Recently my friends' school had its annual function and a small clip they shared in our WhatsApp group. A bunch of young kids dancing to the tunes of "Coca Cola Tu". We all obviously were spellbound by the dance moves these champs displayed. But the song choice irked me a lot.
Sadly, that's the level of lyrics we have going on around these days. Music composition has been going better and better with digital interventions, and at the same time, hardly any meaningful songs are being written to complement it. Many times, I even fail to grasp all the words being uttered in popular songs now a days. Only gaadi, bangla, daaru, botal, ladki, party and a few even more insensitive terms seem to constitute current lot of songs.
Whenever I get bored of listening to background themes (sans lyrics), I turn nostalgic for the 70s and 80s era music. Apart from the tunes, the lyrics too then were a piece of art. Nothing lesser than poetry and inducing enough goosebumps with the penned thoughts alone, without needing scantly clad feminine figures shaking it in background.
In the last two years, thankfully, I have discovered for myself a few gems from that era before my birth, from the realms beyond Bollywood. Poets and songwriters like Leonard Cohen, who many believe should have been considered for the disputed Literature Nobel prize, way before great Bob Dylan was considered (no disrespect).
Cohen's music career officially began with his first album launch in 1967, at the age of 33. Though he never considered himself a decent singer, his Amitabh Bachchan like baritone always lent a gravitas to his meaningful words. Composing in the genres of minimalist soft rock and folk, his most famous work Hallelujah came in 1984 and since then sung by numerous talented singers across the globe, perhaps best sung by Jeff Buckley. This melody is quite capable to break you into tears, be warned before clicking it to listen.
Cohen had been experimental with his music and songwriting throughout his career. He was one of the rare writers daring enough to touch upon taboos such as politics, religion, sexuality, mental illness, relationships etc. You can see that valiant spirit best displayed in his post war social commentary Everybody Knows.
This Canadian great worked till the age of 82, when his last album was released just 3 weeks before his death in 2016. This album You Want It Darker whenever I listen to, makes my hair raise. And as if to visualize this song's mesmerizing effect in its full glory, Assassin's Creed Origins (2017) video game used it as the trailer music.
In fact, please hear all the deeply meaningful songs (clicking on the links) shared above. Lend them your mind and not just ear. Feel connected with the soul inside. And lastly, write in comments below any such powerful songs your memory may recall. In this "Coca Cola Tu" sort of cacophony going around, my readers and I shall be grateful to you for recommending some comfort to our ear, mind and soul.
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