Recently I listened to the latest offering of coke studio (Pakistan,
Indian version sucked) where aatif sang some nusrat song and it was kind of a
reprise, of course with coke studio signature twist. Needless to say, loved it.
Pure bliss. It kind of cemented my old belief that every music be it heavy
metal or Indian classical is not too different from each other (except for rap
and hip-hop because frankly speaking, I don’t understand it/that). During
numerous drunk conversations during college times (yes, politics and music are
the best ‘drunk debate’ topics), I have kind of defended my stand almost alone
when people would refuse to believe, and understandably so, why and how two so
different genres of music could possibly be similar in any way. Wish they aired
sound trippin then.
Earliest instances
of music known to Indians was found in Kerala (source: the story of India: BBC) where mantras were passed on verbally by making it in music format
for generations, some of them still going on. This sound was similar to noises
birds make in different seasons. This verses/phrases of mantras were never
scripted and was kept strictly verbal. In due course of time Indian classical
evolved and with remarkable contributions from different maestros, got fine
tuned. The history of heavy metal or rock n roll per se, isn’t that long (not
judging here). Elvis primarily gets credit for bringing it to limelight and
popular media but I am sure there were many other musicians as well. And if we
talk music, opera comes really close to Indian classic in its purest form for
the sheer effect of singer’s voice (taansen, anyone?). Unrelated, have you ever
noticed a slim opera singer?
Rock (and every
format of metal referred to for sake of this post) basically has rebellion at heart.
Every lyric deals or challenges a particular belief of society as we know it.
Case in point, 2 minutes to midnight (iron maiden) dealt with female foeticide
way back in 80’s(even before #SMJ). This holds true for each and every song you
come across of this genre. While the
fabric of the song might deal with some life philosophy, the underlying fact
always is about questioning society’s orthodox belief (extensive Pink Floyd is
suggested if you disagree). And if we look into the folk songs or poetries by
great Urdu writers (which more often than not get translated into songs), the
same flavor is present. Probably the reason why ‘kahin dur jab din dhaljaye(anand)’ sounds erringly similar to a certain ‘wish you were here(pink
floyd)’.
Having said that, then
there are folks who dismiss the very idea of a certain kind of music without
listening to it citing reason such as too much music, weird lyrics; the very
thing that sets it apart from other genres, which kind of defeats the whole
purpose of comparison. I am sure lot of people wont agree but the point I am
trying to make here is, the songs may look different at the surface but delve a little deeper and
you will see the similarity. Probably the reason Coke studio took everyone by
surprise when some guys decided that it will be a pretty good idea to mix two
completely different kind of music, it turned out to be pure awesomeness. The brilliance is visible when a guitar weilding Ali Azmat's Garaja baras
(Rock, if I may?) and sufi/classical(a sublime Rahat Fateh Ali Khan) are mixedtogether. Seriously if you appreciate good music, try coke studio (Pakistan
version, they ruined it in Indian version).
Now, the
argument can go both ways depending on the extent of your inclination towards
your music, and some arguing in favor of fusion music, but I stick to my
argument. Do you agree/disagree? \m/oO\m/
