Waqt Par Bolna – by Hariharan

Singer, Composer and Producer – Hariharan

Music by – Sony BMG

The Blues are themselves expressive of a genre of music that took shape and was popularized in the southern United States and have gone through various avatars and structures- and basically meant music which made use of the blue notes and later greatly influenced the jazz, rock and rhythm and blues and hip-hop and other popular music forms.  Generally the blues voiced personal suffering, sadness, lost love, oppression and general hard times.  Ghazals would in that aspect certainly resemble the blues since they almost always are laden with angst, love and pain and separation and also very often have an element of strong spirituality and mysticism woven into them.

Urdu Blues or Ghazal Blues – an expression coined by Hariharan and one that was new to me till I read an interview of Hariharan sometime late 2007 and subsequently listened to his new album – Waqt par Bolna, his latest offering of the Urdu Blues. His earlier album ‘Kaash’ released almost 7 years ago was his first venture into the arena of Urdu Blues. Waqt Par Bolna is a unique garland of songs which expertly synthesizes jazz, folk, rhythm and blues and Indian semi-classical and folk music and has lyrics by some very talented contemporary poets while Hariharan has composed the music and produced the album.  When I first heard the album, I was captivated and struck by Hariharan’s honeyed and comforting baritone and flawless diction as he sang the blues and fascinated by the fantastic arrangements and orchestral scores for each song……….. With the help of some very talented poets and musicians from all over the world, Hariharan’s offering is indeed a soul stirring delight.

Waqt Par Bolna, the opening/title song with lyrics by Tahir Farhaz is an immensely pleasing song with a very soft and soothing melody and enhanced by excellent banjo and percussion accompaniment with - as always Hariharan’s rhythmic and melodic improvisations within the song are a delight to listen to.  It is a very worthy title track with charming lyrics where the poet stresses on the importance of waiting for the right moment to say or do anything however long it might take.

Dhoop Kitni Tez Ho (penned by Mumtaz Raashid) – the opening guitar is just a glimpse of the haunting melody that is to follow.  The song is enhanced by melancholic lyrics and a captivating and lilting background score.

Mujkho Chuke (lyrics –Shakil Azmi) – jazz and blues meet the ghazal and light classical in this seductive song – the chords progression is quite close to the characteristic blues chords progression –.  While this track is the bluesy of the lot, the tune and rendition, which in parts are rather funky and unique, however take a while to grow on the listener – On the whole, the strength of this song lies in the fusion of styles that have been employed with reasonable success and a fairly jazzy melody replete with swaras competing with the most remarkable brass, wind, string and percussion ensemble.

Jab Bhi Milte Ho –by Shakil Azmi is in typical ghazal mode. Hariharan fully demonstrates his vocal mastery as he glides through the varying and winding notes with outpourings of love.  The western drums and tabla in tandem with the strings and an unobtrusive piano throughout the entire length of the song give it a distinctive flavour.

Mere Dil Ki Raakh with moving lyrics of heartbreak and anguish by Bashir Badr absolutely enthralls and tugs at your heartstrings. The flute (in the intro) and veena and tabla and violins in the background are used with optimal and enchanting effect.  In true Hariharan fashion, the song is embellished with magical brighas that he employs with effortless and gentle ease and charms the listener into repeated listening.   

Maine Teri Aankhon (lyrics by Bashir Badr) – this Sufiana Kalam is a heady and heavenly song indeed where tears flow as a ghazal–an ibadat that combines love and the magic of nature and the universe and conveys that every breath, being, notion, emotion, sound and vision, invokes the presence of the almighty.  A song that one can keep listening to again and again – the refrain of Allah hi Allah is so divine as Hariharan’s gentle and mellifluous voice guides us through this spiritual journey!  The use of the banjo and the flute and the piano and violins add to the luster of the song already so rich and stirring in both lyrical and musical content.  A song that promises to pervade your senses and transport you to the heights of listening pleasure – surely this is music for the ears, heart and soul.

Galat Hai Muskurana written by Kaasim Imam is a really beautiful number and the listener is in for a treat with the sax and trumpet and violins competing for honours while Hariharan cruises through the song enriching it with improvisations in both the vocals and tempo.  His singing evokes the very emotions and mood of the song’s lyrics that say that there is always a poignant reason for a smile that is used to conceal one’s distress…………

Kesariya Balamva – with traditional lyrics is a song that combines both Rajasthani folk and semi-classical styles - where separation and yearning are so evocatively expressed in Hariharan’s inimitable style – his gamakas are as usual so skillfully and effortlessly rendered and complemented by a remarkable and unusual orchestral arrangement and rhythm.  A very haunting tune and moving rendition indeed that certainly get the listener all dewy eyed!  

Yun To Haste Huye (lyrics by Vaali Aasi) – has a very filmi ghazal feel to it, where sarangi and violins team up as the major accompaniment.  The lyrics seem to be the typical outpourings of a teenage or young lover and how different things (cigarette, tea etc) are used to forget sadness but ultimately the underlying sadness cannot be masked or erased ever.   

Woh Sarpiri Hawa written by Amir Ghazalbashi a slow and heavy number – about how the poet has to resist temptation and exercise control when he has his beloved close to him, with the allusion about a lamp in proximity of a hurricane! The mellow and sweet strains of the sarangi and muted trumpet along with the rich violins section and a gentle piano and Hariharan’s pathos ridden vocals succeed in creating an overall lachrymose feel to the song. 

Special mention must be made of the wonderful arrangements and orchestration and the gifted musicians and technicians who are also credited in the inlay booklet of the CD, some of them very well known from the United States, Canada, UK and India. The arrangements for as also the recording and mastering of the tracks are of high quality.

I have not probed or concerned myself too deeply into whether the songs strictly or faithfully subscribe or adhere to the archetypal technical, structural or lyrical aspects of the ghazal or the blues form, simply because it would take away the spontaneity from the enjoyment and pleasure that the music is sure to bestow on its listeners!  I also confess that as a music lover whose knowledge or understanding of Urdu is almost next to nothing, I am not ashamed to say that I sought help with the translations of the lyrics from friends to help me appreciate and enjoy the songs even more. Many thanks to Meena Venu, Gaayathri Chandrasekaran and Raghu Saranathan who translated, interpreted and elucidated the finer meaning contained in the verses, and to my daughter Krithi who helped me understand and grasp the meaning of the term Blues and listened patiently to the songs with me and gave me her inputs on the various instruments that were employed in the album.

The following links are interviews with Hariharan where he talks about the Urdu Blues and his album ‘Waqt Par Bolna’.  

http://www.hindu.com/fr/2007/08/31/stories/2007083150210400.htm

http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/mp/2003/11/03/stories/2003110300790100.htm

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EyZZ2z6HkdI

An album worth its weight in gold! 

Sudha (Lakshmi) Rao 
 
 

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