The Centre

Tracklist + Liner Notes

1. Pearl

   As an album ‘The Centre’ takes us through a spiritual journey. ‘The Pearl’ is at the heart of this journey, the hidden beauty that is revealed once we peel back these layers of self discovery. Lying in darkness at the bottom of a deep ocean, protected by a hard shell, The Pearl is waiting for anyone with the determination and patience to find it.

   Lyrics

   I spent a thousand sleepless nights
   In wait of dreams I could not find
   I walked a thousand empty roads
   In search of signs to bring me home
   With every breath I spoke your name
   And heard it rolling in the waves
   Beneath a veil of ocean blue
   I broke illusion from the truth

   You said, walk to me and I’ll find you
   Call me and I’ll show you
   Hiding like a pearl for you
   To heal and guide you
   From deep inside you
   Hiding like a pearl for you

   And from the pulse beneath my skin
   You called me to a source within
   Where every layer revealed one more
   A secret brighter than before
   And at the heart there lay just one
   The root of all that I’d become
   I watched the surface start to break
   Free of form, free of shape.

   You said, walk to me and I’ll run to you
   Call me and I’ll show you
   Hiding like a pearl for you
   To heal and guide you,
   From deep inside you
   Hiding like a pearl for you.

2. Fire

   Throughout history humankind has always been drawn to fire; it provides warmth, protection and a place to gather. It is the a symbol of community where ‘it warms from every side’ regardless of who we are or what we do. The Fire has a meditative quality where we can gather our thoughts, talk to our friends & make new ones. Even the most solitary journeys require the help of others at times and The Fire is a place where we can find that help.

   Lyrics

   Peace be with you my brother, my friend
   Come join me at the fire, once again
   It bears no judgement, shame or pride
   It warms from every side
   Its light is lost without your eyes
   Come join me at the fire

   Peace be with you my sister, my friend
   The fire’s waiting for you to come again
   When you need comfort from tears you’ve cried
   It dances by your side
   It needs a partner, so dry your eyes
   Come join me at the fire

   Let it burn your troubles, clear your mind
   Watch these embers, sparks will fly
   Let it draw you closer, guide your soul
   Free your struggle in ash and smoke
   As one with others in search of truth
   Sisters, brothers, it waits for you
   Find your place at the fire, my friends

   Peace be with you my brother, my friend
   Peace be with you my sister, my friend
   Come join me at the fire, once again
   Come join me at the fire, once again

3. Go

   One light, one hope
   One heart, one soul
   One chance to know
   One time to go

   There’s just one call from my heart
   It pulls me to a world apart
   There’s just one word that I hear
   One drum, that calls me near
   When the spring has been unwound
   What is lost will soon be found

   To the call that comes from inside you
   To the light that shines just to find you
   Go
   To the drum that beats from inside you
   To the one that’s calling to find you
   Go
   I know, know I must go, go
   I know, know I must go, go
   I must go

   One light, one hope
   One heart, one soul
   One chance to know
   One time to go

   In the mirror you stare
   Your eyes are calling me there
   Your friend has taken my hand
   Guides me beyond any land

   If you’re far I’ll soon be near
   What is faint will soon be clear

   To the call that comes from inside you
   To the light that shines just to find you
   Go
   To the drum that beats from inside you
   To the one that’s calling to find you
   Go
   I know, know I must go, go
   I know, know I must go, go
   I must go

   One light, one hope
   One heart, one soul
   One chance to know
   One time to go

   On to the drum
   To the voice of the one
   I must go, I must follow the
   Spark that lights us all
   Illuminated by the call
   With one heart, with one hope I will
   Go, go, I must go, go
   I know, know, I must go, go
   I must go

   And I know, know I must go, go
   I know, know I must go, go
   I must go

4. Khorasan

   Khorasan is inspired by the stories ‘In Baghdad Dreaming of Cairo: In Cairo, Dreaming of Baghdad’ by Rumi, and ‘The Alchemist’ by Paulo Coelho. Sometimes the treasures we are looking for have been with us all along, but it can take a long journey to discover this. Khorasan is a historical region of Persia that provides the destination of this spiritual journey, where we discover the answers to the secrets of this world were inside us all along.

   Lyrics
   Khorasan
   I have come
   Here alone

   In my dream
   Earth and stone
   Turned to gold

   Was that you
   Long ago
   Khorasan?

   Can you guide me to the treasures I have lost?
   Can you show me every secret I forgot?
   When I came you asked me where I had come from
   You said my homeland was my kingdom all along

   Khorasan
   I must go
   Send me home

   Breathe in me

   I have healed
   I have grown

   Give me peace
   In my soul
   Khorasan

   Can you guide me to the treasures I have lost?
   Can you show me every secret I forgot?
   When I came you asked me where I had come from
   You said my homeland was my kingdom and my secret all along

   Khorasan,
   Send me home
   Khorasan.

5. Prism

   The light of our sun contains all the colours of this world, and the Prism allows us to separate this light in to its “secret layers”. Inspired by a phrase from a Hadith Qudsi (Sacred scripture): “When I love him I am his hearing with which he hears, his seeing with which he sees, his hand with which he moves and his foot with which he walks”, the Prism is a symbol of discovery, a way of seeing “with which he sees”.

   Lyrics

   All of your waves
   Have come from one
   The seed has spread
   The dawn of light
   Has split from white
   To blues and reds

   Behind it all
   There must be more

   Seven colours of day
   Show the light of your way
   Have I found what is lying behind
   The fire in your eyes?
   Do you see what I see?

   And from one breath
   All sound was formed
   Your words could sing
   The prism shares
   Your secret layers
   Unraveling

   Behind it all
   There must be more

   Seven colours of day
   Show the light of your way
   Have I found what is lying behind
   The fire in your eyes?
   Do you see what I see?

   Every heart, Every hand, Every head
   Rise up
   Every thought, Every tear, Every smile
   Rise up
   Every fear, Every doubt, Every trouble
   Rise up
   Every hope, Every wish, Every prayer
   Rise Up
   Every faith, Every creed, Every colour
   Rise Up
   Every mind, Every soul, Everyone
   (Rise Up)

   Do you see what I see?

6. Circle

   The Circle is a symbol of many things to different people: purity, unity, equality to name a few. There are no corners, no angles, just a pure arc that continues infinitely. Inspired by the Sufi whirling dervishes, The Circle is another symbol in this album that represents oneness with our physical presence on this earth and our spiritual presence beyond.

   Lyrics

   I see you in the wings that chase the night
   Circling the warmth of candlelight
   I hear you in the wind as the two poles spin
   Whispering the truth your heart holds in
   I feel you in the chill as the seasons turn
   Laying down a seed, with its lessons learned.

   The circle spins a perfect line
   Free from borders, free from time
   I close my eyes and clear my mind
   The circle joins your love with mine

   I feel you in the sand of the desert earth
   You know my hunger, know my thirst
   I hear you in the cry of distant rain
   Coming back to answer the call again
   I meet you in the centre of the sacred dance
   Reminding me your truth is in my heart

   The circle spins a perfect line
   Free from borders, free from time
   I close my eyes and clear my mind
   The circle joins your love with mine

7. You

   You is a devotional song based on the 99 names of God. It links directly to the qualities of God, but far from being exclusive there is also a parental association with ‘You’, serving as an homage to those who have nurtured and protected us throughout our lives.

   Lyrics

   I am what I am, because You made
   I have what I have, because You gave
   My love is strong because

   You
   Are the One I call Creator
   My Alpha and Omega
   My Protector and my Maker
   Because of You
   In weakness I am braver
   My Defender and my Saviour
   My Giver and my Taker

   I see what I see, because You shine
   I know what I know, because You show
   My love is strong because

   You

   Are the One I call Creator
   My Alpha and Omega
   My Protector and my Maker
   Because of You
   In weakness I am braver
   My Defender and my Saviour
   My Giver and my Taker

   Abiding in silence
   With patience and guidance
   Aware when I need You, the light when I seek You
   Justice, forgiveness
   The strength in my weakness
   And my love, and my love, is strong because

   You
   Are the One I call Creator
   My Alpha and Omega
   My Protector and my Maker
   Because of You
   In weakness I am braver
   My Defender and my Saviour
   My Giver and my Taker

   Lover, Taker
   Guider, Saviour
   Endless, Greatest
   Timeless, Patient
   Bringer of the life You gave us
   Patron of the world You made us

   You are Grateful, my Receiver
   You are Watchful, the Perceiver
   You are Mercy, my Forgiver
   You restore me, my Healer

   Because You are, because You.

8. The Centre

   Just as the centre of a circle draws together all the radii surrounding it into unity, The Centre brings together all of the crucial elements of the spiritual journey. Putting aside self-centred doubt and ungratefulness we come to understand that the Here and Now is the doorway between the limited and the Infinite, between time and Eternity. To pass through this doorway is ‘To find the key to all existence.’

   Lyrics

   Why am I in this place torn asunder by blight?
   Shorn by the blades of inequity, drowned by darkness,
   Immersed in the turbid waters of negligence and forgetfulness?
   Question not why, but understand this simple truth:
   Here is the Centre that is the Centre of all wheres,
   Now is the moment at the heart of all times.
   Ask not why here and now

   But be in the here and now
   Here is the Centre that is the Centre of all wheres,
   Now is the moment at the heart of all times
   Ask not why here and now

   But be in the here and now
   To find the key to all existence

9. Lament

   The encounter with the Transcendent inspires an unspeakable awe, in the face of which our worldly existence appears as a source of separation and sorrow. Lament meditates on lines written by Ibn ‘Arabi communicating the terror and wonder of an experience of the Infinitely Beyond. The poet uses visceral language that associates the desolation of the lover with the desolation of the desert to evoke the meeting of overwhelming attraction and overwhelming fear in a heart that trembles in the face of the Absolute.

   Lyrics

   My father be the ransom of him for whose sake I melted with anguish!
   My father be the ransom of him for whose sake I died of fear!
   The blush of shame on his cheek is the whiteness of dawn conversing with the Redness of eve
   They left me at al-Uthayl and an-Naqá

   Who will compose my distracted thoughts?
   Who will relieve my pain?
   Guide me to him!
   Who will ease my sorrow?
   Who will help a passionate lover?

   Whenever I keep secret the torments of desire
   My tears betray the flame within and the sleeplessness
   They left me at al-Uthayl and an-Naqá

   And whenever I say, ‘Give me one look!
   The answer is, ‘Thou art not hindered but for pity’s sake.’
   My father, my father, my father

10. The Key

    In an album of search and struggle, The Key represents a source of obstruction. We may feel imprisoned in this physical realm, but sometimes the easiest way to free ourselves is to first free our minds. While The Key can keep us captive, it can also set us free.

    Lyrics

    In Andalucian morning light
    In seas of azure, in dawning skies
    I watch you bloom, the birth of spring
    You are the song that all lovers sing
    You are the key holding me in

    I am a prisoner, I can’t escape
    The key is inside the forms you take
    You are the web I cannot spin
    You are the pulse beneath my skin
    You are the key holding me in

    Your love is a door I cannot find
    The only way out is from deep inside
    I’m humbled by the light you take
    When you cover every colour of the day
    I’m brightened by the night you bring
    You are the divine eternal ring
    You are the end where everything begins
    You are the key holding me in

    I’m humbled by the light you take
    When you cover every colour of the day
    Illuminated in the night you bring
    You are the divine eternal ring
    You are the end where everything begins
    You are the key holding me in
    The only key holding me in

11. Jaaneh Jaanaan

    (ENGLISH)
    Jaaneh Jaanaan resonates with the tones of a tradition of divine love poetry in Persian that has resounded through the hearts of lovers for a millennium. Jaaneh Jaanaan is an intimate conversation with the true Beloved, whom the bewildered poet sees everywhere. He sings of earthly beauty, of the spiritual guide, and of the Divine Beloved Himself, for all true love is ultimately love of the Divine.

    Lyrics

    O You whose thought seizes the heart of the young and old
    In your midst, the hearts takes flight at every moment

    You are the hope in hearts; the shelter of lives;
    The eternal light of the heavens and the earth, and the face of infinite beauty

    You have become my world, my dream, my Beloved!
    Tears stream down from my eyes when I linger in thought of You

    I am at safety with You, o desire of my soul, I have no home nor name without You
    I am in darkness without You, ignorant of any direction (to take)

    Your name will never leave my tongue till I am alive
    Your loving and desirous fragrance settles my heart

    You are boundless light, eternal grace, I’m a sinner but You are The Most Kind
    You are a signpost for the lovers’ hearts

    Without You, o the One who puts my heart at rest, I would be the loneliest soul in this world
    Till eternity, I will be Your most enraptured lover in this world

    I can only be in thought of You as I know naught but You
    O object of my everlasting desire, the reason for the peace of my heart and mind

12. Sari Gelin

    Sari Gelin is a famous Azeri folk song hugely popular around the world, particularly in Turkey, Azerbaijain and the Persian speaking countries (Afghanistan, Iran, Tajikistan) as well as Uzbekistan, Greece, Bosnia and Serbia to name just a few. There are many traditional versions of this hauntingly emotional melody. This is our humble attempt at creating an English version of this beautiful love song based loosely on translations from the original variations.

    Lyrics

    I fight for a love
    Knowing it can’t be won
    Sent from a light above
    Child of our golden Sun
    Sari Gelin

    I reach for hands
    Knowing they can’t be held
    Cursed by words I can’t tell
    Broken under your spell
    Sari Gelin

    And like a rose
    Turning in to thorns
    My love was taken
    Back to the light above
    What can I do, my love?
    Child of our Golden Sun
    Sari Gelin.

    A beating drum
    Searches on for your song
    Echoes will carry on
    Wondering where you’ve gone
    Sari Gelin

    Is that your voice
    Caught in the mountain air?
    Leading me to nowhere
    Drifting in silent prayer
    Sari Gelin

    And like a rose
    Turning in to thorns
    My love was taken
    Back to the light above
    What can I do, my love?
    Child of our Golden Sun
    Sari Gelin

    Saçın ucun hörməzlər Gülü sulu dərməzlər Sarı gəlin
    Saçın ucun hörməzlər Gülü sulu dərməzlər Sarı gəlin

    Bu sevda nə sevdadır Səni mənə verməzlər Neynim aman, aman Neynim aman, aman Sarı gəlin

    Back to the light above
    What can I do, my love?
    Child of our Golden Sun
    Sari Gelin

13. Khorasan (Arabic Version)

    My, Lord
    Have Mercy on me
    On the day of eternity
    My Lord
    Unite me
    With the messenger
    My Lord
    Tell me
    You will accept me

    Protect me, O Merciful
    From worries and anxieties of this world
    Protect me, O The Most Kind
    From pain and sorrow
    Exalted in all Your affairs
    O You, the Supreme One
    I have none in this universe but You

    My, Lord
    Have Mercy on me
    On the day of eternity
    My Lord
    Unite me
    With the messenger

    Protect me, O Merciful
    From worries and anxieties of this world
    Protect me, O The Most Kind
    From pain and sorrow
    Exalted in all Your affairs
    O You, the Supreme One
    Have mercy on my weakness
    For I have none in this universe but You
    My Lord
    Tell me
    You will accept me