Over the years every generation of Pakistani singers have made it a point to sing songs with a patriotic feel to them. More often than not these songs have done relatively well and bode well for the popularity of a lot of singers re Junoon, Vital Signs and many others.
Madame Noor Jahaan’s patriotic songs and their effect on the morale of the Pakistani army is legendary. I would like to state here that I am neither a fan of her singing nor her music, but she is surely one of the biggest and most respected singers ever. Continue reading ‘Patriotic songs: Some of the most popular’
Surely Vital Signs needs no introduction. They shot to instant fame with the release of “Dil Dil Pakistan” in 1987 and subsequently ruled the Pakistani music scene for the next decade. “Dil Dil Pakistan”, virtually a second national anthem, has been voted as the 3rd most famous song of all time by a recent BBC poll. Hard to believe? Well, thanks to scores of Pakistanis hell bent on beating “Vande Mataram” to the race, we ended up with enough votes for the 3rd place. (BBC Poll)
With a handful of artists that comprised the Pakistani music industry in the early 90s, songs were limited to the pop genre until Junoon broke onto the scene. But VS had already captured the market with its thought provoking lyrics and some excellent melodies. Perhaps the man behind their immense success was Shoaib Mansoor, who wrote most of their lyrics and helped with the composition. His contributions extend beyond mentoring Vital Signs, with direction of dramas such as Sunheray Din, Alpha Bravo Charlie, Ankahi and Fifty Fifty to his credit. He is indeed a multi-dimensional artist.
Continue reading ‘Vital Signs: The mellow 90s’
Carefully chosen scenes from the movie “V for Vendetta” have complimented the background track. I felt this video was inspiring in light of the chain of events in Pakistan and some, if not all, peoples’ feelings in regards to them. Please note that the violence depicted in certain scenes do not imply or reflect the author’s sentiments.
Song: R-Evolve (lyrics)
Artist: 30 Seconds To Mars
Published on March 6, 2007
in Music.
A song made by some of the biggest names in Pakistani pop music. The song starts off with the words:
‘Terrorism is murder. Murder is haram. Countless innocents are being murdered by terrorists claiming to fight in the name of Islam.’
Hence, the title ‘Yeh Hum Naheen’ literally translated as ‘This is not us’. The message is for the rest of the world that we are not terrorists. However, it sounds like we’re reassuring ourselves that we are not terrorists. After all, the terrorists are coming out from amongst us. Most of us may not agree with what they’re doing and state that its contrary to Islam (which I believe it is), but they firmly believe that they’re laying down their lives for Islam. What about the Maulvi who shot Punjab Social Welfare Minister Zile Human Usman because he felt it was unIslamic for a woman to hold a government position?
A good song nevertheless.
Karachi. Lahore. Islamabad.
Yes, fame. It is readily available to anyone appearing on the multitudes of new TV channels and radio stations as VJ’s and RJ’s. 
Let me just clarify from the outset that my feelings on the issue don’t arise out of jealousy. Trust me, no matter how famous these people get I am much more satisfied in the position I am right now. This is not my kind of fame.
So, let’s start off with VJ’s. Continue reading ‘Fame: Scattered across Pakistan’
Published on January 31, 2007
in Music.
I am not really qualified to write an album review, but when it comes to Atif Aslam’s ‘Doorie’ I don’t think it will be very difficult since it’s quite pathetic. I say pathetic because a lot more was expected of him. When I bought my copy of the album I noticed that it had 7 new songs and 25434343 remixes. Well, just 10, but that’s a bit of an overkill as well. I mean no matter how good you think your songs are you can’t put in more than a couple of remixes in an album. I had always had doubts about Atif’s musical talents. He is a very good singer, but as a musician he leaves a lot to be desired.
Continue reading ‘Album Review: Atif Aslam’s Doorie’
Published on December 11, 2006
in Media and Music.
Noori’s new video Meray Log is out. You can view it here
It is a slow, soothing song with nice meaningful lyrics. What’s great about the lyrics, which is true for a lot of Noori songs, is that they can be interpreted in many different ways. However, amazingly, more often than not, Noori adopts the most simplistic meaning for its videos. This could mean that at times I give them too much credit for something which they never intended. Either that, or that they do not consider the Pakistani audience to be able to understand the depth in their songs. This video doesn’t really show anything apart from several unappealing and unnecessary closeups of people’s faces. Disappointing!
Lyrics Continue reading ‘Noori’s Meray Log: Disappointing Video’
