Trapped

As a band, the major members of Indus Creed had been creating and putting out music since 1984, albeit under a different moniker. But they really came into their own as Indus Creed and with the help of the unstoppable juggernaut that was satellite music television in India in the mid-1990s. When they released their self titled album Indus Creed in 1995, they released a video or two, and the video for Trapped really stood out from the rest of the music videos of the time.


It was strange enough to have a bunch of Indian guys singing in English on the TV, during a time when Indian pop-music of the album and music-video variety, was almost universally in Hindi or Punjabi. Then there were their videos, which were always black and white, a stark contrast the the phantasmagoric colours of their peers, and there were the surreal and borderline nightmarish goings-on on screen. It was difficult to not pay attention.

Trapped by Indus Creed – The Song

Trapped was a bit different from the rest of their work, possibly less “rock” than the rest; I really don’t care to indulge such genre demarcations, but at the time, what I heard was memorable, and it still is. There was a distinctly Indian flavour to the instrumentation and the settings of the video added to that feeling. It was refreshing.

Its very straight-forward and lilting rhythm was a strange mix with the dream and nightmare visions in the video, and the similarly ambiguous lyrics. Verses like:

Trapped in a dream and you can’t even scream
‘Cos there’s no one, ever here
Stapped to your seat
And you can’t find your feet
Will this nightmare, never stop.

… wove in with loud guitar riffs while also keeping to a very folk-jazz like steady rhythm. It was a fairly unique sound then, and it still holds up to scrutiny after over a decade. Indus Creed ceased to be before the 2000s hit, but I hear they are now back together with a modified line-up. It should be interesting to see what new tricks they have up their sleeve in this very different world of music today. Until then, enjoy this one.

Trapped Song Video

Trapped Cast and Artists