and the Western world in general. The lyrics, mostly taken from the original poem, aggressively encourage anger and resistance against the hegemonic West and call for people to stand up against racism by actively fighting the oppressor, even to the point of ending the Western empire. This parallels Nazrul's original message, in which he challenged people to stand up and battle colonialism by fighting back. The song also says that part of ending racism is ending divisions between cultures, using the metaphor of the siren and flute and saying that these divisions exist only in the mind. Asian Dub Foundation's version brings the original's message to a wider Western audience through its lyrics and modern hip-hop and South Asian infused sound, and acts to strengthen South Asian identity through its reminder of shared past struggles. more »

Year:

2003

95 Views

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Ami bidrohi!
I the rebel warrior
I have risen alone with my head held high
I will only rest
When the cries of the oppressed
No longer reach the sky
When the sound of the sword of the oppressor
No longer rings in battle
Hear my war cry!

I'm hear to teach you a lesson
I'm hear to torture your soul
I'm the itch in your side that's got out of control
Gonna prey on your conscience
You'll be praying for forgiveness
Seen all the evidence
No longer need a witness
So take my word man
Here's my sentence
One hundred thousand years of repentance.

Check my anger, it's real
Ain't no token
I'll be satisfied only when your back's been broken
It's my burning ambition to burn down your empire
Man I'll be building you a funeral pyre
The fire in my eyes
If looks coulda kill
I won't be satisfied until I've had my fill.
Check my anger, it's real
Ain't no token
I'll be satisfied only when your back's been broken

Ami bidrohi!
I the rebel warrior
I have risen alone with my head held high
I will only rest
When the cries of the oppressed
No longer reach the sky
When the sound of the sword of the oppressor
No longer rings in battle
Hear my war cry!

Repetitive beats beating against your skull
I'll be striking you down
To the sounds of the wardrum
The doum!
The doum of the dhol
Taking it's toll
Null and void is what you've become
An underground army with my brothers and sisters
Hand to hand fighting
Building up a resistance
Repetitive beats beating against your skull
Null and void is what you've become

Ami bidrohi!
I the rebel warrior
I have risen alone with my head held high
I will only rest
When the cries of the oppressed
No longer reach the sky
When the sound of the sword of the oppressor
No longer rings in battle
Hear my war cry!

A radical fusion
Strange alliance
The siren and the flute in unison
'cause it?s a part of my mission
To break down division
Mental compartments
Psychological prisons.

I?ll be sowing the seeds of community
accommodating every colour every need
So listen to my message and heed my warning
I'm telling you know
How a new age is dawning

Ami bidrohi!
I the rebel warrior
I have risen alone with my head held high
I will only rest
When the cries of the oppressed
No longer reach the sky
When the sound of the sword of the oppressor
No longer rings in battle
Hear my warcry!

Ami bidrohi! ami bidrohi!
Yes the unity of the hindu and the muslim
Will end your tyranny
Ami bidrohi! ami bidrohi!

 Watch: New Singing Lesson Videos Can Make Anyone A Great Singer

Asian Dub Foundation

Asian Dub Foundation are a British electronica band that plays a mix of rapcore, dub, dancehall and ragga, also using rock instruments, acknowledging a punk influence. Their distinctive sound also combines indo-dub basslines, searing sitar-inspired guitars and ‘traditional’ sounds, shot through with fast-chat conscious lyrics. more »

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