“Dekha Na Tha” And Other Serendipitous Song Discoveries

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Dekha Na Tha
Kabhi Hum Ne Yeh Sama
Aaysa Nasha Tere Pyar Nay Diya
Socha Na Tha
Kho Gaye Sapnon mein hum

This song “Dekha Na Tha” has been stuck in my head for the last 2 weeks.

A few days ago, I met a school-friend, an expert in entertainment marketing who was discussing the shift from scarcity (limited music access in the 70s and 80s) to abundance, but now controlled by large corporates like Spotify, Apple Music, etc., who dictate what we hear. Few artists can break out of the algorithm’s grip on “the next song”.

Yet, we still discover songs, old and new, serendipitously…when someone recommends a song, or at a live concert, or in a show or film, or when the children play music during a workout or drive.

“Dekha Na Tha” is the tentpole song of the 6-episode show “Barzakh.” It first plays in a scene between the King Learish father and his gay son and then in the last episode. I was intrigued because it felt like an old 70s “Hindi” song that my wife and I had never heard. A Shazam check revealed the singer’s name (Alamgir) and a deeper dig on Perplexity said it was from circa 1975, a cultural phenomenon in Pakistan, banned later due to the word “nasha”, adapted from a Turkish song “Sev Kardeşim” by Şenay, in turn adapted from an Israeli number, Veshuv Itchem by Ilanit. What’s interesting is that the song was never copied by the likes of Bappida and despite being a Hindi/Urdu song, it didn’t cross borders, or even if it did, completely flew by most of us whose first exposure to a Pakistani artiste was Nazia Hassan, when she sung herself into our collective consciousness with “Aap Jaisa Koi” in 1980, thanks to Biddu and Qurbani.

Another current earworm is “Dancing On My Own” by Robyn, which I came across in a post by Austin Kleon, whose newsletter I follow. I listened to it during my gym session, and my daughter said it sounded similar to a song by Callum Scott, who had repurposed the number into a slow love song on Britain’s Got Talent. We went through about 30 versions of the song that day (it is so easy with Apple Music or Spotify) and for me the original dance version remains the best.

When I watched Brahmastra, “Kesariya” didn’t really do anything for me. Then at a college reunion, a colleague used the song in an act and I found the lyrics haunting. If I had to woo my wife again, I would use these words.

Rabba ne tujhko banaane mein
Kar di hain husn ki khaali tijoriyaan
Kajal ki siyaahi se likhi
Hain toone jaane
Kitnon ki love storiyaan

and then this

Chanda bhi deewana hai tera
Jalti hai tujhse saari chakoriyaan

You have to be seriously in love to write these words and the song lifts my spirits up immediately if I’m feeling down.

After their Mumbai concert a few years ago, I fell in love with Coldplay. I used to listen to them occasionally, but after that mind-blowing concert, I played nothing but Coldplay for 3 months or so.

When I hear Chris Martin sing these lines in “Fix You”, it still gives me goose bumps.

Lights will guide you home
And ignite your bones
And I will try and fix you

One of my favorite running songs is Creep by Radiohead, which I first heard on The Stage, an English song reality show, where Shaurya, with this amazingly deep bass voice, just shredded the song. I hadn’t heard it before, so I went back to the original, which led to more Radiohead, a band, which for some reason, I just hadn’t known. Perhaps the best part of the movie, Creep was also recently used in the opening scene of Guardians of the Galaxy 3.

I know friends and family who stick to music from their era, whether it’s rock, pop, Hindi, jazz, or classical. But music evolves and there’s amazing old and new stuff out there.

Lewis Capaldi’s ballads can move me to tears and Olivia Rodrigo perks me up when she goes nuts about a vampire. I first heard Raabta (the best part of Agent Vinod) during a wedding dance and couldn’t stop listening to it thereafter. While writing this piece, I was checking YouTube for a good link and I came across this female version played during a 3-minute one-take shootout…now this scene is the 2nd best thing about the film…this is what I mean by serendipity.

I heard Dil Shagna Hai at a wedding and found it’s from Phillauri, which I had no intention of watching…but the song is just so amazing. It’s like when “Chalte Chalte”, Bappida’s breakout song became famous but the forgettable movie sank on its first day.

I never cared about Lady Gaga, but after seeing her perform “Shallow” in “A Star is Born” with Bradley Cooper, my wife and I kept listening to all her songs from that movie and now I follow her new ones too.

Sometimes it is about rediscovery.

I had a Kate Bush vinyl in the 80s and listened to her on and off, more off than on. I rediscovered her during the last season of Stranger Things, when Max played “Running Up That Hill” on her Walkman (remember those). This was my go-to song for a good six months.

I rediscovered Backstreet Boys because of the song “I Want it That Way” referenced in the show Tokyo Vice, where a Japanese friend of the main protagonist thinks it means “doing it…that way”. Coincidentally, the band came to Mumbai a year later, but they were sad…it’s better to listen to their original songs instead of watching ageing, balding rockers with partly flattened vocal cords.

Finding new music is rewarding if we keep our eyes, ears and senses open to new discoveries, whether through recommendations from friends and family, live concerts, or TV shows and movies.

Here’s a Spotify playlist with all the referenced songs. The YouTube video links are embedded in the piece itself.

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