PLAY IT AGAIN SAM, LOUD (CASABHANGRA)

This song is from Vij's second album 'THINK' which will be released soon.
His first album 'EARTHCIRCLE 4022' is available on iTunes, Amazon and Spotify.
Visit: http://vijasodera.com/earthcircle4022/

It has become a fond myth that in the film ‘Casablanca’ Humphrey Bogart says the immortal line "Play it again, Sam". However, film buffs will know that in actual fact he only says ‘Play it, Sam’. Nevertheless, the mythological phrase has a nice cadence which inspired me to write a song incorporating it. Since I could not find Bogart saying the word "again" in 'Casablanca', I checked out his other films and found he says it in 'African Queen'. So I merged the "again" from there with "Play it Sam".
I decided to make the biggest contrast I could think of, and so I wrote the transition from the gentle tune of ‘As time goes by’ (Herman Hupfeld, 1931) to a full-blown Bhangra beat. And so the song ‘Play it again, Sam - LOUD innit (CasaBhangra)’ was born - a light-hearted celebration of Punjabi weddings and Bhangra music. The ‘innit’ in the title is a nod to London Punjabi-speak.
The lyrics send out a call for everybody to get up and dance. Typically in Bhangra dancing, the hands are held high and the forearms rotated - mimicking the changing of a bayonet-fit light bulb. In this song, a new dance is introduced with hand movements which mimic the making of a roti (chapati). To complete the light-hearted atmosphere, a nod is given to a typical Punjabi menu.
The music itself is dominated with a classic heavy Bhangra drum beat using a dhol, which is a double-sided drum played with a heavy stick on the low-pitched side and a very thin stick on the high-pitched side. The bhangra beat is often accompanied with a contrasting light riff using a tumbi (a small high-pitched single-stringed instrument). However, in this song the centre-piece is an osmium* (heaviest metal) guitar lick, with everything undergirded by chest-thumping bass line. All this is contrasted with a sitar and a guitarsitar (a hybrid which Pardeep made using a fretboard scalloped by Andrew. Additional flavour is added by a shennai (an Indian oboe-like wooden reed instrument which has a brass bell).
For the video, I incorporated some short clips from the film Casablanca with a weave of two Indian weddings. As usual, I illuminated the instruments using tiny LED lights.
Finally, there is an out-take with Theo doing his thing.

All music lyrics and video copyrights (excluding Casablanca audio and video) Vija Sodera 2018
Audio & video of Humphrey Bogart and Dooley Wilson courtesy Warner Brothers Inc

*Osmium is the heaviest naturally-occurring element

Website: http://vijasodera.com
Facebook:   / vijsodera  

BAND:
Vij Sodera: guitar, percussion, vocals
Niraj Sudera: dhol, percussion, vocals
Andrew Dickinson: bass
Pardeep Sodera: guitars, sitar, guitarsitar, percussion,
Chris Height: percussion, vocals
Ayaz Kishtwari: vocals
Lisa Kishtwari: vocals

Music and lyrics: Vij Sodera


LYRICS:
Sam….Yes Boss
I know she’s coming back
Play it again Sam, LOUD
Play it again Sam, LOUD
Play it again Sam, LOUD
Play it again Sam, PUNJABI!

Everybody dance, come on!
Everybody come on, come on, dance!
Chacha ji
Aunti ji
Bhan ji
Dance, dance, dance!
Casabhangra! Casabhangra! Yea!

Get up and dance
Casabhangra dance
Everybody!
Here’s looking at you kid

I love this groove, baby!
Play it again, Sam, Shabash!
Ickh dhor tdin charr

Sam...Yes Boss
I know I know I know I know
I know she’s coming back
You played it for her
You can play it for me
Yes Boss
Play it again Sam, LOUD innit
Play it again Sam, LOUD
Play it again Sam, LOUD
Play it again Sam, PUNJABI!

OK, do the roti
Do the roti dance, hey!
Make the chapati, ho!
Make the chapati, ho, ho, ho!
Do the roti dance
Everybody dance!
Casabhangra!

Change the lightbulb
Yes Boss
Change the lightbulb
Everybody dance!
Change the lightbulb
Come on, come on, come on
Change the lightbulb
Everybody dance!
Change the lightbulb
Casabhangra!

Yes Boss
Ick vari horr
Yes Boss
Ick vari horr
Aajah, aajah, aajah, aajah, aajah!
Bulleh, bulleh, bulleh!
Casabhangra! Casabhangra! Casabhangra!

Do the roti dance, hey!
Make the chapati, ho!
Make the chapati, ho, ho, ho!
Change the lightbulb
Come on, come on
Change the lightbulb
Come on, come on
Change the lightbulb
Dance everybody!

A korma a korma a korma a korma tikka korma

Yes please
Aloo gobi
Yes please
Chicken biryani
Main meal?
Bring the rotis
Juldhi, juldhi, juldhi!
Yes Boss

Play it again Sam, LOUD
Play it again Sam, LOUD
Play it again Sam, PUNJABI!
Ickh dhor tdin charr
Here’s looking at you kid!

Recorded at HeLiBeBCNOF Studios
Filming and video editing: Vija Sodera and Lisa Kishtwari