Atif aslam's Dholna to add spiritual dimensions (Review)
We present an overview of songs seen and heard on episode 4 of ‘Coke Studio’s Seasons 5’.
Kandyaari Dhol Geet
Bohemia and Chakwal Group: This is a love song written by Aziz Lohar, a
contemporary of the Chakwalis who hailed from village Shah Khushi near
Kalar Kahar in Chakwal. There is little information available as to the
date it was written and no written records of the poet Aziz Lohar. A
fusion between contrasting tragedies of love; One referring to spiritual
love, sung by the Chakwali's in a joyful manner and the other relating
to people who are lost in the material realm, performed by Bohemia.
Tora Bahraam Khaana
Hamayoon Khan: This is a famous Pashto folk song which was tied together
with another folk song with a similar theme. ‘Tora Bahraam Khaana’ is a
love song sung from a woman to her beloved. Her beloved, Bahram Khan,
has a very dark complexion – and not considered handsome by conventional
ideals of beauty, however, that is of very little significance to the
girl and she sings about how much she cares and loves Bahram Khan. This
song was tied together with another folk song in which a man is singing
to his beloved who is very dark but he doesn’t care and will continue to
love her. Like Larsha Pekhawar Ta, Tora Baram Khanna includes Pashto
couplets known as tappas.
Dholna
Atif Aslam: This song was supposed to be on one of Aslam’s albums but he
wanted to do it for Coke Studio. The song talks about Aslam’s journey.
He writes about the idea of searching for someone and turning to God in
pain of separation from his beloved. In the song Atif writes that the
beloved returns but the person doesn’t need them anymore because he has
found God and needs nothing else. Aslam decided to include a section
from 'Shaana Uchiyan' the renowned qawali performed by Nusrat Fateh Ali
Khan. He felt the qawali would help bring out the idea of searching for
God and add a higher spiritual dimension to his music. A track created
upon cyclic rhythm layers, which evolve through shifting accents while
the underlying rhythm remains unchanged.
Bolay
Uzair Jaswal: was written in late 2011 and is very different from
Jaswal’s other songs. Most of his compositions are sad and mellow and
Jaswal wanted to do something that would appeal to people his own age.
‘Bolay’ just came to him in a burst of creativity. He was asked to send a
few demos for Coke Studio and wanted to include a faster track along
with his mellow ones. The song represents the freedom, love and a
carefree sense of life when you’re young – one that Jaswal hopes will
touch the youth at the heart. A light-hearted track that inspired Coke
Studio to use a typical eastern folk-beat as its fusion rhythm base.
Rung
Fareed Ayaz and Abu Muhammad: This is a Kalaam written by Amir Khusro in
his early years. Though there is no evidence to prove this, it is said
that Khusro was inspired to write the kalaam after he met his pir
Nizamuddin Auliya. This version of Rung is considered to be the closest
to the original rendition by Amir Khusro. It has been featured this
season along with Hadiqa Kiyani's version to show the similarity and
contrast between two very different versions of the same Qawali. One
reason why traditional music continues to survive today is because of
its evolution in time. By featuring two different versions of Rung in
one season, this point is highlighted and experimentation with
traditional music is encouraged - provided the essence of the original
is not sacrificed.
