Tagore’s Songs

Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) was a poet, novelist, playwright, lyricist, composer, philosopher, social reformer and painter of the Bengal renaissance. In 1913 he was the first non-European to receive the Nobel Prize in literature. He reshaped Bengali literature, music and Indian art with his numerous literary works, music and paintings. He is said to have written and composed around three thousand songs. His poetic lyrics are layered, deeply sensitive and spiritually uplifting.

What is a song ?

Is it just good music?

Is it just the composition?

Is it just the way it is renditioned ?

Or much more ?

A song is also made of lyrics. If we discount the words strung into tune we miss out half the song. The music and the words are twined to create the magical captivation of a song.

Many years ago in a literary discourse it was argued that Rabindranath Tagore’s lyrics should be studied separately as part of Bengali literature. And why not? The profundity of his words entwined with intricacies of his music creates the ethereality of his songs (also known as Rabindra Sangeet). The universality of his songs is manifest in its personalization, contemporaneity and individualistic interpretation. Its uniqueness is intrinsic in its experientiality.

I give below one or two liners from his seven different songs to illustrate how eternal his words are. I do not possess the necessary acumen to translate them. However, I shall endeavour to provide the meaning in a few words.

শেষ নাহি যে শেষ কথা কে বলবে…

When it is endless who is going to speak the last word

হিসাব মেলাতে মন মোর নহে রাজি কী পাইনি

I shall not engage my heart in calculating what I have not earned

তুমি যত ভার দিয়েছ সে ভার করিয়া দিয়েছ সোজা

আমি যত ভার জমিয়ে তুলেছি সকলই হয়েছে বোঝা

Whatever You have hauled on me has been made easy to carry. Whatever I have accumulated has transformed into a burden.

তোমার অসীমে প্রাণ মন লয়ে যতদূরে আমি ধাই

কোথাও দু:খ কোথাও মৃত্যু কোথা বিচ্ছেদ নাই

When I meander into Your Infinity with my heart and mind I fail to find sorrow, death or separation

আমার মুক্তি আলোয় আলোয় এই আকাশে

My freedom is in the light of this sky

মেঘ বলেছে যাবো যাবো রাত বলেছে যাই

সাগর বলে কূল মিলেছে আমি তো আর নাই

Clouds are on the brink of saying goodbye, night has bidden adieu, the ocean says it has found its shore and got it’s identity diffused

মহা বিশ্বে মহাকাশে মহা কালোর মাঝে

আমি মানব একাকী ভ্রমি বিস্ময়ে ভ্রমি বিস্ময়ে

Amidst the vastness of this universe the endlessness of the sky, the expansiveness of darkness, I a lone human wander in wonderment

The beauty of Tagore’s songs also lies in its composition which is a unique combination of Indian classical music (both Hindusthani and Carnatic) and Western classical. Ideally Tagore’s songs are not supposed to be sung with any accompaniment. It takes years of rigorous training to imbibe the gayaki or the technique (the voice throw and application of notes) of renditioning these songs. However, Vishwa Bharati (University established by Tagore) having relinquished its copyright of these songs (2001) has led to varied innovations/musical interpretation – a relaxation of the original austerity – to make them amenable to the masses, especially, the younger generation.

I am signing off with one of his songs sung by a renowned Bangladeshi singer, Rezwana Chowdhury, Bonnya, which is my all time favourite. She has sung this song with western orchestral arrangement which in itself is a novel experiment yet at the same time very much in tune with the compositional essence.