The tabla player, with his two little drums that make music as no other, follows a strict pattern of 'thals' (rhythms) and there can be no deviation – which makes it a difficult song to sing – but Comex friends in India are working on it. Of course, the presence of a Brahman tabla player lends an air of distinction to the image of Comex, while the lyrics themselves point to those events where his presence is essential. In this recording, Kamal Kant Sharma plays the tabla and Brenda Stevens sings, accompanied by Promod Shanker on sarod.

Yours is the humblest corner, your place is to squat on the floor,

And your smile is the mark of your fortune –

It asks for a smile and no more.

Your reward is waiting in heaven and your place secure in the sun,

Let your hands touch those haunting wild rhythms,

And play ‘til the day is done.

Chorus

Tabla wallah, play your drums;

Play them fast, play them slow,

Play them high, play them low,

Play them everywhere you go,

Play your drum; play your drum,

Play your drum, play your drum, play your drum.

Play when the people are weeping,

Play when they dance and they sing,

Play when the seasons are changing,

Play when the temple bells ring.

At the time when your drumming is over,

And the time for the final beat comes,

Leave behind their lingering echoes,

To rise from eternal drums.

Chorus

The snow melting high on the mountains,

The winds sweeping over the plains,

The mist floating up through the valleys,

The roar and the splash of the rains.

Play on ‘til the last ounce of courage;

Play on for the laughs and the sighs;

Keep playing ‘til the sound of your magic,

Fades out to live in the skies.

Chorus