Lyrics

When Christmas Lights Glow Through Grief

When our loved ones die as Christmas bells are ringing,

The world feels torn between carols and silence.

Lights shimmer on pine branches,

Yet a darker corner of the heart knows winter too well.

The season asks us to rejoice,

but grief does not follow calendars.

It arrives softly, carrying empty chairs,

unfinished laughter, and names we still whisper in prayer.

New Year promises beginnings,

while we are still learning how to survive endings.

We count not fireworks, but memories - 

a smile once shared, a voice now resting in eternity.

Yet even in sorrow, love refuses to die.

It hides in candle flames, in midnight stars,

in the gentle hope that those we miss

are held where no winter reaches.

Christmas reminds us that light was born in darkness,

and the New Year teaches us to walk forward, slowly,

carrying grief in one hand and love in the other -

until time turns pain into quiet remembrance,

and remembrance into peace.

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Love at First Sight

I saw you once, just passing by,

A moment caught beneath the sky,

No words were said, no vows were sworn,

Yet something new in me was born.

Your eyes met mine, the world stood still,

One heartbeat louder than my will,

In that brief glance, so soft, so true,

My lonely soul just knew it was you.

No history, no yesterday,

Just now, just us, just felt this way,

Like fate had whispered, low and kind,

“This love was written before time.”

I didn’t fall—I woke that day,

As if my heart had found its way,

One look, one spark, one silent start,

Love at first sight… straight to the heart.

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“I Am Zou”

Verse 1

I was born where the hills touch the sky,

Where the rivers remember our name,

From the songs of our elders’ cries

To the fire in our blood, still the same.

Through the storms, through the years, through the pain,

We stood firm, though the road was steep,

With our roots in the soil of our land,

And our promises buried deep.

Chorus

I am Zou, hear my voice, hear my vow,

I will stand, I will never bow.

Through the dark, through the truth, through the lies,

I will live and I’ll die for the Zou cause.

I am Zou, this is who I am,

Written strong in the dust and the sand,

With my heart, with my soul, with my life,

I am Zou till the end of time.

Verse 2

We’ve known loss, we’ve known tears in the rain,

We’ve known silence louder than guns,

But our hope still walks unchained,

Like the rising of many suns.

From the drums to the whispered prayer,

From the past to the days unborn,

Every scar that our people bear

Is a badge we have worn.

Chorus

I am Zou, hear my voice, hear my vow,

I will stand, I will never bow.

Through the dark, through the truth, through the lies,

I will live and I’ll die for the Zou cause.

I am Zou, this is who I am,

Written strong in the dust and the sand,

With my heart, with my soul, with my life,

I am Zou till the end of time.

Bridge

If my voice should fade one day,

Let the mountains sing it loud,

We were here, we belonged, we stayed,

Unbroken, unbowed, proud.

Final Chorus

I am Zou, this land knows my name,

Every step, every breath, every flame.

For our people, our future, our right,

I will live and I’ll die for the Zou cause.

I am Zou - remember this song,

When the night feels bitter and long,

We will rise, we will stand as one,

I am Zou… and the fight goes on

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“Hands That Build Hope”

(Manipur State Rural Livelihoods Mission Song)

Written by T. Zamlunmang Zou, DMM

Tune and Vocal by: Suno AI

Verse 1

From the valleys wide to the hilltops high,

Where the morning mist meets dreams in the sky,

Small hands work, strong hearts believe,

In every village, hope takes seed.

With courage stitched into daily toil,

And faith drawn deep from Manipur soil,

We rise together, side by side,

Turning struggle into pride.

Chorus

MSRLM, hear our song,

Rural dreams growing strong.

From self-help hands to futures bright,

We walk together toward the light.

MSRLM, we stand as one,

A thousand journeys, one mission begun,

Building lives, restoring grace,

Hope with dignity in every place.

Verse 2

Women lead with steady flame,

Changing lives, rewriting names,

Skills are learned, voices are heard,

Silent dreams now take their turn.

Through farms and crafts, through trade and care,

New livelihoods rise everywhere,

What once was need is now belief,

Rooted deep beyond relief.

Chorus

MSRLM, hear our song,

Rural dreams growing strong.

From self-help hands to futures bright,

We walk together toward the light.

MSRLM, we stand as one,

A thousand journeys, one mission begun,

Building lives, restoring grace,

Hope with dignity in every place.

Bridge

Not charity, but chance we claim,

Not pity, but power in our name,

With unity, skills, and will to strive,

We don’t just survive—we thrive.

Final Chorus

MSRLM, Manipur’s call,

Leaving no one behind at all,

From today’s work to tomorrow’s sight,

We shape our future with our might.

MSRLM, this is our way,

From dawn of hope to brighter day,

Hands that work, hearts that see,

Livelihoods… with dignity.

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Ode to my father

Ka Zuo It

(MY BELOVED FATHER)

Senpa’n momnou zuo mel mu lou,

Tunnu’n anglai nau bang hing pom e;

Lai ah na sa’ng sangga zuo pomkha lou,

Zal mang laukha’n ka sieng hing kawm ve aw;

Sangga momnou in lung zuon man in,

Vaimang siemsil tung a tutkhawl,

Tong kup theilou na sahmel vel vel veng e.

Zuo aw tuong nung na’ng sia apa’n,

Na min thei bang lou lou veng e;

Lou chim la’ng e, pienna ka zuo aw,

Tuong nung na’ng sie apa’n;

Vangkhuo limlien sausuon dai in damta e,

Mim bang pienna ka it tuunnu toh;

Tuonglam sa bang vaimaw ung e.

Pienna tuun-le-laizom teng toh,

Sangga genlieng siel siel ding a;

Zuo aw tuong nung na’ng sie a hiei?

Zuo aw tuong nung na’ng sieh apa’n,

Sen puseite’n sen momnou paibang pom vang;

Sien ni-nu toh sawn momnou sangga paibang pom vang chi e.

Sen puseite’n sawn momnou pai bang pom e,

Pai bang pom in, sawn momnou siel bang sangga kile in;

Tuun lungzuong leh laizom teng nun in nuom e.

Tuun lungzuong mu bang ka ngai ma’n,

Von momnou in mal bang kou kou ing e;

Tuun lungzuong simlei-le-thangvan kal ah mubang laam in,

Tuonglam zawtlou, India khopi Delhi tuol ah nga bang leng ta e.

Sangga momnou kiil bang khang in,

Tuun lungzuong leh deizawn angkawi lianu toh;

Saunuom sungah hou lung kum e,

Kum chimlou e, nuichiem leel in;

Nunnuom laituol leeng leeng ung e.

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“For the Hills We Stand”

(A Song of the Kuki-Zo Struggle)

Verse 1

From the mist of the eastern hills, we rise,

Where rivers remember our fathers’ cries.

Ancestral paths beneath wounded skies,

Our land was written in blood and sighs.

Before the borders, before the names,

We lived by truth, not fear or chains.

Now the drums of loss, the fire, the flame,

But still our hearts will not be tamed.

Pre-Chorus

They tried to silence songs of old,

Tried to buy our souls with gold,

But every stone, every tree knows

This land is ours - it always was, it shows.

Chorus

For the hills we stand, for the land we die,

For the children yet unborn who’ll ask us why.

If freedom costs tears, let the rivers run,

We are Kuki-Zo - never undone.

From the ashes we rise, from the graves we sing,

Sacrifice is the price of everything.

Our blood is the ink where history goes - 

This is the movement of the Kuki-Zo.

Verse 2

Mothers prayed with trembling hands,

As sons went out to defend the land.

Names carved deep on memory’s stone,

Salpha who never made it home.

Villages burned, but the spirit stayed,

Faith unbroken, unafraid.

Even in darkness, hope was made -

By those who stood, by those who paid.

Pre-Chorus

No crown of power, no false decree

Can erase our right to simply be.

We don’t ask much - just dignity,

Our land, our life, our liberty.

Chorus

For the hills we stand, for the land we die,

For the truth no bullet can deny.

If justice sleeps, we stay awake,

For every loss we rise, we take.

From the ashes we rise, from the graves we sing,

Sacrifice is the price of everything.

Our blood is the ink where history goes - 

This is the movement of the Kuki-Zo.

Bridge

Let the world hear the hills speak loud,

We are not a number in a faceless crowd.

We are memory, soil, and sacred ground,

A people unbroken, unbowed.

Tell our story, write it clear,

We stayed, we fought, we faced the fear.

If tomorrow stands because of today,

It’s because some chose the harder way.

Final Chorus (Soft → Powerful)

For the hills we stand, for the land we pray,

For peace with justice - not taken away.

Let unity rise, let truth be known,

We defend what has always been our own.

From the ashes we rise, from the graves we sing,

Sacrifice is the price of everything.

Our blood is the ink where history goes -

Forever the spirit of the Kuki-Zo.

Outro

When the hills breathe free once more,

They’ll whisper the names of those before.

Not forgotten. Not in vain.

The land remembers their pain.

Complete separation is the only solution.

30/12/2023

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MY Unfulfilled Love

Verse 1

We met where silence learned to speak,

Two shadows dancing on the wall,

Your smile was hope I couldn’t keep,

A fragile dream afraid to fall.

I held your name inside my chest,

Like fragile glass, like sacred fire,

You walked ahead, I stayed obsessed,

Two hearts, one road, one crossed desire.

Pre-Chorus

Every word we never said

Still echoes softly in my mind,

I loved you best in what we left,

In all the love we couldn’t find.

Chorus

This is the love that never came true,

A song half-written, skies half-blue,

I gave my soul, but fate withdrew,

And walked away with me from you.

We were so close, yet worlds apart,

A dream that broke before the start,

You live forever in my heart—

My unfulfilled love.

Verse 2

I see your face in passing rain,

In strangers laughing just like you,

I learned that love can still be pain,

Even when it’s pure and true.

We promised nothing, yet we knew,

Some things were never meant to be,

I lost the future I saw with you,

But found your memory haunting me.

Pre-Chorus

If timing had been kinder then,

If courage spoke instead of fear,

Maybe now we’d still pretend

That forever was still here.

Chorus

This is the love that never came true,

A burning flame with no rescue,

I reached for you, the world pulled through,

And turned my sky to different hues.

We were a story left untold,

A warmth I miss when nights grow cold,

You are the ache I always hold—

My unfulfilled love.

Bridge

Maybe in another life,

When stars align and wounds are healed,

You’ll be mine, I’ll be your wife,

Or husband—no more love concealed.

Till then I’ll carry what we were,

Not as regret, but gentle proof,

That once my heart knew something pure,

Even without a shared truth.

Final Chorus

This is the love I couldn’t keep,

The one that still won’t let me sleep,

I smile by day, by night I weep,

For promises the heart still keeps.

Though we never said goodbye,

Our silence said enough, my love,

You are my forever “why”—

My unfulfilled love.

Outro

If loving you was all I could do,

Then loving you was still enough,

Some loves aren’t meant to see us through—

They’re meant to teach us what is love.

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The Unfulfilled Love

Verse

We were almost something real,

Almost hearts that learned to stay,

Every touch we couldn’t feel

Still haunts me every day.

Pre-Chorus

I held your name, you held the night,

We were wrong in perfect time.

Chorus

You’re the love I never had,

The best “almost” I ever knew,

I smile now, but inside I’m sad,

’Cause part of me still runs to you.

We were close but not enough,

Fate said “no” when we said “us”,

You’ll always be my unfulfilled love.

Bridge

Maybe in another life,

We won’t let each other go.

Final Chorus

You’re the love I never had,

The dream I couldn’t make come true,

I let you go, but still look back—

My unfulfilled love.

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