Friday, May 29, 2009

Dimana kan kita cari ganti

I am hoping the kids had been practicing their repertoire for the occasion. It would be ideal to upload Dimanakan ku cari ganti, if they could do the duet quickly to commemorate this day in 1973.

I am waiting guys.

And I have been waiting since 1990 - when he was posthumously awarded a Tan Sri-ship, when the power that be would award him a Tun-ship, when we had awarded such title to the ex sleeping-PM and to much lesser mortals when this person had done more to the country than all of them put together.

Sad, isn't it? Make that pathetic to be honest. Just imagine, what had she contributed to the country to deserve a Tun-ship? Other being his sleeping partner that is!

And I can barely remember that day in May in 1973. I was in Standard 4 in Taiping; may be too young to appreciate his contribution then eventhough we had been cycling from one end of Aulong to the other end of Aulong every Friday night to watchi his movie on telly at nenek's house. I remember reading somewhere though it was gerimis when his jasad was taken to the liang lahad, seolah-olah meratapi pemergiannya. I don't know how true that was - may be it was made up to give him the legendary status. It does not matter anyhow.

His movies are being played to death 36 years on. While it shows how truly great this guy was, it also an indication of how pathetic we had become.

A society without renewal; a society living off its past.

Nothing new for me personally, I supposed, for I am just that.

Here is one song that he had foretold of himself!

EPILOGUE

I am also of the opinion that all our Sasterawan Negaras should be awarded the highest award this country can give. It should be Tun-ship and no less. A Samad Said should be Tun Samad Said, no less. These are people who have the interest of the people and wear their hearts on their sleeves and should be rewarded accordingly and not politicians.

While they are alive please!

As for the rests, just give them a Tin-ship or Tong-ship, if you know what I mean.

Friday, May 22, 2009

Horn please if you are Indian


I think I have had enough veggie to last me a lifetime.

But I think I can still live on curry for many years yet; whatever Indian blood that I have in me would not have allowed me to abandon any fondness that I may have for curry. That's ok with me I guess – I can never had enough of it, and I really enjoy them.


(This meal cost me RM7 in an aircond restaurant in Mumbai, which included 4 veggie dishes and pulao(rice))

So four days of curries and chapatis could only whet my appetites.

I think I would like to get back to civilization in as far as driving and traffic are concerned. Nevermind if the civilization that I am going back to is not really civilized in the manner Westerners would have defined it.

Afterall, there is nothing civilized about the traffic in Kuala Lumpur either.

If there is anything that I would like to import from India, it would not necessarily be Bollywood movies or Bollywood actresses. It would be a car horn. I sincerely believe that Indian horn – well actually whatever that was attached to a car in India, are perhaps the most resilient and sturdy as anything one can get anywhere in this world.

Imagine this; every 5 seconds, the driver of a car would honk at everybody and nobody at the street, if you know what I mean. If they are not sturdy and resilient, then it would not have lasted like all Indian cars, TATA especially.

Unlike in Malaysia, Indian car drivers would honk without any malice or ill-intent. It is perhaps in their genes that the thumbs would need to press on the horn while the rest of the fingers were steering the car.

It is an auto reflect I guess, and there is nothing one can do about it.

If one were to stand at a street junction in Mumbai, one could perhaps write a music based on the honking that were done by the thousand of car plying through Mumbai street. They would honk at you, at the car on the left trying to squeeze in, or car on the right that was also trying to squeeze in, or at the car they are trying to squeeze out, or at you while you were trying to cross the street even if you are 1 km apart from their vehicles. It is just music to their ears, or may be they were trying to keep themselve awake and occupied.

Heck, they would even honk at the empty space in front of the them. Honk they would as if their lives depended on it.

Here in India no one gets beaten because of honking; no one even bat an eyelid if you were honked at. There is no such thing as road rage in India. In Malaysia, unfortunately, you may lose your life just because you honk at someone, or that someone would show you their finger to tell you how they feel about you honking them even if they are at fault.

Especially if they are at fault, if I may re-phrase it that way!

Funny thing in India, each truck and bus would ask you to honk at them. They would have these stamped at the back of their truck. “Horn OK Please” or "Horn Please" would be a norm here.

I asked my cab driver why that was the case. He said well, you want to ensure that your honk would work in the first place, Secondly they knew that there are blind spot and they would need a reminder of their surrounding by the honking.

In Malaysia, in the 60s at least, we did have something similar. No, we didn't ask all and sundry to to honk at ourselves. But during those economic blackdays – when we (Malays) have practically nothing, we would pour out our discontent through song titles that were reflective of the time.

“Jangan Tinggal Daku”, “Oh Fatimah” or “Selamat Tinggal Bungaku” were the norms at the back of the truck back then. In India, they have no time for sentimentalities. I guess they are very realistic people.

A funny thing this horn thing. The thing attached to your steering is called a horn, but you don't 'horn' it to let everybody know that you exist on the road; you have to 'honk' it.

You would only horn if you are horn*!

Oh, no wonder there are 1 billion of Indians in the subcontinent. That was their trade secret and I guess I have unlocked the puzzle.

So....you want to start horning? I mean honking. ;-)

Sunday, May 17, 2009

The madness that is Mumbai

I last went to India 15 years ago - Chennai or Madras then to be precise.

At that time, as an engineer working for an oil organization, I was required to help out interviewing many instrument engineers that they were then lacking.

But I guess we never left our hotel, and though we did venture out buying mango and saree cloth, I never really get to see India. Sure a couple of kids did manage to hang on to the car while it was moving, but left after we threw out a couple of rupees out of the windows!

And that was my image of India then.

This time around, arriving at Mumbai by 11 pm, we were taken on a 4 hour journey by road on a Saturday night.

By right, the road should be empty. It was Satuday night, and it was way past midnight. But we forgot that this is India, and the Indian hiway between Mumbai and Pune is actually a demolition derby.

If there is anywhere I thought my life would end, I had never thought that it could be on an Indian hiway. Cars, trucks, busses were all doing everything they could to crash into each other and yet were able to avoid just that. I don't know how they managed that to be honest. They were zig-zagging the hiway, going from the fast lane to the slow lane at hiway speed, missing each other by inches. Serious, I am not exaggerating. I was hanging onto my dear life.

You swerve to the left, you swerve to the right; you do everything you could to pass the vehicle in front of you. Trucks on the right lane? No porblem - they seems to have the right to be there, so you go to the left, in and out of traffic.

My oh my, I thought Indonesia (or Malaysia) is bad, but I had never seen such mayhem any where else.

But to their credit - no accident and no death was recorded!

But I was rewarded this morning - having my morning breakfast at an Indian garden. It was the most romantic breakfast I had ever had.

Alone that is.

No lah, don't worry. No Sushmita Sen or Aishwarya Rai. Or Katrina Kaif for that matter.

Just me and my newspaper that reported that Manchester United are the champs of England! Yay!!!!!! I missed the game flying to Mumbai, but I guess it was a news worth waiting.

Thursday, May 14, 2009

For all mothers and teachers, two songs for you

I have been asking Arif and Akmal to practice their instrument for the Mother's Day. Last year they did an Ibu duet in Shah Alam. This year I thought we should expand it a bit more to include another song that is synonymous with one's love for one's mother.

It took them about a day's practice in the end.

With Mak and their mum attending the concert sempena hari ibu, their performances might not be necessary, so I told them to record for me to upload in You Tube or my blog.

I do hope that my two kids would continue to perform and play instrument and not abandon them once to go to university or have their own career - whatever that may be.

I guess with these upload, I trust that it is not too late to wish all a Happy Mother's Day, and I guess a Happy Teacher's Day too to all..

Enjoy.

Here is them performing Kasihnya Ibu. Wish we have a tabla or one of those gendang to make it a bit more asli oriented.


This one another PRamlee's Classic Ibu. It was original written for a trumpet I guess, but we have no trumpet player in the family (for that I guess I would need a third son, which I am not willing to have!), so we decided to make do with in-house players. At one time, I was asked by their music teacher on why I only have two sons when I should have more, since she was impressed on the kids' dedication on learning their instruments. Both of them can play the piano too and have been asking me for years to get a grandpiano for the house.

Well, no, I can't have more children just to make sure I have start a proper band. I know of people wanting to start a football team, but I had never heard of people having children to start a band.

Hahaha, may be I should have 6 to recreate BDB!

Wednesday, May 13, 2009

13 May 1969

3 MAY 1969

Forty years may have passed, but I guess the pain left behind by the worst riot Malaysia had ever seen has never really been healed. The suspicion between the different races lingers on, and despite the saying that says time heals all wound, this is one wound that would not leave away that easily.

It is deeply entrenched in the Malaysian psyche.

As noted by a former boss, May 13 is the best thing that could have happened to us. Prior to that, we could not even produce our own kicap!

To me, May 13 will always remind me of bapak and his trip to Kuala Lumpur on that fateful day in the nation's history. Taking a ride with a Chinese cab driver, being stopped by a mob, and subsequently being confined in Sentul police station are something that will etched in my mind, even though the person experiencing it has long gone.

For us waiting in Kampung Sira Lenggong for any news of him is probably an experience you don't want anyone else to experience. How thankful we were when he returned home - what's more with toys for all of us, is something I would never forget.

Cikgu HIzam reminded me of this incident, when he was requested by Mak to try and find out about bapak's fate when I met up with him early this year. Communication was difficult then, he said.

To commemorate the 40th anniversary, here is what I wrote of about the 13th May 1969 from a personal perspective.

Read about bapak here.

Monday, May 11, 2009

BDB - Band Dari Boyan


(Taken from M Star Online wo permission)

I would have never thought of it.

I mean when Black Dog Bone first appeared on the music scene in the mid-70s, I thought to myself, "How could anyone have thought of such a name?" I mean why would anyone name a band Tulang Anjing Hitam. After all that's the exact translation of the name Black Dog Bone.

And I got the answer from Jatt during the BDB concert at Istana Budaya last weekend.


And what a concert it was. So good that this music fan from the 70s and the 80s - someone who would unashamedly consider himself to be a sucker for everything Sudirman, would consider it one of the best - if not the best concert, he had attended on either side of the two concert halls of Kuala Lumpur.

The philharmonic and Istana Budaya.

So good that he simply had to attend the concert twice.

To me, as someone who live in an era where the Boyan boys from Singapore made it big with their brand of pop music, BDB did not have a singular music or song to define them. I mean for group like Harmoni, they were defined by Penantian, Suhaimi Mior Hassan by Epilog Cinta dari Bromley, Flybaits by Kenangan Lalu.

But BDB?

While one can't really find a killer song to identify this group with, one could think of 10-15 songs that are easily BDB's. Or more to be honest; after all they have about 11 albums altogether. Who could forget Bahagia dan Derita, Sayang, Diganggu Kenangan, Hari Ini dan Esok, Relax - just to name a few, and funnily enough for me, someone who would despise those songs that were copied from English songs, but pale in comparison of the great masterpieces that they were trying very hard to emulate - that one could consider BDB to be at home with, hearing them live is something I would cherish and would leave me wanting for more.

So much so I had to come back for more. That's what I told Jatt when he signed the autograph program booklet on Saturday night, and I reminded him again on the second night I was there. It is that good.

And yes, he was aware that I was there again.

Funnily enough for me, as an old man, I did not do that to the female singers who, in my younger days - and their younger days too, had kept my eyes wide open, and left me breathless listening to those melancholic songs and looking at their pretty faces. I thought I would be burning buildings and climbing mountains to get a photo or an autograph of Kathy or Uji Rashid or Rina Rahman. Yes, I would probably have done that, if I were honest to myself. But I didn't do that at Kathy's concert.

And yet I queued to get BDB's autograph. Did I tell you that I did it twice? I did? Oh ok, I guess I can help but tell y0u I guess. Over and over again.

I think it must have been the fact that may be - just may be, that I was not sure if we can get a reunion of the BDB ever again. I mean it is one thing to get solo singer to perform- Datuk Ahmad Jais has performed at Istana Budaya at an age of 70 or thereabout, but to get six fathers or grandfathers to perform together again is a miracle in itself.

And may be I was too shy to meet up with th0se ladies. Kathy still looks good at 50, and available may be!

But sorry I digress.

The moment they stepped into the hall using a moving stage, we were in for the best times of our lives. I would normally consider Malam Kenangan as a poor cousin to its counterpart of the original by Earth Wind and Fire - something I used to think that it was all wrong about BDB in the 70s i.e. too many lagu ciplak, but hearing them live with the orchestra is something else. It sets the tone for the night. The 70s music were all alive at Istana Budaya for 3 consecutive nights.

My feets and hands were following the beat of the music and my whole body was gyrating in my seat. But I had to control myself - the ladies next to me would not have liked their seat to be bone shaking. They would not have liked to see this old man shaking his hip.

Or perhaps, Istana Budaya was the epicentre of a quake.

One must be there to feel their music - Khayalan was beginning to sound much better than Fantasy and I was beginning to think that it was an original Malay song that EWF had copied. So do Bila Rindu (Leo Sayer) and Hatiku Luka Lagi.
(Members of the audience jogetting with Jatt and the IB dancers. This was the second night performance, and it was a good crowd. The pic was stolen from Utusan and it was front-paged on Sunday's Mingguan)

But if I were considering gyrating my body - which would not be a pretty sight unfortunately, during the disco-influenced songs, I was left lamenting my life over some of their saddest songs. Diganggu Kenangan, Sayang, Dulu dan Sekarang, Ku cari Penawar Luka - whose heart would not have sank listening to these. One guy in the front seat was seen literally wiping off his tears during some of these songs.
(Sayang, engkaukah bulan di langit, teman dimalam yang sepi, untuk seorang penanti...Ni mesti lagui jiwang ni. Jatt tengah nak high tu, tapi si Hamid pulak tengah sengeh - ish tak sync betui. Taken from M Star Online without permission)

There must be a story behind it, I said to myself. Broken hearted or unrequited love when these songs were making airwaves.

I guess I love the jiwang songs live too since they followed the spirit of the original songs, and did not modify it. I mean they all sound like in the original LP or CD if you must, and for that you can't go wrong listening to them, especially live. If the orchestra is coming in at that point in the original song, it will come in at the same point in the concert. I can relate to the arrangement - I am familar enough with the arrangement. They were part of for 30 years.

But the best part must be the remake of PRamlee's song- Anika Ragam. The crowd just went wild, and were singing along to the song word by word, so much so we didn't need him to be there to be honest.

Figuratively speaking that is.

Yai yai yai yai yai yai yai yai yai nyawa
Sama-sama kita bergembira
Yai yai yai yai yai yai yai yai yai nyawa
Sama-sama kita bergembira

I had never seen a crowd so responsive, and for the first time in my life I would not mind the singer not singing his line, and I joined the crowd singing along even the high pitch. Never mind if I could beat the hip-shaking of American Idol reject, William Hung. The last time it happened to me, I wish I had slapped that someone next to me for singing too loud while I wanted to concentrate on listening to Kathy.

Their fun songs are really fun - Geram, all their joget songs, Nasik goreng, Anikaragam. All the sing along types.

You want to know how much was BDB's influence in the music scene in the 70s? When I called Mak to greet her a happy Hari Ibu on Sunday morning, I jokingly told her that if she was in KL, I would have taken her to Black Dog Bone's concert. It was meant as a joke as I was quite sure she would not have liked them that much, if at all. Furthermore, she had just returned the day before to Taiping.

But instead of saying thanks but no thanks, she said yes, and would ask my sister to drive her back to KL on a 3-hour journey just to see BDB.

BDB was in their element for Mak to say that she was entertained and happy to have watched it. She said the concert was also different from all other that she had watched.

On the other hand, my eldest - a 17-year old now counts himself as a fan. He knew many songs before the concert, but didn't know who was the singer. After the concert, he is enjoying more of the CDs and the songs. So three generations were all covered by the music of BDB and you can't ask for more I guess.

I think it is down to their longevity. Carefree only survived for 3 albums, and BDB 11.

Honestly, Jatt and BDB were in their element last night. His vocal prowess is something else, with may be Ramli Sarip or Kathy Ibrahim amongst his equals. My sis was questioning me on how he managed to marry Sharifah Shahirah (??), and I told her, "Well, he only needs to open his mouth and all the girls in Malaysia would melt!" Hahaha, don't you agree? Even today, methinks.

That's Jatt's prowess I guess.

But beyond the fantastic songs, and fantastic performances - there is no other way to describe them, their rapport with the audience was excellent too.

"We heard that there is a group from Brunei."

The crowd screamed.

"How about Singapura?"

The crowd screamed.

"Penang?"

The crowd screamed.

"Perak?"

The crowd screamed.

Taiwan?

The crowd screamed. Too, if I may add, since I am quite sure there was no one from Taiwan.

Jatt nearly fell off stage - or at least he pretended too, if you know what I mean.

"Any Boyan around?" he asked.

And Izhar, and Masron all put up their hands trying to catch his attention - much like schoolchildren trying to get the attention of their teacher. It was really funny. After all they are all Boyans.

Then Izhar said, "Aku ni boyan campur Jawa, so jadi Bon Jovi lah!"

And the crowd roared. It was hilarious.

In the end, my parting remark to Jatt, and I told the same thing to Rahim Othman and Jay-jay and of course S Atan during the autograph session:

"Gentlemen, thank you for the music, and thank you for the memories!"

Oh boy, what a fantastic time travel!


These are now collector's items. My collection of BDB CD consists of 4 CD for the most famous 4 albums. They are now priceless with the signature of the band member. Of course my Carefree LPs would now fetch handsomely with Jay Jay's, Rahim Othman and S Atan's signature. UNfortunately my only BDB LP which I bought with my own pocket money was a pirated LP. I told Hamid and Masron that I could not afford to buy the original then in 1979. But I would like to believe that I have repaid them of my past sins by paying twice for the concert and the 4-CD collection of BDB.


Shaking hands with a pop legend


I have Jatt's attention and Michael's while Rahim Othman looks on. He was looking at the LPs I brought. My BDB album was a pirated one - I have no money then, so I was a bit shy to show them the album.
S Atan signing my Carefree's album. No, he was not a member of Carefree, but he produced their last two albums, and practically all of BDB. If he is Malaysian, he would be a Datuk right now and would be conferred an honorary degree. During those years, I thought Ahmad Nawab held the edge - their songs were competing on the airwaves. But during my adulthood, I thought S Atan was a tad better in producing unque songs and music.

EPILOGUE
Both pictures were taken from M Star Online wo permission. They should have allowed independent blogger like me to take non-flash photography just to record the event in my blog.

I did not touch much on Rahim Othman, and Jay Jay. I went to the concert looking forward to hearing BDB and didn't expect RO and JJ to give lengthy performances. But they did. Jay-jay is a really good singer and composer. I have always enjoyed his songs, and his vocal can still give Jatt a run of his money. Cukuplah Sekali is a wonderful song. Of course his signature song Rindu Bayangan was performed with RO's haunting flute, and so was Kini Baru Kau Sedar.
Jay Jay signing on a Carefree album and asked S Atan to sign it as he produced the two album. I guess with Jay jay's stature as a songwriter, he is still very humble to acknowledge the contribution of S Atan to his career.
Rahim Othman is a very unassuming guy. For someone of his stature - all the wonderful songs that he has written, he should not be. But I am glad that he is. I still remember him competing in Bakat TV 1972. I thought he did well on his flute playing Nona Maria and Mission Impossible; but he didn't win. It was won by a clarinet player Razak Rahman and Jamali Shadat took second place. I though we were good at unearthing real talent then with our Bakat TV program. In fact, in some way America Got Talent probably lags behind in that respect if at least in years. However, we have gone backward since then. Now only singers get the limelight and no wonder our musical scene is in a doldrum.

I am tad disappointed that we did not have full house on the two nights I was there. I thought with Mingguan showcasing a front page photo of the concert on Saturday night, and the 15% discount on the last night, we would have full house. I guess many of us have 'berhijrah' and there are only a few of us like me who would still go and have some fun albeit in a harmless way.

Ah well...

Selamat Hari Ibu



It goes without saying that this is a tribute to my own mother, a widow at 44, and having to raise 13 children all of whom except one were still in school, and the youngest at 8 months. She should be enjoying life, and I guess she is enjoying life at this moment. But I do wish her 13 children would do more for her, and we could, including myself.

But I shall not elaborate here.



And I suddenly remembered my grandma too many moons ago when out of the blue, thing song kept ringing in my ears. This song was a hit then in Australia and to be honest, I have totally forgotten about it until recently. She too has suffered a lot raising 11 children during an era when poverty ruled.

Alfatihah for nenek Bulan.

Saturday, May 9, 2009

Taking Off is Optional

But landing is compulsory!

So goes a blunt, brutal and certainly not bland humour quite famous in the aviation industry.

I guess it describes well the job of a pilot where the lives of a few hundred passengers lie in their hand. so much so that in the The Star today there is an article about how Malaysian Airlines would test their pilots every six months to ensure that they would be on top of their job.

I am glad in some way I am not one. I would think twice being an engineer or a manager if every 6 months I could lose my job if I didn't pass my test. But I guess the pilots are paid 4-5 times my pay, so I think they would not mind.

I thought piloting an aircraft is a heavy responsibility, but I didnt realize that those in the industry are full of humour, like in this BBC documentary about the lives of pilots.

Subtle British humour, I must say. And it is damn funny. I love Part 3 especially; I have not had a good laugh for a long, long time. Coffee? Tea? Only the British can do that. Hilarious.

I am glad they know that landing is compulsory!





Friday, May 8, 2009

One day I'll fly away



Figuratively speaking for Arif, that is.


Not that I want him to leave home anytime soon, but to fulfill his dream of one day taking up the sky on his own, I wouldn't mind.

And with that, fulfill his dad's 35 year unfulfilled dream. Yes, I remember going in front of my class in Std 6 (in 1975 in King Edward), and declaring to all and sundry that I would one day be a pilot, only for the teacher (one Indian lady with glasses, methinks before Puan Kamariah) to douse the flame of desire, insisting that I can't be one with my thick glasses.

I was tongue-tied after that. Haha, so embarrassing one. Luckily KE is a boys' school (and I didn't die of embarrassment since there was no gals around) and we were as macho as we can be then, if at least in our minds! Yalah, rugby player mah.

Son, I hope I am not putting too much pressure on you.

The past 2 months since the SPM results has been an anxious time for us - going around looking for flying schools for him to attend to. It is tough deciding one - the DCA has warned us to choose our school carefully; apparently many did not make the right decision, so I was told in their office in Putrajaya.

But when I whispered to them to let me know which school that I should send Arif to, they declined to tell me. Cannot be biased, they said. Aiyah, cannot tell, ah? How to choose then?

It is easy to choose a university for him. If he were to go to a local Uni, it would have to be the main 5 universities in the country. As for foreign uni with campus in Malaysia, may be I would want him to attend to my alma mater which is a top 50 in THES. THES would be our criteria for him.

Easy choice. It is clear cut. You know the good one, and you can tell the bad ones.

DCA has about 10 approved flying schools, but no one can tell me exactly their quality. Pengkalan Chepas used to be the top one, but I am told it is quite bad now with backlog of students trying to complete their flying hours. Melaka used to be good too being the oldest, but at one time it did deteriorate. Now it has re-established itself.

You will get all kind of answers if you were to ask around. I even went to Bintulu to check out with one parents advocating the virtues there. I know it has Pizza Hut in Bintulu, so it could have been our reason to choose Bintulu. We can't be choosing a flying school just because there is a PIzza Hut in town so that Arif can get his daily meals! What kind of decision making that would be, hahaha.

But in the end, we decided Melaka. Oh by the way, I am sure Melaka has many Pizza Hut outlets.

Having decided on Melaka, we found out that he needs to sit for an entrance exam, and in the end, he was given 1 day to study the materials and sit for it. I was not too nervous about the physics and math exam - I am sure he could take it, but was reasonably nervous about the interview. Would he talk? That what was running in my mind.

But he flew through the interview effortlessly, getting full mark for confidence, enthusiasm and other criteria set for the interview. And of course he had to pass his math and physics exam to get to the interview stage.

And of course he had to pass Class 1 medical test before the school would offer him a seat. That they did on Wednesday, and he has accepted their offer today.

Well Arif, you would be living my dream in the next 18 months.

Here is the song One Day I'll Fly Away. I love the song - it is such a beautiful song, but beyond the title, the song has nothing to do with being a pilot.



Friday, May 1, 2009

First of May

First of May to me is not Workers' Day. I would never think myself as a worker, though deep in me I know I am one, if you know what I mean. (Of course I had worked before as a blue collar worker - I worked at a restaurant in Sydney for nearly a month as a helper under the late Abdullah Chik, the singer actor of the 50s, and boy was he a good cook! So I do know a thing or two about being a 'labourer'.)

To me, the first of May is about First of May, and to the uninitiated, or to the young, is a wonderful Bee Gees song about childhood, family and distant memories.

I found a beautiful video of the song a couple of months ago in You Tube, but now I can't find it anymore, so I can only give you the lyric of this lovely ballad from the Bee Gees.

First of May

When I was small, and christmas trees were tall,
We used to love while others used to play.
Dont ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Some one else moved in from far away.

(chorus)
Now we are tall, and christmas trees are small,
And you dont ask the time of day.
But you and i, our love will never die,
But guess well cry come first of may.

The apple tree that grew for you and me,
I watched the apples falling one by one.
And I recall the moment of them all,
The day I kissed your cheek and you were mine.

(chorus...)
When I was small, and christmas trees were tall,
Do do do do do do do do do...
Dont ask me why, but time has passed us by,
Some one else moved in from far away.
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