Dear London by Anuj Rastogi – Video and MP3 Download

This article was last updated on April 16, 2022

Canada: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…
USA: Free $30 Oye! Times readers Get FREE $30 to spend on Amazon, Walmart…

This week, I wrote a new spoken word piece called "Dear London", after being set off and infuriated while watching a YouTube video showing the inhumanity of rioters filmed robbing a young Malaysian man in London. I am still, as are millions around the World, disappointed that such widespread recklessness would take place in anywhere, especially in a so-called ‘civilized society. No city is immune – even Toronto suffered its own chaotic riots during the G20 here in 2010, however the magnitude and duration of the events in the UK are perhaps unparalleled.

I was moved to express my reactions creatively, and so ended up writing, recording, arranging, and mixing a new spoken word piece along with a video around it in one single evening this past Tuesday.

The video is available on YouTube, and I’ve made the mp3 available as a free download. The links to the video and download are below.

I hope that creative and artistic expressions like this can capture the voices of many, and help make something positive and constructive of all of this chaos. If this resonates with you, please feel free to share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2RBCgXjLsSY

Dear London
I have realized that ‘civilized’ is a place just idealized
As Somalis starve and Libyans die
I watch this city burn from the London Eye

Is it apathy, or hate, frustration or fate?
That gives way to such acts of cowardice – Is it innate?
That once in a generation, a Few will forget
What it means to be Human – Will some ever learn?
Or must I accept at this difficult turn,
That some men just like to watch the world burn

Yes I know it is not all,
As our youth do good things, both great and small
But as I watch this festering fire burn

Through our streets, my stomach churns
I cannot help but wonder –
Are some kids so lost, they cannot even be found?
If there is a place far from God, perhaps right now it’s London town

Or another city in the West, with nothing but the best
Of everything and anything one could want – lest
We should want for more, while others suffer with less
Some people have so much, and value so little
Where others have none, and yet rise as ONE
To fight back the demons that possess so many other sons

Such goons lay insult on the souls of prior generations
Who fought for freedom, or equality of Asians
Who built bridges between skins both white and black
So Brits could sit comfortably next to Haitians
Discuss weather, politics, and the news front to back
And ride together through the networks of the Tube
Only to watch their offspring together rob poor boys on YouTube

This is not how the story should end
This is not the collaboration or equality we worked so hard to achieve
In devilish collaboration is not what they believed
Black, white, brown and yellow, ransacking poor shops and poor fellows
Burning anything and everything they see
But kindly making a £1 deposit for a trolley to steal a plasma TV

Though HE has a busy schedule with Global wars, famines and layoffs
As we all know, in this time the world is not short of violence and chaos

The world is indeed flush with greed, poverty and corrupt payoffs
But if God is watching from up way up there,
And has time to notice how little some of his children care
What must cross his mind?

“Do I start over, or do I hit rewind?”
"Should I let the police sort it out? – Oh wait, they’re nowhere to find"

“And dear Cameron has just returned from Holiday – Poor chap”
“I wouldn’t want to bother him during his nap”
"Looks like I must leave it to the majority on Twitter"
"Who see all this madness, but have not lost hope or turned bitter"

“Yes – these are the children who will turn things around”
“For it won’t be your fair politicians or elected leaders”
“As they’re busy bickering over scraps so meager”
“Yes – I’ll leave it to children like You to quell this”
“With calm, solidarity, and commitment You will dispel this”
“I have faith that it is You that will rise”
“It’s on You to open your eyes, and the eyes of your friends”
“And make sure this fire meets peaceful ends”

So there we have it, straight from the Almighty
These riots are pointless
And the losses are plenty
But there’s more of “Us” and fewer of “Them”
Let’s reclaim this town that surrounds the River Thames
Dust off and re-polish London – for it truly is a gem

Dear London
I just realized that ‘civilized’ was a place once idealized
As Somalis starve and Libyans die
I long to see calm return to you from the London Eye

"Dear London"  Free MP3 Download

Share with friends
You can publish this article on your website as long as you provide a link back to this page.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*