Unnamed Song

The "Unnamed Song" was the result of what can be best described as "experimental strumming", the first song we ever wrote. For a while we tried to name it and it went through a phase where it was called "Rusty Memoir", but the lack of name reflects the aimless nameless quandary of a warrior without a war that the song is pretty much about... This version was produced by Varun Murali, of Swarathma.


Mixed and Mastered by Varun Murali of Swarathma
Lead Vocals and Lyrics: Manasi Saxena
Backing Vocals and Harmonies: Sruthi Vijayaraghavan

you turn out the light, you sing for the one

the one with whom you must part

you tune out the music, you tune our the world

you tune out the song in your heart

this world is singing a happy song

you shut it out, you don't sing along

you're tired of feeling like you don't belong

to this place, you pray

there's been a war you've lost it all

it's burning down to the earth

you've paid the price, a sacrifice,

you don't know what it was worth

this world is singing a happy song

you shut it out, you don't sing along

you're tired of feeling like you don't belong

to this place, you pray

take me away, to where it is safe

hear what i say, please

you cannot see, what i need to be

alone, wild and free, believe...

you've turned the lock, you've thrown the key

you don't want to hurt anymore

you're walking away, don't look back

as you walk out of that door

this world is singing a happy song

you shut it out, you don't sing along

you're tired of feeling like you don't belong

to this place, you pray

take me away, to where it is safe

hear what i say, please

you cannot see, what i need to be

alone, wild and free, believe...

take me away, to where it is safe

hear what i say, please

you cannot see, what i need to be

alone, wild and free, believe...

Voices (Sunday of Despair)

"Voices (Sunday of Despair)" is a song that has, over the years, been lost, found and utterly transformed. Three of these changes stand out as definitive. The first was the moment that the two parts of the song fit together, when the madness of the first part sort of melded with the melancholy of the second. The second moment was when the second part of the song became especially relevant to a friend of ours, who we have had the privilege of playing with many years ago - which has really shaped what the song means to us. And the third was with Varun Murali, who very fortunately pushed for a final rewrite and brought out the insanity within.

Mixed and Mastered by Varun Murali of Swarathma.
Lead Vocals: Sruthi Vijayaraghavan
Lyrics and Backing Vocals: Manasi Saxena

she can almost see

her long forgotten dream

there's the desert and the see

and madness in between

to the paradise she's looking for

there's another road

no one here will watch her go

to the land of snow... where she

fits perfectly

with the madness in between

the road to paradise

paved with her screams

it's a cold morning in a blue december, a sunday of despair

she stands alone and will not live to remember how the wind tugged on her hair

the snowflakes swirl around her as she closes her eyes and fall

the cold creeps over her bones and heart and she may as well be dead to all...

she'll die alone on this quiet morning, where no one will find her

there's no one here to watch her go, no one to remind her

the snowflakes fall around her soon there will be nothing there

on this cold morning in a blue december, a sunday of despair...

Broken Wings

Presenting the second song on our EP!

"Broken Wings" could be about many things, from being generally rebellious, to being extremely alone... it's about everything from incredible freedom to finding great strength in being broken. Some things in recent times remind us that there is strength in being just that, broken and vulnerable...just as the phoenix is never as powerful when it is most vulnerable, dying and being reborn at the same time. 

Mixed and Mastered by Varun Murali of Swarathma. 
Lead Vocals and Lyrics: Manasi Saxena'
Backing Vocals : Sruthi Vijayaraghavana

please forgive the faith i have in you

i don't really think you will be true, to my

far-fetched ideas and expectations

all these hopes are based on dreams based on you

please believe me i know i'm a fool

i know i am blinded to the cruel and real

honest father, i don't like her

i'm just watching, i'm only passing through

i am searching, i'm trying to be you

it's not a moment, i am not frozen in time

i'm not singing, i just talk in lousy rhyme

i can see my big crime

people forgive these simple words i know

i don't really have a place to go tonight

with my crazy notions, windswept motions

would you, please not send me back tonight?

just let me sink into your light..

it's not forever it is only a moment or two

i'm not waiting i am not singing for you

but i'll wait forever for you

wake up (wake up)

cos everything's changed

grow up (grow up)

so you are not estranged

there's a world that's waiting to be hidden (by the sun)

there's a life out there that has only (just begun)

i'm forsaken... ooh, i'm forsaken,

but i'm not the one on the highway

with broken wings that you don't know can fly

you have learnt to love the word goodbye

here's my unrealistic affirmation 

that i'm living when i'm soaring in the sky

that tears can make my broken wings fly

it's not a story it's a dream, that never was

i'm not sleeping, i am not awake because

i'm asleep in your arms tonight

it's not forever it is only a moment or two

i'm not waiting i am not singing for you

but i'll wait forever for you

04-12

Black Crayon is both proud and atrociously happy to release "04-12", the first song on our EP! 

About the song: "04-12" is a song about a relationship gone awry, out of sync, no longer "in rhyme" - and about saying goodbye. It is named so because that was a date when something happened that we can no longer talk about. And for all you curious souls, guess away, but stay content.

Mixed and Mastered by Varun Murali of Swarathma. 

Lead Vocals: Sruthi Vijayaraghavan

Backing Vocals and Lyrics: Manasi Saxena

and here's to lonely nights 

when i would fight the emptiness within

and to those tears i cried 

to fill that hollow nothingness inside

we must weep

for all those hours we couldn't sleep

and all that time that is now gone

and how we didn't move on

let's drink to our foresight 

of how we'de hurt and ache so we didn't try

and all those pleasant times 

of song and laughter it's passing us by

before our eyes 

though we've been far too blind to see

been quite scared you and me

to think of all eternity

the songs we wrote together

the ones we've known forever

are out of rhyme

and all those dreams now broken

so many words unspoken

so many times

it's time to say goodbye

to hold back tears and smile and let you go

like being hung out to dry 

all wet but getting drier... 

don't you know? it's alright

i'm not sad though i must cry

for all those times i've let you go

i wish that i could see you grow

Black Crayon and the Mumbling Revolution of the Monosyllabic Tongue

The songs posted below were recorded over December 2010, though they were written a long time before that. The lyrics were composed by Manasi, but the songs wouldn't have come to life without Sruthi, whose voice pretty much lends the depth and meaning to the songs and words. Sruthi and Manasi are, together, Black Crayon.

In December 2010, Black Crayon collaborated with other musicians, in a project called "Mumbling Revolution of the Monosyllabic Tongue", a project that involved:

1. Sruthi Vijayaraghavan (Vocals, Rhythm Guitar)
2. Navtez Singh (Lead/Bass/Rhythm Guitar)
3. S.R.K. Raman (Lead/Bass Guitar)
4. Deepan Dasgupta (Drums)
5. Manasi Saxena (Vocals, Lyrics, Rhythm Guitar)

This project was located at the very end of a very, very narrow road, in Tarang Audio-Visual Record Studios, on Dimna Road, near Jamshedpur -- a fantastically obscure location which was haunted by these five young, spry and extremely enthusiastic people, stretching the imagination and patience of the owner and technicians of Tarang. What emerged from this has been linked (along with the Creative Commons Licenses) below.

Three covers were also recorded, and they can be found here: Black Crayon Youtube Channel

"Voices" - by the Mumbling Revolution of the Monosyllabic Tongue

01 Rusty Memoir by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Raman (lead guitar), Deepan (drums), Sruthi (backing vocals), Manasi (vocals and rhythm)

01 Rusty Memoir by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


02 Your Easy Smile by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Navtez (bass), Deepan (drums), Sruthi (lead vocals), Manasi (backing vocals and rhythm guitar)

Your Easy Smile by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



03 Instrument to Your Bliss by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Raman (lead guitar), Deepan (drums), Sruthi (backing vocals), Manasi (vocals and rhythm guitar)

Instrument to Your Bliss by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



04 Unrequited by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Navtez (lead, rhythm, bass guitar), Deepan (drums), Sruthi (vocals), Manasi (backing vocals)

Unrequited by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



05 Broken Wings by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Raman (lead and bass guitar), Deepan (drums), Sruthi (backing vocals and rhythm guitar), Manasi (vocals)

Broken Wings by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



06 Voices by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Raman (lead guitar), Deepan (drums), Sruthi (vocals), Manasi (backing vocals and rhythm guitar)

Voices by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



07 Shattered Dreams by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Navtez (rhythm guitar, lead), Deepan (drums), Sruthi (vocals), Manasi (backing vocals, rhythm guitar, off key whistling)

Shattered Dreams by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



08 04-12 by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Navtez (lead guitar, bass), Deepan (drums), Sruthi (vocals), Manasi (backing vocals and rhythm guitar)

04-12 by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.



12 Hang On (Secret track!) by Black Crayon Thing
Credits: Manasi
Note: This track is purely raw, and was recorded more for the sake of recording. It needs a hell of a lot of backing and fine-tuning, but here it is anyway.

Hang On by Black Crayon (Sruthi Vijayaraghavan, Manasi Saxena) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.


All lyrics and music by Manasi. The guitar lead in all songs except "Shattered Dreams" by the lead guitarist specified, either Raman or Navtez.