In the quiet dust of the backyard, a girl, 11, comes crying up to her brother, 8.
"I'm running away. You can come if you want." She storms off, her sandals kicking up dust and her hair coming out of its ponytail. He rises quickly and follows her.
"What? You're doing what?"
"I'm running away."
"Where?"
"I don't care. I'll take East Road until it leads somewhere. Anywhere is better than here."
"The roads are covered in mines."
"I can see them, where they rise. I am not heavy enough to set them off."
"It's three days walk to anywhere. Where will you sleep?"
"On the road. To the side."
"You'll be killed by bandits. They will touch you and kill you."
"I'll shoot them. I have my Kauser."
"That's not how bandits are. You can shoot one, sure, but there are always more, they make sure of that."
"Well, then you should come with me."
"But I am not the one who wants to run away!"
"Well, I'll go by myself then."
"Please stay."
"Never. You are too young, you don't understand."
"Dasin is playing guitar tonight. At least stay tonight for that. You can run away tomorrow."
"No. I told you, I hate it."
"We will sit under the stars and look up at the stars and tell their stories. Remember Half-Little and Big-Little? How they tricked Gargantua into thinking they were a fortress, draped in a silver cloak? Remember how I buried you in sand and it was your cloak? Stay for the guitar."
They had reached the edge of town, a trail of dust behind them and the gates to East Road ahead. She stopped and dropped her backpack, pink and dusty, and then fell to the ground herself, sat up and started to cry.
very cool song. At first it gave me a Devendra Banhart feeling but then figured they're from Republic of Niger. I have recently started enjoying Amadou & Mariam and Ali Fourka Toure (both from Mali as you know) and so i find Group Bombino just as impressing. The starting and ending sounds also garnish their atmosphere.
Posted by Pedram at February 13, 2010 12:48 PMi'm not able to pinpoint what keeps me coming exactly, and i wonder every time i stumble back. i often struggle with the idea that it might strictly be for the words, not the music. that bothers me, as this is a music blog. epiphanies have taken place, during which i've realized that i sometimes can't even understand the music until i've read the words. my ears can't hear it right, my brain doesn't register it as appealing. is this even music? where's that part that made them post it? the crescendo or violin solo or the guttural scream that tore them up so badly inside that they had no other choice but to write, and write, and write until these pretty sentences were all there, all accounted for; where is it!? and then i read, and i listen, and i find it, and it's music. though, not just music - it's my FAVORITE music, but just until the next post.
thanks, guys.
Posted by Samantha at February 14, 2010 11:25 AMHa! Dan, I love you.
Posted by marc at February 18, 2010 3:50 PM
and it will begin playing. All songs are also available to download: just right-click the link and choose 'Save as...'
