Holding On
Procol Harum| Original | Additional lyrics by Gary Brooker, for the special version of... |
| HOLDING ON Zika nor nama ... hesah! Zika nor nama ... hesah! Zika nor nama ... hesah! Zika nor nama ... hesah! [1] Through this hourglass sands are running fast in deserted plains kingdoms write their names On these burning sands kingdoms show their hands in these killing fields soldiers show their steel The men who play the gods of war they stay behind the guarded door and hostages who seek release they're crying out to keep the peace Holding on ... Holding on One day we will be free, one day if we're strong Holding on ... Holding on through the shadows cast to a brighter day In these fields of stone far away from home in this vale of tears young men waste their years The men who play the gods of war they stay behind the guarded door Religious leaders teachin' hate praise the war and call it fate Holding on ... Holding on One day we will be free, one day if we're strong Holding on ... Holding on through the shadows cast to a brighter day | HOLDING ON One day we’ll In this crowded place locked away from space and the friends we need and the air we breathe.. Some get treated cruel others break the rules: when you hear that voice then you make your choice. And silent now, the gods of war they wear a mask and stay indoors the Blond One lies, or lays in bed while experts preach and count the dead Holding on…be free one day when we’re strong Holding on … Holding on till that virus goes away on a brighter day Keep holding on. |
[1] 'Zika nor nama ... hesah!': these are the spellings transcribed from the Gary Brooker Ensemble's score for the choir at Aldershot. 'Zika' has been glossed as 'bury' but the phrase as a whole defies interpretation: it doesn't make sense in Swahili, despite GB's claim in contemporary interviews, or on the Zoo promotional CD: 'It was thrown somewhere towards Ethiopia … we needed some girls to do some chanting. And these girls … were South Africans … and they were quite fluent in either Swahili or Zulu, I'm not sure what …'). It would be interesting to know if these 'girls' contributed the idea for mouth-clicks from their own ethnic experience, or whether the band brought the idea in themselves – the idea has been familiar to all pop music audiences since Paul Simon's Graceland album. These exotic words have remained in all orchestral performances of the song, and have remained a source for onstage fun: 'Anybody from Swahili here? I knew there would be! Careful girls!' Gary joked at Guildford 2000. |
