Outlandish is the story of a band that insists on the vantage point called "The World We live in," as stated in the band's official site. Quite a bit has happened since Lenny Martinaz, Waqas Qadri, and Isam Bachiri broke ground in 1997 to form Outlandish and launch a career together.
In a live interview with IslamOnline.net, Waqas Qadri described how Outlandish started, "In the beginning, not so many people believed in us; back then hip hop was more looked upon as a 'black' thing, so how could a Pakistani, Cuban, and Moroccan bunch of kids ever do good? Therefore, we were forced at an early stage to take matters into our own hands."
Calling their style 'life music', Closer Than Veins Album marked a departure in this respect, particularly on the socially and politically heavy side the group has called in lyrical reinforcements. This is actually highlighting through one of their most outstanding tracks "Look Into My Eyes" that was principally written by Gihad Ali, a young Palestinian poet.
Lyric:
"Look Into My Eyes" By Outlandish
"Look into my eyes
Tell me what you see
You don't see a damn thing
'cause you can't relate to me
You're blinded by our differences
My life makes no sense to you
I'm the persecuted one
You're the red, white and blue
Each day you wake in tranquility
No fears to cross your eyes
Each day I wake in gratitude
Thanking God He let me rise
You worry about your education
And the bills you have to pay
I worry about my vulnerable life
And if I'll survive another day
Your biggest fear is getting a ticket
As you cruise your Cadillac
My fear is that the tank that has just left
Will turn around and come back
Yet, do you know the truth of where your money goes?
Do you let your media deceive your mind?
Is this a truth nobody, nobody, nobody knows
Someone tell me...
Ooohh, let's not cry tonight
I promise you one day it's through
Ohh my brothers, Ohh my sisters
Ooohh, shine a light for every soul that ain't with us no more
Ohh my brothers, Ohh my sisters
See I've known terror for quite some time
57 years so cruel
Terror breathes the air I breathe
It's the checkpoint on my way to school
Terror is the robbery of my land
And the torture of my mother
The imprisonment of my innocent father
The bullet in my baby brother
The bulldozers and the tanks
The gases and the guns
The bombs that fall outside my door
All due to your funds
You blame me for defending myself
Against the ways of my enemies
I'm terrorized in my own land
What am I the terrorist?
Do you know the truth of where your money goes?
Do you let your media deceive your mind?
Is this a truth nobody, nobody, nobody knows?
Someone tell me...
Ooohh, let's not cry tonight
I promise you one day it's through
Ohh my brothers, Ohh my sisters
Ooohh, shine a light for every soul that ain't with us no more
Ohh my brothers, Ohh my sisters
America, do you realize that the taxes that you pay
Feed the forces that traumatize my every living day
So if I won't be here tomorrow
It's written in my fate
May the future bring a brighter day
The end of our wait
(pause)
Ohh let's not cry tonight I promise you one day is through
Ohh my brothers! Ohh my sisters!
Ooh shine a light for every Soul that ain't with us no more
Ohh my brothers! Ohh my sisters!"
Ohh let's not cry tonight I promise you one day is through
Ohh my brothers! Ohh my sisters!
Ooh shine a light for every Soul that ain't with us no more
Ohh my brothers! Ohh my sisters!"
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Lihatlah kedalam mataku
Katakan apa yang engkau lihat
Kau tidak melihat sesuatu apapun jua
Karena engkau tidak bisa berhubungan denganku
Kau dibutakan oleh perbedaan kita
Hidupku tidak masuk akal untukmu
Akulah orang yang jadi tertuduh
Engkau merah, putih dan biru
Tiap hari engkau bangun dalam ketenangan
Tiada ketakutan yang melintas di matamu
Tiap hari aku bangun dalam keadaan bersyukur
Bersyukur kepada Tuhan kerena mengizinkanku bangun
Engkau mengkhawatirkan pendidikanmu
Dan tagihan yang harus kau bayar
Aku mengkhawatirkan hidupku yang rapuh
Dan apakah aku akan bertahan hidup keesokan hari
Ketakutan terbesarmu adalah jika tidak mendapatkan tiket
Ketika engkau mengendarai Cadillac-mu
Ketakutan ku adalah tank yang baru saja pergi
Akan berbalik arah dan kembali lagi
Apakah engkau belum juga tahu kebenaran kemana uangmu mengalir
Apakah engkau membiarkan media menipu pikiranmu
Apakah ini kebenaran yang tiada, tiada, tiada seorangpun tahu
Seseeorang, katakanlah kepadaku…
Ooohh, mari janganlah engkau menangis malam ini
Aku menjanjikanmu bahwa suatu hari hal ini akan berakhir
Ohh, saudaraku, ohh saudariku
Ooohh, sinari cahaya untuk tiap jiwa yang tidak bersama kita lagi
Ohh, saudaraku, ohh, saudariku
Kau tahu, aku telah mengenal terror semenjak lama
57 tahun yang sangat kejam
Teror menghirup udara yang ku hirup
Itu adalah pos pemeriksaan yang berada di perjalananku menuju sekolah
Teror adalah perampok tanahku
Dan penyiksa ibuku
Pemenjaraan ayahku yang tidak bersalah
Peluru di tubuh adik bayiku
Buldoser-buldoser dan tank-tank
Gas-gas dan senapan-senapan
Bom yang jatuh diluar pintuku
Semua karena dana darimu
Kau menyalahkanku karena membela diri
Melawan musuh-musuhku
Aku diteror di tanah airku sendiri
Apakah aku ini seorang teroris?
Apakah engkau belum juga tahu kebenaran kemana uangmu mengalir?
Apakah engkau membiarkan media menipu pikiranmu
Apakah ini kebenaran yang tiada, tiada, tiada seorangpun tahu
Seseeorang, katakanlah kepadaku...
Ooohh, mari janganlah engkau menangis malam ini
Aku menjanjikanmu bahwa suatu hari hal ini akan berakhir
Ohh, saudaraku, ohh saudariku
Ooohh, sinari cahaya untuk tiap jiwa yang tidak bersama kita lagi
Ohh, saudaraku, ohh, saudariku
Amerika, apakah engkau menyadari tiap pajak yang kau bayar
Memberi makan kekuatan yang membuat trauma hidupku tiap hari
Jadi, jika aku tidak disini esok hari
Hal itu sudah tertulis di takdirku
Semoga hari esok akan membawa hari yang cerah
Akhir dari penantian kami
(pause)
Ooohh, mari janganlah engkau menangis malam ini
Aku menjanjikanmu bahwa suatu hari hal ini akan berakhir
Ohh, saudaraku, ohh saudariku
Ooohh, sinari cahaya untuk tiap jiwa yang tidak bersama kita lagi
Ohh, saudaraku, ohh, saudariku
Ooohh, mari janganlah engkau menangis malam ini
Aku menjanjikanmu bahwa suatu hari hal ini akan berakhir
Ohh, saudaraku, ohh saudariku
Ooohh, sinari cahaya untuk tiap jiwa yang tidak bersama kita lagi
Ohh, saudaraku, ohh, saudariku
Yeeah...yeaah....indah suka sama lagu ini....
ReplyDeleteYang "Try Not to Cry" juga bagus.....
nice lyric actually ndah,
ReplyDeletejust try to understand the "sadness and spirit" within this cheerfull song ^_^
i also love this song. i keep on singing it because i feel for our fellow Muslims here in the Philippines experiencing the same.
ReplyDeleteDengerin dulu ah ^_^
ReplyDeleteI love R&B I love this lyric I love this song very much and also the video ...
ReplyDeleteI hope a better future for our fellow muslims all over the world ^_^