Nature-Inspired Songs
Written by J.K.Bhagchandani
Mohd Rafi
Nature is God’s most powerful and captivating symbol of HIS presence on this planet. Being near to nature is believed to be being near to God. The nature has inspired and spurred the creative instincts of artists of almost all streams to produce their artistic creations and showcase their talent. Painters have been fascinated by different facades of nature to capture its various colours on canvas. Poets, novelists have written many classics in the process of describing the beauty, the serenity of the nature.
Film lyricists also have very beautifully penned down umpteen number of rhythmic lines for many wonderful songs glorifying the nature. Such nature-inspired songs not only enrich the aesthetics of the composition but also provide an opportunity for the film maker to capture some breath taking visuals of the nature. These songs also help in portraying the character on the screen and his feelings. And when a song of a theme as divine as nature is sung by a voice as Godly as of Rafi saab… the result is bound to be ‘sheer magic’. This write-up is just a small attempt to celebrate some (randomly picked) songs of Rafi saab where one beauty of the nature is combined with another beauty of nature (Rafi saab’s voice).
‘Parbaton ke pedon par shaaam kaa basera hai…. (film Shagun): (What a song!) It starts with humming alaap ‘o..o…o…o…o…o…o..o….’ and then comes the majestic voice of Rafi saab.. (Parbaton ke pedon par shaam kaa basera hai), your thoughts and heart instantly takes you in the midst of scenetic beauty of mountains, tall, dense trees, still water bodies. Suman Kalyanpur too has very skillfully done full justice to the mood of the song. (Dono waqt milte hain do dilon ki surat main, Aasmaan ne khush ho kar rang saa bikhera hai). Sahir Ludhiyanvi has very beautifully described the late evening phase (sun-setting moment) of the day in a serene, idyllic surroundings of unexploited nature. Khaiyaam has wonderfully tuned the song in Raag pahari. Enjoy the song:
Parbaton Ke Pedon Par from Shagoon
Dil kahe ruk jaa re ruk jaa yahin pe kahin ……. (Man ki Aankhen) written by Anand Bakshi and composed by Laxmi Kant Pyare Lal is another great song. Again right from the opening alaap itself Rafi saab captures you, elevates you above the material world, away from your worldly worries, brightens your mood to make you feel the nature.
Dil kahe ruk jaa re ruk jaa from Man Ki Aankhen
Sonik Omi composed Rafi sung song (Har chehera yahaan chaand hai to har zaraa sitaaraa…..) from film Aabroo is a dedicated Kashmir-special song describing the heaven on earth.
More often than not the beautiful relationship between nature and romance has been very effectively portrayed in various songs of HFM. Ye waadiyaan ye fiyaaen bulaa rahi hain tumhen…. (Aaj aur Kal) is one of many such great songs. Here the hero, feeling lonely in the beautiful natural surroundings, calls his beloved one, emphasizing that all these beautiful features of the nature are calling her, and also suggests that the beauty around him will enhance further on her arrival. A great song of Rafi saab composed by Ravi.
Ye waadiyaan ye fiyaaen bulaa rahi hain tumhen…. from Aaj Aur Kal
‘Aaj ki raat badi shokh badi natkhat hai…..’ a lyrical milestone written by Neeraj, composed by Roshan and sung by Rafi ji from the film ‘Nai Umar ki nai fasal’ is perhaps one of the best nature-inspired romantic song. The song beautifully depicts the feeling of sweet restlessness of the lover in the backdrop of a drizzling night in the gorgeous natural surroundings.
Another gem of a song where nature and romance interface has been wonderfully captured is Rafi-Asha duet of the film ‘Mamta’: ‘In bahaaron mein akele naa phiro, raah mein kali ghataa rok naa le…..’. Listen to the brilliant depiction of ‘nature and romance’ connection theme in the antaraas:
Ye fiyaazen ye nazare shaam ke,
Saare aashiq hain tumdare naam ke,
Phool kehati hai tumhen bada-e-sabaa,
Dekhnaa baad-e-sabaa rok na le,
And the second one:
Mere kadmon se bahaaron ki gali,
Mera cheharaa dekhti hai har kali,
Jaante hain sab mujhe gulzaar mein,
Rang sabko mere hothon se mile.
Majrooh saab has very craftily described the romanticism and sensuality through the elements of nature. And of course over and above it has Roshanji’s music compostion, Rafi saab’s and Asha’s great rendering to make it a unforgettable gem. Get a feel of some romance in the natural surroundings:
In Baharon Mein from Mamta
Chitragupta composed brilliant Rafi-Lata duet of film Vaasnaa ‘Ye parbaton ke daayare, ye shaam kaa dhuaan, aise mein kyoon na chhed den dilon ki dastaan’ is another song where the elements of nature have been used to enhance the romantic fervor of the song.
‘Ye dil deewana hai, dil to deewanaa hai…’… the S.D. Burman composed Rafi-Lata duet is a lyrical gem written by Anand Bakshi. Let us look at some of the lines of the antaraas:
Kaisa bedardi hai,
Uski to marzi hai,
Jab tak jawaani hai,
Yeh rut suhaani hai,
Nazren juda na hon,
Armaan khafaa naa hon,
Dilkash bahaaron mein,
Chhup ke chinaaron mein,
Yoon sadaa hum tum,
Baithe rahe gum sum,
Wo bewafaa kahe jo hum ko jaanaa hai
Ye dil…….
And the third para:
Saawan ke aate hi (twice), (Lata)
Baadal ke chhate hi, (Rafi)
Phoolon ke mausam mein (Lata)
Phoolon ke mausam mein (Rafi)
Chalte hi purwaai, (both)
Milte hi tanhaai, (both)
Uljha ke baaton mein, (both)
Kehataa hai raaton mein, (both)
Yaadon mein kho jaao, (Rafi)
Jaldi se so jaao, (Rafi)
Kyoon ki saanwariya ko sapnon mein aanaa hai (Lata)
Ye dil……
(Magnificant!!)
Hearing the song is like a romantic journey through the heavenly environ of beautiful, magnificently secluded surroundings of nature. It is song of the year 1970 when they say Rafi was ‘on the decline’.
Yeh Dil Deewana Hai from Ishq Per Zor Nahin
The theme of ‘seclude surroundings of nature’ has been extremely well presented in another song ‘Yeh khamoshiyaan ye tanhaaiyaan……’ (Ye Raaste hain pyaar ke). The lyrics, the composition (by Ravi) and the melodious rendering by Rafi and Asha have very effectively created a natural atmosphere of snow cladded mountains and a wintery day.
In 1966 year’s iconic song of film ‘Suraj’ (Bahaaro phool barsaao….) the lyricist Hasrat Jaipuri has kept the romance factor as prime and incorporated the elements of nature to enhance the impact and the depth of feelings of a person in love.
Apart from romance, the ‘nature’ factor has also been used in songs for characterizing the actor. Songs like ‘Mein pyaar kaa deewana sab se mujhe ulfat hai…. (Hamrahi), Phoolon se dosti hai kaaton se yaari hai… (Dunita Jhukti hai) portray the hero as simple, nature loving, sensitive, honest and in some cases even ‘happy-go-lucky’ person. Rafi saab has as usual excelled in all these songs and created the aura of natural surroundings with his velvety voice modulation.
Mohd Rafi
It will not be out of place to mention some excellent songs of nature by other singers also. ‘In hawaaon mein in fizaaon mein….. (Mahendra Kapoor, Asha, film: Gumraah), Suhanaa safar aur ye mausam hasin… (Mukesh, film: Madhumati), Hawwaon pe likh do hawaaon ke naam…. (Kishore Kumar, film: Do Duni Chaar), Mein jahaan chalaa jaaon bahar chali aaye… (Kishore Kumar, film: Ban Phool), Raah bani khud manzil…… (Hemant Kumar, film: Kohra) are some examples.
On the other hand, there have also been nature integrated sad songs where the grief of a heart broken lover has been very effectively conveyed. Elements like ‘ujda chaman’, ‘patjhad’ etc. have been incorporated to convey the feelings of the suffering hero. ‘Kal chaman tha aaj ek seharaa hua…. (Khandaan), Sapne jhare phool se mit chubhe shool se (Nai umar ki Nai fasal) etc. songs very effectively describe the pathos of a despairing hero. In the song ‘Mere dushman tu meri dosti ko tarse…. (Aayaa Sawan Jhoom ke) the lines ‘tu phool bane patjhad ka, tujh pe bahaar na aaye kabhi…..’ very aptly describe the thoughts of a wronged hero.
I am sure that there are many more songs of nature (apart from the ones mentioned in the write-up). Readers can contribute more on this.
Cheers tp all Mohammed Rafi lovers!
-As Mohammed Rafi is great His fans are geat too!
Even this gen-x has its owm Mohammed Rafi following.
Uttara & others have given beautiful collection of Mohammed Rafi natures loving songs, here I would like to add:
Aane se uski aaye bahar
Jaane se uski jaaye bahar
badi masthani hai meri mehbooba!
Wonderful article. Rafi’s voice and nature, what a terrific combo. These songs take me to another world. Thanks. Sonia
Sirji,
Excellent and a very different artilce inspired from mother nature.. keep it up…songs selected were awesome
Narayan
My dear rafian friends !
There is a “country ranking” for Indian musical artists named “Whopopular” and I request you all to vote for Rafi Sahab in the following link and glorify him…
http://www.whopopular.com/Mohammed-Rafi
Rajkumar Akela
some more nature inspired songs
1 – YEH RANG BHARE BADAL – RAFI -ASHA – TU NAHIN AUR SAHI
2 – RANG RANGEELA MAUSAM – RAFI – JEE CHAHATA HAI
3 -KAISE BHEEGE BHEEGE YEH NAZARE – RAFI – SUMAN – APNA GHAR
4- SAWAN KI PARI – RAFI – ASHA- MURDER ON HIGHWAY
5 -BHEEGA BHEEGA PYAR KA SAMA – RAFI-SHAMSHAD – SAAWAN
6 – HASEEN WADIYON – RAFI
7 -WAADIYAN MERA DAMAN – RAFI – ABHILASHA
8 – KUCH KEHTA HAI YEH SAWAN – RAFI -LATA – MERA GAON MERA DESH
9 – ROME KI WAADIYON SE – RAFI – SPY IN ROME
SOME MORE I WILL POST IN MY NEXT MAIL
BY THE WAY – BHAGCHANDANIJI A SUPERB ARTICLE
shri j k bhagchandanijee,
wah kya artical likha hai jee aapne. buss maien kudratki baahon me
kho gayaa jee.
many many thanks.
manohar nadkarni
How come people missed “Aane Se Uske Aaye Bahar” from ‘Jeene Ki Raah’, one of the best songs of Rafi for LP. How about “Neel Gagan Par” from ‘Khandaan’. One more wonderful song was of Mahendra Kapoor “Aree O Shok Kaliyon Muskuradena Wo Jab Aaye”, music by MM beautifully interlinking the nature and his beloved. One of Mukesh’s best from ‘Boond Jo Bangayi Moti’ – “Hari Bhari Vasundhara”.
Never Heard Before Unreleased songs of rafi sahab
vist my youtube channel for all songs of album teri ada
http://www.youtube.com/user/rafians74
songs are
1.teri nazar teri ada. Rafi sahab
2.dil walon ki nikli . Rafi sahab & Ashaji
3.mohabbat karegi asar dhire dhire . Rafi sahab & Ashaji
4.pyar kiya hai aise . Rafi sahab
5. dekho ji wada karo . Rafi sahab & Ashaji
Hussein bhai,
A big THANK YOU for the Teri Ada songs. You are so right. When Rafi saab starts the Teri Nazar Teri Ada song with LaLaLa, tears just flowed from my eyes. No words to express my feelings at this time. I have been hearing it all morning.
TERI ADA: Great news! Mohammed Rafi Saheb’s last 5 songs in an album TERI ADA are now available, tears come down when I hear these songs… Jitni taarif karo kam hai….. Anybody wish to have these songs, can mail me.
melodiousrafi@yahoo.com
melodiousrafi@gmail.com
Uttharaji,
Sorry, I missed to mention about the comprehensive list of nature oriented songs pointed out by you in your post (No. 5). It is great. Almost all songs are wonderful.
Abid Khalilji, Anwar-ul Haque saab, thank you very much for the nice and encouraging words.
Kanji Patel Bhai, thanks for liking the write-up and also for the corrections that you pointed out. Great sir.
Rashid Diwan ji thanks. It is always pleasure to talk about Rafi saab and the enormous wealth of songs that he has left behind.
Uttara ji, it was indeed great to receive ‘taarif’ from an accomplished writer like you. I feel elevated. Thanks a ton.
Binuji, it was your encouraging words that made this write-up possible. Recall our first communication through e-mail wherein you said “You must write”. That was the beginning. Thanks.
Rameshji, arrey bhai kya kahen.. aapne to humeyn speechless kar diya. Bas yahi kahenge ki tah-e-dil se shukriyaa.
Binaji.. it was so nice to read your comments. Thanks. Your selection of other songs relevant to the topic is indeed brilliant.
Thank you all once again.
Bhagchandani jee:
Mast baharon ka main aashiq – rafi saab ki awaaz ka jaadoo aur nazaaron aur fizaaon ki khusboo ko jodkar aapne itna badhiya article likha hai ke har dil isko padhne ke baad zaroor kahega – dil kahe ruk ja re ruk ja yaheen pe kaheen..jo baat is jagaa hai kaheen par nahin…Delighted to read the what you have written about these songs of nature…we have seen that the vagaries of nature have been used over ages by poets as a metaphor for the emotions of the human heart..
I have always been saddened by the lyrics of the song, mere dushman tu meri dosti ko tarse in which hate and hurt is wished upon the beloved, but the affect of the way rafi saab has sung it in such a sad and sweet way, has the impact of ultimately making one feel a lot of sympathy for the hero..thats the quality of the master’s voice..
a couple more songs that come to my mind are
1. taaron ki zubaan par hai muhabbat ki kahani
2. aaye bahaar banke lubhaa kar chale gaye
3. khoya khoya chaand khula aasmaan
4. hum aur tum aur yeh samaa kya nasha, nasha sa hai
5. Swapna jhade phool se meet chubbe shool se
Aise hi likhte rahiyega Bhagchandani jee..
Bina
waah waah waah bhagchandji – kyaa baat hai – aapney apni iss lekh sey hum sabko mantra mugdh kardiya.
you have really done immense justice to some of the greatest people connected with making these songs on nature.
highlighting them in such a unique and endearing manner, our heart goes out to rafi sahab and all connected in the making of these songs.
all that i can say – you require to be patted on your back till you cry and say aloud – bas karo yaar – dukh rahaa hai.
i have lost all the vocab i had and have to just say keep it up and keep writing .
ramesh narain kurpad.
DIL KAHE RUKH JAAYE RUKH JAA………yahin par kahin.., jo baat, jo baat is jagah, aur kahin pe nahin………
bahut khoob mere dost.. badiya article…….. likhte rahiya. we are loving it.
binu nair
Bhagchandaniji, a wonderful topic. Rafi and nature are a heavenly combination. Your subject is hatke. You have beautifully explained how rafi’s voice suits these nature songs. Though you say randomly selected songs, you have listed some very lovely songs. You have covered nature in all its glory as also when it is sad and angry. Fantastic writeup, sir. Thank you for giving us the song links.
I hope you don’t mind my saying this __ the lyrics of Man ki aankhen were written by Sahir Ludhianvi and not Anand Bakshi.
Here is my list of Rafi-nature songs.
1. O aaj mausam bada beimaan hai
2. madhosh hawa matwali fiza sansar suhana lagta hai
3. Mast baharon ka mein aashiq
4. Phool hai baharon ka
5. Kaliyon ne ghunghat khole
6. jane mera dil kise dhoond raha hai in haribhari wadiyon mein
7. Ruth hai milan ki saathi mere aare
8. Kali ghata chaayee prem ruth aayee
9. Suhani raat dhal chuki
10. Yeh mausam bheega bheega hai
11. Sawan aaye ya na aaye
12. Rang basanti sung basanti ang basanti chagaya matwala mausam aagaya
13. O aya sawan jhoom ke
14. Koyal kyun gaaye
15. Yeh hawa yeh mastana mausam(Akeli mat jaiyo)
16. Ke rimjhim ke geet sawangaye haye bheegi bheegi raaton mein(my fave duet)
Bahut shukriya
Utthara
I must congratulate Mr Bhagchandani for this wonderful in sight of Rafi Sahab’s songs on nature. The way you have described and put feelings in the article need a special thanks and for linking the songs to Youtube.
Many thanks for going through so much trouble so that we can enjoy these melody of Mohamed Rafi sahab. I thoroughly enjoyed reading the article and the beautiful songs.
Thank you again
An excellent article by J.K.B. A couple of corrections :
1. Song ‘Mein pyaar kaa deewana; sab se mujhe ulfat hai…. is NOT from the film HUMRAAHI; it is from Aayee Milan ki Bela. Both films starred Jubilee Kumar and music for both was composed by Sangeet Samrat Shankar-Jaikishan.
2. Song ‘Mere dushman tu meri dosti ko tarse…. ‘ is from the film
” Aaye Din Bahar ke ” and not Aaya Sawan Zoom ke. Both had Dharmendra and Asha Parekh as lead stars. Music for both the films was scomposed by Laxmi-Pyare.
Dear Bhagchandani ji,
Very beautiful article on a very fresh and brilliant topic. Yes! You are right. Rafi Sahab’s voice is so beautiful and melodious while singing songs related to the nature. These types of songs are plenty and unlimited. Think of any aspect of nature and you have Rafi Sahab’s songs about that; like Chand, Chandni, Taare, Sooraj, Parbat, Badal, Bagh, Phool, Kali, Nadi, Darya, Sager, Barsaat etc. Name any thing and you have plenty songs of Rafi Sahab.
Anyway, congratulations for writing such a fantastic article.
Thanks and best regards.
Anwar-ul-Haque
anwarhq25@yahoo.com
a real beautiful write up about the nature and the music.
nature in itself ful of melodies.every thing is in rhythm
and music.even your breath has a music in it.if you think
deeply you will find the universal truth about the co relation
between nature and music. keep it up
if you want to have a unique collection of mohammad rafi’s
songs all at one place in mp3 format and free to download
please visit http://www.mediafire.com/abidkhalil
consider it a gift from a rafi lover and a diehard fan.
you will find 2500 song very rare and may be you have not heard
them before.kindly comment after visiting here.thanks