Tere Bina Zindagi Se

Series: Song Decryption
Song Title: Tere Bina Zindagi Se
Album: Aandhi (1975)
Musician: R.D. Burman
Vocalists: Lata Mangeshkar, Kishore Kumar
Lyricist: Gulzar

Some carve poetry out of emotions, some compose music out of poetry, and some create history out of music! However, the quartet comprising Gulzar Saab, Lata Mangeshkar ji, Kishore Kumar Saab and R.D. Burman ji had the prowess to coalesce all the three in a single masterpiece. One such masterpiece is the love anthem, ‘Tere Bina Zindagi Se’, from the film, Aandhi, a 1975 release.

Despite the mellifluous duet and the tranquilising accompanying music, I personally feel that one of the prime reasons these songs have stood tall through the corridors of time is the poetic genius behind them. Maybe, I am biased over here because I absolutely adore the intimate lens Gulzar Saab uses to simplify the innumerable intricacies of Human Life.

“Tere bina zindagi se koi
Shikwa toh nahin, shikwa nahin,
Shikwa nahin, shikwa nahin.
Tere bina zindagi bhi lekin
Zindagi toh nahin, zindagi nahin”.

The key motif of the song is ‘Saudade’: a deep emotional state of nostalgic or profound melancholic longing for an absent something or someone. Somewhere, I read a very oxymoronic definition of the same: “a pleasure you suffer, an ailment you enjoy”. Every form of longing has two stages: denial and acceptance. In the chorus itself, we see an amalgamation of both happening simultaneously, which is a rather rare aspect in film music. Usually, we have one emotion that guides our way through the cadence of the song, this one defines two at very close quarters.

Firstly, we see the acceptance of the Eternal Continuity in Human Life. It goes on, with or without the person. Secondly, we see a sigh of denial, that no matter the continuity, the life without the absence of your beloved, do you even call it a life? In reality, we never attain absolute acceptance or resolute denial. It always hangs in between the two.

“Tum jo keh do toh aaj ki raat,
Chand doobega nahin, raat ko rok lo.
Raat ki baat hai, aur zindagi baaki toh nahin”.

This lyrical verse is one of my absolute favourites! It portrays the desire to cease time in love, to bring time to a standstill, to maximise the fruitfulness of the moment. Wrapping up, I always believe that with changing eras, the radios went dormant, the box TVs faded away, our screens are getting preciser in size now; but the perception of emotions is a timeless constant. It needs such effortless classics to be an evergreen retrospective in life.

Taking a bow to indicate my appreciation and pleasure with this divine creation,
Reneeka!


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Veer-Zaara Soundtrack: The Legacy Behind These Masterpieces!

#HappyBirthdayLataji #LataMangeshkar #VeerZaara #MadanMohan #ShahRukhKhan #TereLiye #MainYahaanHoon #DoPal #AisaDesHaiMera #SonuNigam #UditNarayan "The music for Veer-Zaara has a very interesting history. Could you recount what actually happened?" "Madan Mohan ji had written about two hundred songs that were never recorded. And Yash ji knew about this material. When he started Veer-Zaara, Yash ji decided to use some of Madan Bhaiya's music and thought why not ask Sanjeev Kohli, Madan Mohan's son, to work on the idea? Sanjeev went through all the old tapes and selected some tunes and played them to Yash ji. Together, they decided on what would work best for the film, and then we all went into the recording studio. It was nice working on Madan Bhaiya's tunes again. Sanjeev cannot sing the song to explain the tune, but has a great ear for music. He is a perfectionist and understood exactly how to arrange the score with the right instrumentation and orchestration...
Read more

CAN THE PHYSICAL BOOK BE REPLACED BY DIGITAL LIBRARIES IN THE CURRENT GENERATION OF E-LITERATURE?

  CAN THE PHYSICAL BOOK BE REPLACED BY DIGITAL LIBRARIES IN THE CURRENT GENERATION OF E-LITERATURE? I once read a very oxymoronic quote about books which said, “Everything is stolen in this country, but books are never stolen. Books can never be stolen. Books are rightfully demanded, with the promise of return, which is never complete”. Advancement in science and technology, and heavy reliance on the Internet, have begun to replace physical books as a source of information. Today, traditional methods and practices have begun to take a backseat considering the new era of digitalisation and modernisation that we find ourselves in. However, I may affirm with certainty that physical books cannot be replaced by modern technology but may be used as an alternative because it may be more convenient, more easily accessible and even cost-effective. E-books and digital versions of books, however, cannot totally replace physical books because they are indispensable to gaining knowledge and g...
Read more

Mera Saaya Saath Hoga

#GeetonKiDuniya 'Mera Saaya Saath Hoga' is one of the very few, or perhaps the only Hindi film song that is purely based on Raag Nand. Typically, because of this Raag's similarities with other Raag's like Raag Bihag, it is often used in mixture with other Raag's. For example, Ram Leela's 'Laal Ishq' is a mix of Raag Nand and Raag Bihag. But such is also the difficulty of being able to compose a song purely based on a Raag that resembles so many other Raag's, and is this easy to get confused by, but such is the magic of Madan Mohan and his work. This song is one of the many popular collaborations between Madan Mohan and Raja Mehdi Ali Khan, aside from 'Lag Jaa Gale' and 'Aapki Nazaron Ne' to name a few, and the two shared a wonderful friendship. An ailing Raja Mehdi Ali Khan passed away very soon after the release of 'Mera Saaya', and it is believed that these lines were written to Madan Mohan, as a reminder of their friendship...
Read more