Settle down, it’ll all be clear, don’t pay no mind to the demons, they fill you with fear. The trouble it might drag you down, if you get lost, you can always be found… the number of times I have sang this song to myself, to remind myself – I am here for you – would be infinite. Good music essentially becomes good poetry. All of us are always around music, we have a song for everything – a feel good song, a love song, a song for those moments that do not have a name, a song we only listen to at night and the reasons can never end. It is a fact that in times of anxiety, depressive moods or momentary sadness, music helps in calming down or just diverting our energy. This playlist is just a personally curated list of songs that I like to listen to on a particularly bad day or just to feel good. I hope you find a song, or better if a song finds you.
It is a fact that in times of anxiety, depressive moods or momentary sadness, music helps in calming down or just diverting our energy.
1. Aaj Kal Zindagi| Wake Up Sid| Shankar Mahadevan
Wake Up Sid is timeless. Yes, it is. The relevance of feeling this energy – of being freshly out of college, living on your own, creating your own space and finding your self-worth, in my opinion is always relatable, no matter how old one is. Although, the entire album is a delight, Aaj kal zindagi rings the deepest chord for me.
Also read: 20 Indian Songs That Are A Must For Your Feminist Playlist
To just embrace the change, let the breeze pass your face and accept that this world is your stage, act, dance, sing… just stay on the stage, no matter what!
Ab hai tu jahaan, din raat saare naye hai, arzoo jawaan-jazbaat saare naye hai, naye rastein hai tere vaaste (Where you are now, the days and nights are new, the desires and emotions are new, all these new paths are just for you); to anyone who has just walked out of college, or has started a new job, this song is reminder that all these feelings are new and fresh, you can create anything with them – wherever we are, that is our oyster.
2. Hass Nach Le| Udta Punjab| Shahid Mallya
Hass nach le jind meriye– laugh and dance, my life – in a true sense, this song to me is a celebration of life, in its helplessness, pain and angst. Ho khud se roobar, mann darpan takk le tu (Come one-to-one with yourself, oh heart, look into the mirror) – speaks to me in a very hopeful way, that we should look into ourselves, to truly know what resides inside us. Just like Piyush Mishra said: ‘Halki fulki si hai zindagi, bojh toh sirf khwahishon ka hai’.
3. Kholo Kholo| Taare Zameen Pe| Raman Mahadevan
Asaman ka shamiyaana, aaj humne hai sajaana, on a gloomy morning this is a wonder in itself. To decorate the sky tapestry and to believe that we can do it; there is no dearth in our ability to do so. Ho udane ko tu aazaad hai, bandhan koi abb hai kahaan (You are free to fly, nothing to chain you down) in my opinion the entire song speaks to the spirit, a song of freedom… reminds me of Pinocchio’s lines – ‘I’ve got no strings to hold me down, to make me fret, or make me frown’.
4. Song for Survival| Little Things Season 2| Mithila Palkar and Neel Adhikari
It’s not for us to say, what will be and at the end of the day we’ll see – on one of the days when life is nothing but clueless and the worry of what is ahead, eats up what is in front of us, these lines are an answer. All of us are somewhere, stumbling and fumbling, figuring out what works for us and what doesn’t, all of us have been there, in those extremely weak moments when everything seems like a big question mark and I say on such days, if you can then just dance it out to this song and sing the chorus:
‘Cause nothing really matters, if we could swing with the little things’.
5. Phir Dekhiye| Rock On| Caralisa Monteiro
That one second of doubt and that one tiny window of hope is everything Phir dekhiye is about. Dil mein jo geet hai gunguna lijiye phir dekhiye: the song that is in your heart, hum it aloud, and then see. The connotation of this line for me is that the deepest desire of our hearts, the things that we are actually scared of addressing, if we could find it in ourselves to sit with them, maybe it could be different and we wouldn’t feel so miserable.
6. Dhol Yaara Dhol| Dev D| Shilpa Rao and Kshitij Tarey
Although popularly and according to the visuals, it is a song that Paro is captured in as she feels excited to meet Dev after a very long time. I however feel, love is subjective and doesn’t come with a template. So, you can be in love with anything in this world, and just the purity of being in love can make you feel confident to win the world – ambar udd ke chu lu – to fly and touch the sky. Mann me more huk uthi hai koyal jaise cuk uthi hai… the silent and loud moments we have with ourselves, when we are rising in love or are loved. In my head, love looks good on all of us and this song encapsulates that for me.
7. Kinare| Queen| Mohan Kanan
Also read: 12 Powerful Spoken Word Artists You Need To Add To Your Playlist
When you are all done and dusted with trying, holding on, letting go, spacing out, zoning in – Peron tale jo bhi mile baandh lenge hum kinare – wherever we end up, we will save ourselves eventually and throw our anchor to make home at the shore. Auron se kya
khud hi se, poonch lenge raahein – we will be our own maps. A song to tell us that we are enough for ourselves.
This is by no means an exhaustive or representative list. Suggestions to add to this list are welcome in the comments section.
Featured Image Source: Movies
