World cup songs: hits and misses

While Ali Azmat struck the right chord, Ali Zafar failed to create the same hype with both his world cup songs.

KARACHI: ICC World Cup 2011 fever is all over the nation. After beating the world cup favourites Sri Lanka at their home country, the green shirts have given Pakistanis something to be happy about.

It was about time to release a world cup song and Ali Azmat’s “Josh-e-Junoon” struck the right chord with the listeners. The track has gone viral over the internet in no time.

Azmat has lived up to people’s expectations with his new hit “Josh-e-Junoon”, a complete world cup anthem. The song has a good groove and its composition is very catchy, making it hard to resist thumping your feet. The lively beats have the tendency to stimulate your patriotic streaks. The song reminds of Junoon’s famous guitar-version of the national anthem.

Like the national anthem, the guitars played in “Josh-e-Junoon” merge well with the sound effects of the crowd’s applause in the background, further rising the motivational quality of the track.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Azmat said: “We might have a video out too. As far as the song is concerned , Shuja Haider has composed it  and has done a good job”.

The song definitely has a ‘Junoon’ feel to it, though not the style that the band used to have in its early heydays but the ending days. Even in terms of lyrics, the song has traces of Junoon’s style, drawing quite obvious similarities with “Jazba Junoon”.

With the chorus Josh-e-Junoon, the lyrics of the songs seem to have been written specifically for the Pakistani cricket team as it not only highlights the players’ weaknesses but at the same time  wishes them good luck.

The song first boosts the spirits of Pakistani cricket team and later talks about the hope still kindling in their hearts. It embraces the earlier defeats of Pakistani cricket team and then concludes it with a positive thought that the team will rise again.

Some interesting lines of the song are: Abhi hai justujo baqi/ Abhi hai Aarzoo baqi./ Kay tum aise khilari ho/ Jo maare gir kay bhi baazi (The struggle is still on and so is the desire to win. You are the players who rise after their fall).

Despite all the energy and quality attached to the song, the arrangements could have been better.

Since the success of “Aazadi” and “Jazba Junoon”, Azmat’s fans relate to the singer on a different level as whichever motivation piece he sings automatically has a greater impact compared to songs by other music icons of the country.

Ali Zafar could not manage to come even close to Azmat when it came to the singers’ world cup songs. You might listen to Zafar’s world cup songs “Jazba” and “Duniya Hai Dilwalon Ki”  for the sake of listening them but neither the composition nor the vocals make your adrenaline rush.

Talking about the world cup songs by his contemporaries, Azmat said: “All I can say is, all the songs made for the world cup are good.”

With the world cup in progress, a lot of emerging bands have also tried to get a breakthrough by capitalising on the high spirits of the nation but so far nothing substantial and impressive has come up from the new artistes.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2011.