tl:dr

Here’s a Spotify playlist with songs that I think have really meaningful lyrics.

end tl:dr

I listen to a lot of different genres of music but songs that have meaningful lyrics are the ones I connect to the most. This post is a collection of sorts of the song lyrics I felt a connect with as they remain relevant long after the music fades down. I’ve also attempted to translate some of the non-english lyrics to english while trying to maintain their sanctity.

💡 Tip : You can click on any lyrics title to listen to the song on Youtube.

मेरा कुछ सामान

एक अकेली छत्री में जब आधे आधे भीग रहे थे
आधे सूखे, आधे गिले,
सुखा तो मैं ले आयी थी
गिला मन शायद, बिस्तर के पास पडा हो
वो भिजवा दो,
मेरा वो सामान लौटा दो

In the magical mellow voice of Asha Bhosle, This song is a lyrical marvel by Gulzaar.

Inside of love

I wanna know what it’s like on the inside of love.
I’m standing at the gates,
I see the beauty above

I first heard this song on the TV show HIMYM, and could not get the lyrics out of my mind. They hit too deep. This song got me through (or put me in?) some tough time in matters pertaining to love.

इक बगल में चाँद होगा

होनी और अनहोनी की परवाह किसे है मेरी जान,
हद से ज्यादा ये ही होगा कि यहीं मर जायेंगे,
हम मौत को सपना बता कर उठ खड़े होंगे यहीं,
और होनी को ठेंगा दिखाकर खिलखिलाते जायेंगे,
और होनी को ठेंगा दिखाकर खिलखिलाते जायेंगे.

Darling, who cares about what will be our fate,
Death could be the worst thing to get to me.
We’ll say that death was but a dream, and laugh at our fate,
and laugh at our fate.

अनकही

क्या कभी बहार भी, पेशगी लाती है?
आने वाले पतझड़ की
बारिशें नाराज़गी भी जता जाती है
कभी कभी अम्बर की
पत्तें जो शाखों से टूटे
बेवजह तो नहीं रूठे, हैं सभी
सदियों पुरानी ऐसी इक कहानी रह गयी,
रह गयी अनकही

Does the spring ever signify oncoming autumn?
Or the rains of the anger of the sky?
The leaves that have fallen from the tree, must have parted from it for a reason!
An age-old story like this is left unsaid.

Sea of dreams

You’ll find me In a sea of dreams
Where no one cares about my words

I heard this song on the TV show Bojack Horseman. Upon listening to this song, I was engulfed in a weird cloud of loneliness.

Tunnels

Birthright’s a trouble, my father dug too
He got where he was going at the age of 62

When will you get to where you are going?

I heard this one on the TV show Detectorists and loved these lines too much. Thanks to my friend Danish for recommending this TV show to me as it truly is a gem.

Life moves on

Life moves on
The way life does
But some things are prettier
The way life was
Don’t you sometimes wish some things in life stay as they were?

ज़िन्दगी प्यार का गीत है

ज़िन्दगी प्यार का गीत है
इसे हर दिल को गाना पड़ेगा
ज़िन्दगी ग़म का सागर भी है
हँस के उस पार जाना पड़ेगा

Life is a song of love,
Every heart has to sing this song.
Life is also an ocean of sorrow,
still, we have to cross it with a smile on our faces.

कहीं तो होगी वो

जाने ना कहाँ वो दुनिया है,
जाने ना वो है भी या नही,
जहाँ मेरी ज़िन्दगी मुझसे,
इतनी खफ़ा नही

Najeek

तिम्रो आत्मा थाम्ने कसम कसरी दिऊ म जब
आफ्नै आत्मालाई चिनेको छुइन?
आफ्नै छायांसंग भागी दौडदैछु म, भन
तिम्रो छायांको जिम्मा कसरी लिनु म?
संसार छाडिहिड्ने बांचा नदेऊन
शुरुशुरुमा त यस्तै त हो नि
जीन्दगानीको रीतहरुले यसैउसै हामीलाई अल्झाउने नै हो

काश हाम्रो भेट केही
सालअगाडि हुन्थ्यो
या काश हाम्रो भेट केही
सालपछाडि हुन्थ्यो
समय सही हुन्थ्यो
राजै, मौसम बेग्लै हुन्थ्यो
तर, आज हैन नजिक नआऊन

I don’t understand Nepali, the language the song is written in, so the below translation is collected from various sources on the internet

I run from my shadows.
Tell me, How can I be responsible for your shadows?
Don’t promise of leaving the world of me.
It’s like this in the beginning
But, life will eventually catch up to us

I wish we’d met a few years ago,
or I wish we would meet a few years hence.
The time would’ve been right.
The weather, different
But not today, no, don’t come close

ज़िंदगी का सफ़र

ऐसे जीवन भी हैं जो जिए ही नहीं
जिनको जीने से पहले ही मौत आ गयी

There are lives which I have not yet lived,
Death reached me before I could start living them.

कहीं दूर जब दिन ढल जाए

कहीं तो ये, दिल कभी, मिल नहीं पाते
कहीं से निकल आए, जनमों के नाते

Somewhere we find it impossible to form loving connections
and Sometimes, without significant effort, we form bonds that could last forever

Empty

I never learned to count my blessings
I choose instead to dwell
In my disasters

Don’t do what the singer did!

Maybe Katie

Do you know everyone you ever swore you’d love for life?
I don’t know them anymore
I know their names, I’d recognize them on the street
And I don’t love them

These lines of the song deeply resonate with me and make me realize how we let a lot of good things get away by thinking too hard about them. What we don’t realize is that the things we’re stressing ourselves over today, won’t even matter a few years down the line.

Youth

And if you’re still breathing, you’re the lucky ones
'Cause most of us are heaving through corrupted lungs
Setting fire to our insides for fun
Collecting names of the lovers that went wrong
The lovers that went wrong