Music and Me – Part IV

Continued from Part I, Part II, Part III

Influence

When it comes to music, my greatest influence has been my best friend Numair, although I will never admit it in front of him. I mean we still argue like kids over who has heard a wider variety of songs, who has heard more songs, we race to listen to a new good song just to be able to say “aha, I told you about that song”

So here are two songs that I would not probably have liked had it not been for influence. The lyrics, although good, would not connect with me instantly. Yet, I love these songs today, and its all because of influence.

Boshe Achi Eka is a very old song by one of the pioneers of rock music in Bangladesh – Warfaze. This song is just so energetic, its almost as if an individual cannot absorb it by himself. It talks about celebrating, about the beautiful sky, butterflies, flowers, the wind, everything. But the guitar riffs and the vocals just grab you and lift you up.

There was never a music video of this song, so this is a live performance of the song by Warfaze at a theme park.

This song brings back old memories. Its one of those songs we would have on full blast in the car and go on for long drives, enjoying the wind on our faces through the windows, while at the same time revelling in shocking the people around with our exuberance and free spirit. Ah those were the days.

The second one is the song Hamesha by the Pakistani rock band Entity Paradigm. Once again, I first heard this song in Numair’s car. The songs starts off with an eerie feel and slowly builds up. I remember I had this startled look on my face when the song started, and asked him what the song was. He told me to just listen quietly. I did and was totally blown over.

The guitar riffs are once again, absolutely fantastic, and in no time energises the listener. The quality of the Urdu is of the highest class, and the ideas expressed are quite philosophical and deep. Not the kind of lyrics that would connect with me instantly as you have to keep listening to it a couple of times to absorb it. So once again, what attracted me to this song was my friend’s influence initially, and I grew a liking to it instantly. It is the song that made me an Entity Paradigm fan overnight.

A few more songs that did not have those usual ingredients that would connect with me immediately but I still ended up loving them.

Kahan Hain Tu by Entity Paradigm

For Whom The Bell Tolls by Metallica

Jilawatan by Call

Shayad by Call

Ultimately, I think music or any form or art for me is communication. Sometimes the words communicate with me directly, sometimes it is the composition, the rendition, or a combination of everything, and sometimes it is something I am not sure of myself. All I know is, every song that I like is an individual, and when we become good friends, its because of how well we connect as individuals.