Over
the years I have learnt to keep music sacred from going into a dark
place that relationships or even people often go to. What do I mean by
that? Like many people I associate some songs or type of music with
certain people. And life is hard so you lose a lot of people both
intentionally and unintentionally. (I had written about associating
certain songs to certain people a long time ago but this has come to be a
deeper entity in life.)
Yes, I realise I am going cryptic. Let me try to get this across in better words using real life examples.
The
OST of Trolls by Justin Timberlake, while I did know the song before
going to Noraebangs with an erstwhile friend. I associated this song
with her because she did such a good job singing it for a person who
wasn't entirely fluent in spoken English. So we always sang it when we
went to Noraebangs together. It was hilarious because I didn't know half
the tune initially and we just sang along. And this was partly the
reason we initially sang it so many times, to get the tune right. And
the lyrics. I still like the song although that friendship no longer
exists. Similar Noraebang story, another friend (who just vanished so I
always hope the best for her and hope she is well) and me always always
sang these two songs (this and this)
even though they confused us so much because they have such a similar
tune/rhythm. Until we decided that we should just sing one of those each
time we go to sing. Additioanlly, the first song is from a movie only
she and I had watched in our class but we didn't mind watching it with
the rest of the class. And the second song, thanks to this friend, I
sang on stage after fifteen years. It was fun. (Four of us had solos of
small parts and the chorus was sung along with the class that followed
each of us, the rest of the three lead singers sing well so it was not
as easy to sing with them). Both the songs have very pretty lyrics too.
(I could write entire posts about them but I mostly won't do that.)
Then
there are instances where the music stays even though the person who
introduced that into your life isn't part of you life anymore. Like a
cousin who introduced to me to a lot of Hindi black and white tracks.
Similarly, there is a nostalgia Bengali track which I know because
another person I was close to at that point described to me. He
described it so much that I recognised it on another friend's computer
and I knew it was the same song. He couldn't find it that time and I
sent it to him from the said friend's place (or maybe later). But that
song grew on me. It speaks of people that live in places in your past
(and don't anymore). It is one of those sad nostalgia songs.
Then
there was someone, who doesn't matter anymore not even in my memories
because well I learnt a lot thanks to him. A little too late maybe. We
connected over knowing one song. A version of one song. I knew he was
proud of his voice the day I met him and that's where I gave him his
nickname from. He had a great voice. But not a great soul I guess.
(Humans are selfish like that, if someone did wrong by you, we judge
them) But whether it is a good thing or a bad thing, I remember him once
every few times I listen to Farida Khanum's Aaj jaane ki zid na karo.
The song has some of my all time favourite lyrics 'Waqt ki qaid mein
zindagi hai magar, chand ghadiyan yahin hai jo aazad hai, inko khokar
meri janejan,umrbhar na taraste raho'.
And
last but definitely not the least Ammamma who sang lullabies to all her
grandchildren. Raama laali (but in a tune that I cannot find on
youtube) and Jo achyuthananda. Music to my ears.
Not
to sound like the Captain from 'The Sound of Music' but I am grateful
that they brought music into my life. Whether or not I knew the song
before them, these songs will always keep a good side of them in my
heart. It helps me heal the hurt and keep the calm memories.
Comments