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Many of us must have experienced the deep ecstasies and depressions that music can induce. By depression I mean the immense sadness one can be moved to by soul-stirring music.

I have a habit of constantly singing. Whatever comes to my mind. The other day I was specially enjoying singing ‘Tu mera hero hain‘ from Subhash Ghai’s Hero. Didn’t know all the words so smashits.com zindabad. Suddenly I was listening to everything from ‘Ding Dong‘ to ‘Lambi Judaai’. All songs I had grown up with yet today was bringing me some other satisfaction. ‘Nindiya se jaagi bahaar‘ was making me feel 17 and all dreamy all over again and ‘Lambi Judaai’ was driving me to tears and goosebumps again.

There is something about teen love songs. Listen to ‘Nindiya se jaagi bahaar’ for example. It’s not a love song as such but so evocative in its mood of a young, teen in love with the world and herself, hopeful, innocent, believing all the goodness that is there in a world, a world all rosy in her eyes! And she instantly makes us believe in the poetry of nature when she sings

‘Pehna phoolon ne kirno ka haar, aisa mausam dekha pehli baar’…

It’s like she is seeing the world as it was created on the first day because of her unblemished heart.

Or ‘Tu Mera Hero Hain’. The girl has discovered love. And it is the most beautiful emotion in the world more so because this lovely, innocent thing has experienced it. Contrasted with the cynical attitude of her lover, her belief becomes all the more sweet. Listen to them sing -

He - Premi ke haathon mein prem lakeer hoti hain, tehreer hoti hain’
She ‘Nahi nahi, aankhon mein tasveer hoti hain’
He - ‘Pyaar jo karta hain uski taqdeer hoti hain, jageer hoti hain’
She - ‘Kuchh bhi ho lekin raanjhe ki heer hoti hain’

Who wouldn’t be converted by this optimism? And there is the rebellion in ‘Pyaar karnewaale kabhi darte nahi’. The rebellion of love is always inspiring. But this one is not like the quiet strength of Anarkali when in brazen defiance of the Emperor of Hindustan, she sang ‘Jab pyaar kiya toh darna kya‘. This rebellion is the heady spirit of young lovers, experiencing an emotion in all its glory of first-time, in all its rawness given their own inexperienced, in other words unhardened by life emotional state. It touches a raw nerve.

It is perhaps this rawness, heady-ness and freshness that keeps me glued to teen / first love songs. Ek Duje Ke liye for eg. ‘Tere Beech Mein kaisa hain yeh bandhan anjana‘ exposes all the lovely connection two strangers feel that is nothing but destined love. They don’t understand each other’s languages but understand each other’s hearts. What more do lovers need?

‘Laakh zubane bole log haumjoli,
Duniya mein pyaar ki, ek hain boli,
Bole jo shama, bole jo shama,
Parvaana…‘

And then -

Ek dor kheeche dooja dauda chala aaye,
Kachche dhaage mein bandha chala aaye,
Aise jaise koi, aise jaise koi,
Deewana…

They don’t understand what is happening to them but the bond they feel is all-compelling. And this compelling love we feel only when we are experiencing it for the first time.

There is the excellent evocative song ‘Hum tum dono jab mil jaayenge, ek naya itihaas banaayenge‘ that encompasses every emotion of separation, the test of time, their own belief in their love and each other, their fears, uncertainty yet above all towers the infinite strength that their love gives them. A heady strength that comes from the dare-devilry of youth that believes in the ways of its own heart and knows not much of worldliness. Listen to the girl when she sings -

‘Saal mahine haar gaye, saal mahine haar gaye
Dil jeet gaya, aur judaai ka lo ek din beet gaya,
Gin gin ke yeh doori ke din,
Yoon jeena mushkil hain lekin,
Hum phir bhi jee kar dikhlayenge!’

And then when she feels all the pangs of uncertainty of how fate will deal with their young love when she sings, -

Phir yeh dil din raat dhadakta rehta hain,
Jab humse bedard zamana kehta hain,
Mil na paaye jo khabon mein, kitne hain naam kitabon’

And the boy in his own part responds to her -

‘Hum unmein kyon naam likhayenge,
Ek naya itihaas banayenge!’

You just feel like being swept away in the passion of their love.

And then there is the breezy ‘Hum bane tum bane ek duje ke liye‘. It’s that type of song which has that lovely child-like quality in it, sounding almost like a nursery rhyme with its simple rhythm and words. But what is touching is the truth and innocence of the song. The playfulness of the song beautifully encapsulated in -

I don’t know what you say,
I don’t know what you say,
But I want to dance and play,
I want to dance and play,
But I want to play the game of love,
I want you in the name of love’

where the boy is actually jumping up and down doing acrobatics. And amongst all the bufoonery and child-play the song veers to a slightly emotional note when the girl sings ‘Aankhon ne aankhon se vaade yahi kiye…‘ bringing back the listener to the reality of their connection! And one continues to sigh with the lovers…

The breezinees of ‘Hum Bane tum bane‘ reminds me of another such lovely ditty ‘Dekho maine dekha hain yeh ek sapna‘ from Love Story. It has the same nursery rhyme-ish rhytm, but it seems so correct for a child-play-acting song in which the pair is weaving a little harmless world of their own…It is almost like two children playing to be adults with the boy adopting the responsible husband-man-of-the-house role and the girl the wife and woman-of-the-house! It is as delightful to see as would to see two 6-yr olds playing house! The romance and sweet, dreaminess of their love takes over the song completely such is the way it has been interspersed throughout. Like when she says,

‘Kitni pyaari hain yeh chhoti-si rasoi‘

and he replies,

‘Hum dono hain bas dooja nahi koi,
Is kamre mein hongi meethi baatein,
Us kamre mein guzregi raatein.’

She responds to this playfully by asking - ‘Yeh toh bolo hogi kahape ladaai’

And he says,
‘Maine woh jagah hi nahi banayi, pyaar yaha hain, tu kaha hain…

It makes you believe in the absolute happiness of first love which holds no possibilities of any strife.

And when one is soaking in the pleasurable teen love songs who can ever forget Juhi singing -

‘Gazab ka hain din, dekho zara,
Yeh deewanapan, socho zara,
Hum bhi akele, tum bhi akele,
Mazaa aa raha hain,
Kasam se…’

The slow, dreamy nature of the song is perfectly evocative of the carefree-ness of youth, that has no worries of the past or the fuure. Youth that believes only in the now and its delights.

It was perhaps the silent strength of their romance which was the biggest discerning factor of QSQT. It is what made ‘Akele Hain toh Kya gham hain‘ and ‘Ay Mere Humsafar‘ precocious in its innocence. The innate maturity and subtlety instilled in the romance brilliantly comes through the songs and the over-riding young-ness, the same belief, the passion and the unshakeable hope that only the young and first-time-in love have. Listen to the girl -

Ab hain judaai ka mausam,
Do pal ka mehmaan,
Kaise na jaayenga andhera,
Kyon na thamega toofan,
Kaise na milengi,
Manzil pyaar ki…

The sheer optimism…It can convert cynics! ‘Akele hain toh kya gham hain’ brilliantly essays the saying, ‘Love conquers all’. When the girl sings -

Ab nahin tootega, hum pe koi toofan,
Ab nahin tootega, hum pe koi toofan,
Saajna….dekhna….
Har toofan ka main karoongi saamna….
Bas ek zara….saath ho tera…

To which the boy readily responds - ‘tere to hain hum, kabse sanam…’
Really, when you have your lover with you who else do you need…?

And then there is the all-time favourite, every lover-boy’s swan song, the delectable ‘Pehla Nasha, pehla khumaar‘. No list of first time love songs is complete without this one. The brilliance of the song is unquestionable. When the boy sings -

Udta hi phiru in havaon mein kahin,
Ya main jhool jaaoon in havaon mein kahin,
Ek kar du aasmaan, aur zameen,
Ab yaaron kya karoon kya nahi…’

at once one is compelled to smile. It is all there. The headiness, the above-the-ground feeling, the ‘I am the King of the world’ feeling and its heart-capturing. It gets only better when the girl sings -

Usne baat ki, kuchh aise dhang se,
Sapne de gaya woh hazaron rangke,
Beh jaaon jaise main haarke,
Aur choome woh mujhe pyaar se…

There is so much joy, longing and thrill of requited love that one almost wants to fall in love the way the girl and boy have!

Which brings to my mind…it’s been quite a while since one heard a song of lilting innocence that throbbed with such passion of youth, timeless and acontextual…something that is so normal and real that it becomes as universal as it can get…without the modern trappings of modernity and urbanity but just the simple joy of first love in the first flush of youth. I think we just have stopped believing enough…

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