Anurag Jain's Blog on Bangalore Events, Travel, IIM Bangalore, IIM, IIMB, Management

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Posted 11:28 AM by Anurag

With a Cigarette in my hand: A Lesson Learnt Late

When cable TV had come into our Indian/Doordarshan-only lives in early 90s, there was this very popular anti-smoking campaign on, if I remember correctly, Zee Tv. Titled 'A Lesson Learnt Late', it was not just any other advertorial sorta thingie. Rather, it was a full-fledged song running into maybe 4 minutes or so. The impact of this ad is obvious from the fact that irrespective of its title, people remember it as 'With a Cigarette in my hand' song/campaign. The lyrics were really meaningful and the tune was catchy. The vocals (Gary Lawyer) were amazing too. In a nutshell, a very impressive public-service campaign. I've been looking for this song for long time now, but to no avail. If anyone has it, please lemme know. Here are the lyrics courtesy Anshul Bhatt.

It was, I remember, many years ago,
When I had failed to distinguish between a friend and a foe,
When they had invited me ,holding open the pack,
When I lost to curiosity, instead of being taken aback,
When on that fateful day , for the first time,
I held a cigarette in my hand.

It was, I felt a part of being in the teens,
And what had started with a puff or two became a routine.
The smoke's illusion blinded me for as it arose,
Arose my spirits too, and I muttered to myself, "I can" because,
With a cigarette in my hand ,
I felt like a man.

Soon it came out in the open, for it had become a habit I could not hide,
I was helpless, for I could not help but continue,
Even when I knew, it was eating me up from inside,
I was sick...my body and my soul and I realized,
With the cigarette in my hand,
I was a dying man.

Soon I was just a lifeless form, a hollow,
People shunned me everywhere, I wished,
If only had I done something which others could follow,
But it was too late, I had taken the wrong path, and I was ignored, because
With a cigarette in my hand,
I was a hated man.

All the time, tears filled my eyes,
For people had bid me their good byes,
I wept because my cells , my body was choking ,
If only on that first day,my friends had been joking,
And then one day, the cigarette dropped from my hand,
I was a dead man.

37 comments

Comments:

Thank You Buddy.. I was looking for this lyrics for quite some time....

# posted by

Anonymous : June 22, 2005 4:53 PM

Dear Anon: Glad the post could be of use to you.

# posted by

Anurag : June 24, 2005 5:13 PM

Does anybody have mp3 file. I love this song man

# posted by

Anonymous : January 20, 2006 10:34 AM

I m lookin for mp3 too, maan!

# posted by

Anurag : January 21, 2006 4:22 PM

Thanks a zillion, I have spent lot of time looking for the lyrics...

# posted by

Anonymous : November 08, 2006 12:32 PM

Welcome Anon!

# posted by

Anurag : November 09, 2006 4:33 PM

Thanks a tonne Anurag. I have been searching this for years... i shouls say decade now.

Can we somehow arrange the video?

# posted by

Anonymous : December 23, 2006 1:35 PM

Hi Hemant: Nice to hear from you. I wish I could get the video too. But just cant lay my hands on it. Not Yet!

# posted by

Anurag : December 26, 2006 11:28 AM

Hey thanks dude!!! Do you have the MP3

# posted by

Unknown : December 30, 2006 3:48 AM

Hi..Thanks for the lyrics..desperately looking for the song :D...If anybody has it please post it..

# posted by

Anonymous : February 02, 2007 11:58 AM

Great job, I just searched for it and glad to find that someone has put it up on the internet

# posted by

Anonymous : February 06, 2007 1:03 PM

has anyone found this tvc..I am desperatley searchin for it..not on you tube or google videos..in fact gary lawyer search doesnt yield any results. THATS SAD.Any luc..please lemme know

# posted by

Anonymous : February 13, 2007 1:12 PM

Hats off...Been looking for this for ages, and now i have the lyrics, i am craving for the audio....

as they say, human wants are unlimited

# posted by

Vijeeth shetty : April 13, 2007 2:04 PM

any success on getting the video??

# posted by

Unknown : April 29, 2007 3:13 AM

Nice work man......

I have been looking for the lyrics since 10-15 years.

Hey, do you know where can I get the mp3 or a video file. Please do let me know.

Thanks

# posted by

Anonymous : May 21, 2007 2:53 PM

gud to know dat der are others who r looking for the same song i want..
if anyone get it plz post it...

# posted by

Unknown : June 05, 2007 1:10 AM

Man loads of thnkxxxx. i ws jst looking for d lyrics sincs long n now longong for the video and audio....

# posted by

Martand Shardul : June 15, 2007 9:50 AM

Check this:http://www.indianguitartabs.com/showthread.php?p=340627#post340627

I should be posting the chords for this song pretty soon, If my mind remembers the tune properly :)

# posted by

alpha1 : July 30, 2007 8:31 PM

hey folks.. i have been craving for the song cigeratte in my hand since long if anyone has it.... please do let me know from where could i get

# posted by

Unknown : August 16, 2007 12:33 PM

These lyrics aren't right! I was a kid when they played this on TV, but I can swear this is not the right lyrics.

I specifically remember a passage that started with "my hero looks alright, with a cigarette on his lips..", and another that went "cigarette staaarteeeed, every houuuuur of my day..".. both of those are missing here.

Blasphemy! :)

# posted by

Anonymous : August 28, 2007 5:52 AM

# posted by

Anonymous : August 28, 2007 5:52 AM

This reminds me of my childhood days in India. This ad really had an impact on me. I NEVER smoked cigarettes casue it really scared me..lol
Thanks for putting this up !!

# posted by

Anonymous : September 14, 2007 7:07 PM

hey,

Thats really great, i was a kid that time and as i loved the music from my mothers fetal,,,,, this is teh thing i was looking for long back,, and it was you and google which helped me to get it,

thanks a lot ,,
Gunjan_malhotra143@yahoo.co.in

# posted by

Anonymous : November 14, 2007 1:29 AM

Like every one else here, me too is looking for the video. If anyone finds it PLEASE PLEASE let me know! :(
Can't believe something so good is not there on the net while all the crap is there at multiple sites!

# posted by

Anonymous : January 01, 2008 6:59 PM

Can anybody help
us(kids growing up in 90's)!!!!!!!

:)

# posted by

Anonymous : April 05, 2008 4:01 PM

Can any body provide the MP3/MP4/WAV/RM of this. Pls send the link on vivek.misra1@yahoo.com ........

# posted by

Anonymous : May 13, 2008 10:18 AM

I a looking for this song for long time. If anyone has it, please send me on this email id avi.floyd@gmail.com
Regards
Avi

# posted by

Unknown : August 30, 2008 12:20 AM

please send the audio or video file link of the song if anyone of you have it

# posted by

sanjay kumar : October 06, 2008 11:17 PM

Here it is buddy.
Finally found it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rK8oT2-Jyy4

# posted by

Anonymous : December 15, 2008 10:52 PM

thanks for the lyrics just checked the video
Good old memories i was 9-10 old at that time

# posted by

Gaurav M : January 30, 2009 5:07 PM

Be of good cheer !!

I was with Gary a few hours ago .. (he had made dinner - Kentucky Fried Chicken and Prawn Curry and Rice - the man is not only a fantastic musician and wonderful human being, he's also a great chef !!).
Anyhow, he gave me a CD of stuff he had done years ago, and so THIS SONG IS NOW ON HIS WEBSITE ...
http://www.garylawyermusic.com
(go to the 'music' page)
Listen, download, and pass on the link !

# posted by

shiv mathur : May 08, 2009 2:15 AM

Thanks PAL.... Thanks a lot...... I got the song....

# posted by

Anonymous : May 14, 2009 5:05 PM

Hi Everyone ..

This song really teaches us some lesson. Really a inspiring song.

Looking for MP3 version of this song.... please If possible ...mail me.

mail me at : manishxyz24@yahoo.com

# posted by

manish : June 14, 2009 1:42 AM

as someone has rightly pointed out... these arent the real lyrics. though theyr good n i wonder where these r from. maybe garys b-side or something. (or is it the other way round??)

anyway.. great song from a great musician.

Rahul J

# posted by

Anonymous : September 18, 2009 1:13 AM

its now available on coolgoose.com

search for cigarette or gary lawyer and you will find it there

# posted by

Chirag : September 22, 2009 1:15 AM

http://music.cooltoad.com/music/song.php?id=431310

Enjoy and share

# posted by

Chirag : September 22, 2009 1:33 AM

Mellor has perfected this form of psychotherapy and tested it on more than 5000 smokers. Mellor claims that he can teach you how to stop smoking for good in just 38 minutes and 13 seconds using this method.

# posted by

Joye 510 : January 06, 2011 3:30 PM