On Music

I mostly listens to Bollywood music, while I admires music from other languages, Hindi is still my go to language whenever I need something comforting.In Hindi also there is a strange charm in old classical songs of 60’s, 70’s. I always ask people who admires music- what exactly do you like in it?. To answer this question for me I love the lyrics, even if a song is well composed, if the lyrics fall flat I will trip over. This might also explain why I love mostly classical songs - the sheer quality of their lyrics is just mindblowing.

But then what are good lyrics , how do you differentiate it from an average one. I think each song tries to convey some story one way or other. Songs are one way of storytelling afterall and good lyrics are those which not only does this well but also have the potential to teleport the listeners to the story, like you are the centre of it- the main character of it- yes that love song is describes exactly how you are feeling.

There is always a difference between what we think, what we want to say and what we actually convey. Good writing bridges the gap between the thinking and conveying. That said then it will boil down to the quality of thoughts. If whatever you are trying to say is well conveyed but still non-sensical, someone or other will be able to figure that out and the writing will lost the charm.

Quality of one thoughts depends upon one’s ability to cut the noise from life. Almost always everything you need to know is in front of you, it just all the noises in our brain that make us go on a trip before arriving at the same destination. Good writers thus also need to be deep thinkers, ability to think from first principles and cut to the chase is important for good observation to come and translating them into words.

Languages in the end are not just a coherence of sentences but also the intent and emotion of their users. Many of us master the art of masking our true emotions behind the language we use and thus the true essence of communication is lost, writers are just doing normal stuff thinking and writing with the intent and emotions attached!