Okay, so that should have been Road Trip Edition, but when could Cain resist a chance to plug the Manza? XD (Consider it plugged.)
I am extremely sorry for the delay. I mean, did I think I was going to have a vacation? It's been the doing-things-from-morning-till-night type of vacation - and not always nice things either; more like the tolerating-weird-relatives and how-was-your-result-beta and where-are-you-studying-beta kind of things. Also there was the little matter of my temporarily losing my writing mojo (which happens sometimes and never fails to scare the life out of me) and then having it suddenly jolted back along with a not-so-sudden resurrection of my car-scale-model madness. In other words, I am running on diesel. Currently, on fumes.
So, to business. Everyone who knows me knows that I love the Manza, and that that is an understatement. I'm fanatically devoted to my girl Caffeine
(who is black and therefore limited edition...heh...) for many, many reasons - but I'm not here to talk about those. The reason I brought up the Manza was that, among other things, it has a fantastic sound system.
This is relevant to all our interests.
I've been in Caffeine a lot recently - there were those two road trips to Sikri, for instance, on which I went for her and for her alone; there've also been a couple of round trips across the whole damn city which means an hour either way - and on each, my dear Bluetooth-enabled music phone
(also, BLUETOOTH-ENABLED CAR. How awesome is that?) came in very handy indeed.
There's something about music in a car that compounds the adrenaline rush, something about the placement of the speakers and the purring of the engine and the aerodynamics of the whole setup.
There's something about KK in surround sound while you're cruising on the highway - cruising, often, at above a hundred and ten. Possibly this is just my major car kink talking, but I'm sure a lot of you understand at least a part of where I'm coming from.
Here, then, are tracks that make a car ride more glorious. There are times, of course, when almost one's entire playlist comes into play (...why hello, bad pun...), but I'm going to list the ones that I try to play on every journey - ones that complement or contradict, unsettle or comfort.
Incidentally, the passenger side is my usual seat because goddamn that girl has a delicious engine and I like to stay as close to it as I can, but on one journey I wasn't - and damn blasting Cineraria over those speakers while sprawled in the back is exhilarating.
Also Beete Lamhein Lounge. Devastating, in that case...
I apologize for any disorder you may find here - I'm writing songs as they come to mind.
The Crook Trio - consisting of Aasraa, Aasraa Reprise and Tujhko Jo from Crook, which I've dealt with before. All of these are ideal for playing in cars, because of Aasraa's adrenaline, Tujhko Jo's flirtation and Aasraa Reprise's devastating beauty. Reprise, in particular, has a quite paradoxical intensity/time graph - actually climaxing at Tujhi mein dhoondoon, kuch der jeene ka...aasraa..., but with full cumulative effect only as the last wo-o-ooo fades into the music - and is perfect for sweeping the other occupants of your vehicle off their feet.
If you haven't, you know, forgotten they exist by then. XD
Main Khudaa and
Kaisa Ye Raaz Hai, both of which I have to do specials on.
Let's just say, play Main Khudaa when you're stuck in a jam or cruising on a flyover (either, really), and KYRH when you're on a deserted, tree-lined lane in the dark of night - preferably one that's barely the width of your car.
Also
Zara Sa - Power Ballad,
Dil Ibaadat Rock and
Ek Pal Ne, which I'll put together in a separate post. They are all glorious.
O' Mama (Saat Khoon Maaf) - which, as you have seen, Cain is very fond of.
It's not a great hit with the parents, though. I can't fathom why. XD
(It's because they think I'm too young to have hormones. Don't tell 'em I do, will ya?)Lamhaa Remix (Bandish's self-titled album), which I've also dealt with before. I recall saying it hit my car kink - but here's the catch: I can't really explain why. Maybe it's the sheer velocity of it all, the way it tells a story that cascades untamed - Saanson mein, teri yaadon ka lamhaa...baaton mein, teri baaton mein fanaah... - to its natural conclusion. That is, in fact, what I like about cars with spirit - they can't be tamed; it's not control they grant you, but symbiosis. That's what a good story does too - takes you up, sweeps you along, leaves you exhilarated at the same time it makes you wish it never had to end.
Lagdaa Na (Bhram), because it's catchy and crazy and has an appealing chorus segment (and, as a matter of fact, I love the rest of it too - Bas teri parchhaai rehti hai meri baahon mein, for instance), but mainly for its ending. I can never get enough of that ending.
O Haseen Zaraa (Action Replayy), because it proves that you can be retro without (naming no names) either blatantly redoing stuff from that era, or being blatantly cheap. O Haseen Zaraa is classy and understated, but the passion is there - damn, it's there. For anyone who dares to listen even a little closer than the average person will, so much lurks beneath that retro beat that the aforesaid average person is quite likely to be left stunned. As the Team will remember, the night I first heard it I almost bit my phone in ecstasy - but had to settle for drawing blood from my right forefinger. XD
Ankahee koi...Dil mein hasrat pale...pale..pale...pale...
It also makes me want to get myself a discoball pendant. And alloy-wheel earrings. Don't ask me why.
O Meri Jaan (Tum Mile), for when it's dark and the road is long and wide and low. O Meri Jaan is a beautiful intertwining of music and lyrics and voice - his voice. As I've said before, the lyrics are beautiful and desolate, but the way it builds to that swell of music at the end, I can only imagine that the swell is a reunion.
Tanhaa teri tarah, haan main bhi hoon...
Dono hain ghamzadaa, main kya kahoon...
I think I quote the same lines every time.
Teri Yaadein (Runway) for roads which are long and winding, and perhaps rainy. I'm particularly fond of Teri Yaadein Remix, because at the end of the first stanza (Dhoop mein rahoon main tera saaya, o, ho judaa kabhi naa yaar hum...) they remove the backing audio entirely. KK distilled is a) a particular pleasure, and b) a rare treat.
The lyrics are subtly gorgeous - witness Aab par likhoon main naam tumhaara...o, saans toote, na toote kasam..., which has a beauty that is destined to be forever lost to anyone who doesn't know the language - and no one can carry off subtlety like KK. Subtlety of tune, subtlety of manner and emotion, subtlety of romance, subtlety of words - Teri Yaadein has it all, and I love it.
Only KK can be passionate and cute at the same time. Which is why someone really ought to pat him on the head. XD
Shabnami subah ke jaise aao...Ek dooje mein hum bitaaye raatein...
Oh, and did I mention paradoxes?
*glee*
Tu Hi Meri Shab Hai - Euro Mix (Gangster)
Yes, I know, I know - I'm a heretic for liking this better than the original, but it doesn't take away from the fact that I do. It must be the Secret Guilty Thing I have for techno.
Well, like it or not - it will make either a climb or a descent much easier.
Aankhein teri shabnami - chehra tera aaina...
And speaking of 'aaina'...
Aaina (Deevaana Hai Mera Dil) is my favourite track from Humsafar, and in fact it's one of the two tracks on the album that I instantly fell in love with. (Not that I don't love the others too - it's just that Aaina and Dekho Na caught me immediately and didn't let me go until I was in love with him all over again.)
Aaina is another example of a paradoxical intensity/time graph, which to me is indicative of perfect structure - perfect, I mean, as stories go. The actual climax is after the stanzas and before the verse - at that last long note of Deevaana! - but the intensity builds to the last chorus and slowly fades to black. There's no ending music segment to merge into - it just fades.
That, however, is where the similarity to Aasraa Reprise ends - Aaina is upbeat and whimsical, and KK plays it for all it's worth. He's flirty at first, just a little frisky, and the guitars back him up (don't forget, he did the score) - and then he takes you entirely by surprise at the aforementioned Deevaana!, which radiates passion and warmth and fire, and makes you completely rethink your impression of the song - and the image it portrays. Suddenly Kaun hai apna begaana, sabko jaane vo takes on a new and deeper meaning, as does the glorious paradox that follows it: Sapnon mein bhi vo jeeta hai, sach ko maane vo...
And then the verse itself confirms the fact that he hasn't been what you thought he was all along: that his desires are at once as primal as - and more refined than - anyone else's.
I should probably shut up about Aaina now. It'll fit in anywhere on the journey - any road, any climb, any weather. Anything. One need only have the emotional openness to feel it, and all will be as it should.
Main Kya Hoon is another indulgence of my Secret Guilty Thing for techno, because no one can sound as good with techno as KK. In addition, it's a song-which-is-not-about-love, which is wonderful, and a song which inspires one to believe in oneself, which is even better.
Main Kya Hoon is a song of exultation.
The lyrics of this one are also subtly beautiful - songs like this just search him out. No one else could have carried off either this tune or this accompaniment with such elan, and as we've all found out, there's no one to give extra depth to lyrics like KK - particularly lyrics like these.
Ab jaana maine jeena kya hai, kya hai poora hona khvaab ka...
Ab dekhoon na vo, sochoon na vo jo bhi yahaan na ho khvaab sa...
Hain shaamon mein ab toh savere...
Hai haathon mein ab vaqt mere...
Play this at dusk, or play it at dawn. Play it in company or play it alone. It doesn't matter - it's beautiful anyway.
Dekho Na is the other Humsafar track I fell for immediately, and for the same reason - its deceptive veneer. Like Aaina, it is upbeat - and like Aaina, its intensity belies what, on casual observation, it would appear to be.
I see this track as KK's follow-up to Yaaron. It deals with the same premise: love triumphant and essential, love ever-present between not merely lovers, but friends as well. It's got all the characteristics of KK when he's thoroughly enjoying himself (don't forget, he did the score and said he loved doing it) - his hard, passionate rock, his solid grounding, his playful not-quite-deception regarding the intensity with which he feels - which last is, I strongly suspect, one of the only defences his soul has against the often harsh world. I say not-quite-deception because the intensity is right there - but, you see, it isn't there to anyone who isn't looking for it.
Kisi ne kahaa hai khudaa bhi yaar ko!...
Kisi ne todaa hai pahaadon ko bhi, ye suno...(suno...suno...suno...)
Koi toh dooba hai nadi mein hanske yaar ke saath...
Cain is looking for it. XD
Play Dekho Na on a light section of road - if you're driving among gardens or fountains, for example. Or on that Dhaula Kuan roundabout maze thing. Delhiites, you totally know what I'm talking about.
Aksar (Hijack), I'm sure, needs no introduction. It's a romance which isn't completely cheesy, but certainly has some cheese to it, and is therefore suited to almost any part of the road. It's intense and sweet at the same time - like KK himself.
Tu jo kahe toh ab jiyoon main - ya main jeena chhod doon...
The man just can't help being almost illegally adorable. X)
And finally, for darkened bridges and distant lights,
Door Se Paas (Musaafir) has been one of my favourites since it was first released - and even though it was early days in my KK chronology, I remember being extremely indignant at what the film did to the song. It was, I think, the first true club song to hit the charts here - but it goes so much deeper than a mere club song that the label isn't worthy to tie its shoelaces.
I mentioned Door Se Paas in my O' Mama post in order to contrast the two. Both songs talk of a femme fatale, with one notable difference: In O' Mama, the prey is just that - prey. He recognizes the fact - and such is her power that, though his identity is always maintained, he revels in it from the start. In Door Se Paas, they're on an equal footing, fighting tooth and nail and all the more fiercely attracted for it - and that's one of the reasons I love it so.
Consider, yet again, that it's KK's vocals on which all this interpretation is based.
The gentleman is incredible - and don't you forget it.
Bear with me until tomorrow evening, please - I'll update this post with the five latest songs I haven't reviewed yet. I've got them almost written, but I'm currently completely bushed.
Until then, I'm in love with Caffeine, and I'm in love with KK. Summary of post in one sentence. XD
Don't forget to tell me your favourite road trip numbers.
