First Bangladeshis Nominated for The Grammy Award

The song has a piano intro, followed by Armeen’s soulful vocals of the chorus lyrics:

Jaago Piya, Aar Ghumayo Na (Rise my love, don’t sleep any longer)

Jaago Piya, Aar Ghumayo Na

Nishi Shopno Bholo Bholo (Forget the dreams of the dark night)

Nishi Shopon Bholo Bholo

Jaago Piya, Aar Ghumayo Na…. 

Although the song has a mix of tabla, flute, guitar, violin and other musical instruments, it embraced a classical, riverbed melody. Furthermore, the aim of this song was to feature traditional Bengali culture. Take a guess at what didn’t fail to achieve this purpose– “gamcha” (a piece of cloth that is equivalent to towel for Bengalis). The initial thought of it seems a little off-putting but as the choir and other musicians beautifully draped gamcha and made it a part of their attire, it was worth watching. The added bonus was to watch non-Bengalis looking absolutely gorgeous in the vibrant colors of gamcha. Some used gamcha as a headcovering, some as a scarf and what not. Inspired by internationally famed Bangladeshi fashion designer, Bibi Russel’s innovative gamcha outfit ideas, Team Berklee Indian Ensemble decided to incorporate it.

Visually, another thing that is worth mentioning about this music video was the artists holding brief messages on-camera. Such messages were colorfully scribbled on white paper, “Faith,” “Crispy Pears,” “Being a Musician,” “Opportunity” and arts among others. Indeed, that was unique and showed us a different image of the artists, distinct from their professional lives.