My Favourite Quotes From Songs This Year.

I have really gotten into old Indian classical music, ghazals and such, especially the Urdu ones (I really have to learn this language), the lyrics are so fucking beautiful. I want to write about the music itself but until I do so, here are some of the songs and lyrics (I added translations, but seriously, it is very hard to translate this language, the words don't have simple meanings, the metaphor is kinda built into the language) I loved so far:

1) Yeh Jo Halka Halka Suroor Hai: Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan

"Sharaab kaisi, Khumaar kaisa
Yeh sab tumhari nawazishen hain
Pilayi hai kiss nazar se tu ne
Keh mujh ko apni khabar nahin hai
Tere pyaar ne teri chah ne
Teri behki behki nigaah ne
Mujhe sharabi bana diya...
Ke sharaab peena sikha diya"

Translation: Okay  literal translation doesn't work so I will do it in a different way. The song is about a man telling his lover that she is an inebriant to him. The slight "suroor" (drunkenness) he feels is because of her gaze and it has turned him into an alcoholic (but it's not the addiction wala alcoholic, it's more like an aficionado of the madness of inebriation. This particular paragraph draws a lot of metaphors from drunkenness, alcohol and its effects and likens them to the hangover and bacchanal environment caused by one's lover. His use of language is excellent. Expert.

.......

2) Woh Ishq Jo Humse Rooth Gaya (Translation: The love that is mad at me): Farida Khannum (she is my favourite singer, I think).

"Ek aag gham-e-tanhai ki,
jo saaray badan mein pheyl gai
Jab jism hi saara jalta ho,
phir daman-e-dil ko bachayen kya?"

Translation:
"There is a fire of sadness and loneliness (but loneliness in this context is not used as it is in English, it's a melancholic loneliness, an exploratory sadness of the soul that is lacking someone specific),
that has spread all over my body,
and when my entire body is burning, anyway,
What is the point of protecting the last vestiges of my heart?

........

3) Tu Jhoom: Abida Parveen (great fucking song, especially the Coke Studio version)

"Peeda nu Mai seene Lavan
Te Mai hasti jaawan
Dhoopa nal lad lad ke
Mai labiyan apni chawan
Dukh wi apne, sukh bhi apne,
Mai toh bas yeh jaana
Sab nu samajh ke ki karna hai,
Dil nu yeh samjhavan."

Translation:

I embrace pain and I smile,
I fight the harsh sun to find the comfort of shade within myself,
My sadness is my own as is my peace,
That is what I have learnt,
There is no urgency to understand the world,
I explain to my heart.

There is another bit here I love,

"Mai teh mere vargi haan ki khud kolon sharmana
Duniya raazi karvi layiye phir bhi chain nahi aana,
Jo hai tera lab javega kar ke koi bahana,
Tere bas me kuch bhi nahi hai
Dil no ae samjhavan."

Translation: Harder to translate.
I am so much like myself I can even be bashful with myself,
I can convince the world of my value but it still won't bring me anything,
Whoever is mine will give themselves an excuse to find me,
Nothing is in my control,
I explain to my heart.

........

4) Dil Jalane Ki Baat Karte Ho: Farida Khanum (god I love her so much)

"Saari duniya ke ranjho ghum de kar,
Muskarane ki baat karte ho,
Ashiane ki baat karte ho."

Translation: The song is about a lover who torments her heart but there is a dichotomy to the suffering. They torment her and talk to her about comforts. These lines mean: After giving me all the sadness and suffering in the world, you talk to me about smiling and joy. You destroy me and talk to me about the safety of home."

.....   

5) Mohabbat Karne Wale: Farida Khanam

"Zamaane bhar ke gham
Aur ik Tera gham
Yeh gham hoga toh kitne gham na hoge
Refrain: Mohabbat karne wale Kam na honge
Par teri mehfil me hum na honge."

Translation: There is the pain of the entire world on one side,
And the pain you give me on the other side,
If I have your pain, I couldn't carry the pain of the world,
It would leave no space for any other pain.
Refrain: The number of lovers in the world won't diminish,
But such is the state of affairs between us that in your mehfil (a gathering where poetry and music is exchanged), I will be absent.

Fuck me up.
I realise the reason this music works for me is so obvious, all of it, literally all of it, is masochist music. It's all about pain. Also, fuck, Urdu is a beautiful language. It's all metaphor. There are no words in this language, only poetic devices.