Mistakes in Lyrics - Page 3

Wow what a great topic and i too have song in my mind whose lyrics doesn't make sense. It is from the film Main khiladi tu Anadi, lyrics written by Rani malik, it goes like,


Churake dil tera chali main chali
mujhe kya pata kahan main chali
manzil meri bas tu hi tu
teri gali main chali

The girl is saying that "she is stealing his heart & going away " and then she says "I don't know where I' am going", then she returns with "you are my destination" ending the para with "I am coming your way".

So my doubt is when she knows where she is going & the destination to reach why does she have to say I don't know where I'am going in the second line.

Isn't it a mistake by the lyricist?

Originally posted by: .:.Suhana.:.

I was reading an article about how Javed Akhtar purposely wrote senseless lyrics for "Dard-e-Disco", and it reminded me of some mistakes in lyrics I have heard in the past that probably were not done on purpose. Just wanted to share and see if anyone has some more.

1. Gori Gori – Main Hoon Na (Javed Akhtar)

kuch din kaato aur zindagi humaare siva

I'll start with my favorite, Javed sahib. I believe this is the only time he made such a glaring error, and it was quite shocking for me. The word "siva" means "besides", while the word "bina" means "without"…they have very different meanings. Throughout the rest of the song, "siva" is used in the correct manner, but in this line, he used it in a way that only the word "bina" would make sense. I guess he just took this liberty so he could maintain the rhyming pattern.

There are two more instances which remind me of the word "siva' being used and i think it might also mean "nobody other than" or "nothing other than" and those songs go like this;

Two similar songs from the From the Film Mast, lyricist being Nitin Raikwar,

Uske(Tere - female version) Siwa, Kuch Yaad Nahin
Uske(Tere - female version) Siwa, Koi Baat Nahin

the other, a famous Mohd Rafi song from the film Chirag, lyricist in this case the great Majrooh Sultanpuri.
Teri aankhon ke siva duniya me rakha kya hai

Originally posted by: trishanku3

Wow what a great topic and i too have song in my mind whose lyrics doesn't make sense. It is from the film Main khiladi tu Anadi, lyrics written by Rani malik, it goes like,


Churake dil tera chali main chali
mujhe kya pata kahan main chali
manzil meri bas tu hi tu
teri gali main chali

The girl is saying that "she is stealing his heart & going away " and then she says "I don't know where I' am going", then she returns with "you are my destination" ending the para with "I am coming your way".

So my doubt is when she knows where she is going & the destination to reach why does she have to say I don't know where I'am going in the second line.

Isn't it a mistake by the lyricist?

Thanks, glad you like the discussion...About the lyrics you have presented, I agree that it's a mistake. Really senseless lyrics though the song is catchy.

Originally posted by: trishanku3

There are two more instances which remind me of the word "siva' being used and i think it might also mean "nobody other than" or "nothing other than" and those songs go like this;

Two similar songs from the From the Film Mast, lyricist being Nitin Raikwar,

Uske(Tere - female version) Siwa, Kuch Yaad Nahin
Uske(Tere - female version) Siwa, Koi Baat Nahin

the other, a famous Mohd Rafi song from the film Chirag, lyricist in this case the great Majrooh Sultanpuri.

Teri aankhon ke siva duniya me rakha kya hai

Well, those two use "siva" the way its supposed to be used. "Except", "besides", "other than" are all correct uses, but I don't think "without" is...like "i can't live without you", cannot be translated as "main tumhaare siva nahin ji sakta"...it has to be "tumhaare bina" or "tumhaare baghair." That's where JA messed up.

Originally posted by: .:.Suhana.:.

^ I like your humor! I guess that's a way to look at it.

I understand what he's trying to say, but it still seems a little redundant to me..."make a veil of brightness from light."

Anyway, I'm probably too critical, but to me, Gulzar's lyrics often seem to have very nice word usage and some abstract images, but less true meaning. There are exceptions of course. I actually like this song overall, but I just think the first two lines could have been better worded.

I admit, the lyrics are redundant - noor is an extra word too many. But I suppose it sounds good to the ears, so it's used 😕

Although I think if he had to use it, he could have switched the 'se' and ke'.

Dhaage tod laao chandani ke noor se
Ghoonghat hi banalo roshini ke noor se

That may still have been redundant, but would have been less of a round-about verse.

But the worst is still 'dekhi hai aankhon ki mehakti khushboo' - what was he thinking? 😆

Originally posted by: .:.Suhana.:.

Line 1: neend bhi khuli na thi ke haaye dhoop dhal gayi
Line 2: ho saka na kuch magar, shaam ban gayi sehar

I actually really like this song and think it's very powerful. It's only in the Line 2 posted above that I find a disconnect. Line 1 uses the "day and night" metaphor very well...I take it to mean that before he was even "awake" enough to accomplish anything, it was too late ("night fell"). But Line 2 seems to have the opposite metaphor. It appears to say that he couldn't accomplish anything, and the night became morning again. Well, what did he intend to accomplish at night?

I think it's a situational song - lamenting at how meaningless his life has become. He slept through the day, and was unable to accomplish anything through the night (because duh, it was night).

I can understand the metaphor, because I've had phases like those (during summer vacations) where I would sleep till late, and because of that I couldn't sleep at night and just stayed awake watching TV while the rest of the world slept. Then when everyone woke up, I went to sleep. So my time-clock, and my social life, was completely messed up. And it was quite frustrating tyring to set it right back on track. 😳

I'm sure he's also going through similar frustrations in life.

As one of the verses says:

Aur hum khade-khade bahaar dekhte rahe,
Karvan guzar gaya, Gubar dekhte rahe.

This shows his frustration that he's falling behind while the rest of the world is moving on quickly.

Originally posted by: trishanku3

Wow what a great topic and i too have song in my mind whose lyrics doesn't make sense. It is from the film Main khiladi tu Anadi, lyrics written by Rani malik, it goes like,


Churake dil tera chali main chali
mujhe kya pata kahan main chali
manzil meri bas tu hi tu
teri gali main chali

The girl is saying that "she is stealing his heart & going away " and then she says "I don't know where I' am going", then she returns with "you are my destination" ending the para with "I am coming your way".

So my doubt is when she knows where she is going & the destination to reach why does she have to say I don't know where I'am going in the second line.

Isn't it a mistake by the lyricist?

It could be the case that she was being sarcastic/flippant in the first two lines and the next two lines are kind of a rebuke which say "What were you thinking? Of course I'm coming to you!"

But, the way it has been written causes real confusion.

Originally posted by: trishanku3

Wow what a great topic and i too have song in my mind whose lyrics doesn't make sense. It is from the film Main khiladi tu Anadi, lyrics written by Rani malik, it goes like,


Churake dil tera chali main chali
mujhe kya pata kahan main chali
manzil meri bas tu hi tu
teri gali main chali

The girl is saying that "she is stealing his heart & going away " and then she says "I don't know where I' am going", then she returns with "you are my destination" ending the para with "I am coming your way".

So my doubt is when she knows where she is going & the destination to reach why does she have to say I don't know where I'am going in the second line.

Isn't it a mistake by the lyricist?

This could probably be interpreted as: I don't know where I am going, but I know that this path will lead me to you.

As in, I don't know from a worldly point of view what this path holds for me, but I'm still following it because it leads me to you.

Or, I'm not watching where I am going, I'm just following the path blindly because it leads me to you.

The difference is 'where' and 'to where'. She doesn't know 'where' she is at that point in time, but she know 'to where' it is leading.

Again, it could not mean either of these and could just be a senseless set of lines. I'm just trying to think of possibilities to justify what they wrote - playing the devil's advocate, in a way 😛

Originally posted by: shadyhtown

I think it's a situational song - lamenting at how meaningless his life has become. He slept through the day, and was unable to accomplish anything through the night (because duh, it was night).

I can understand the metaphor, because I've had phases like those (during summer vacations) where I would sleep till late, and because of that I couldn't sleep at night and just stayed awake watching TV while the rest of the world slept. Then when everyone woke up, I went to sleep. So my time-clock, and my social life, was completely messed up. And it was quite frustrating tyring to set it right back on track. 😳

I'm sure he's also going through similar frustrations in life.

As one of the verses says:

Aur hum khade-khade bahaar dekhte rahe,
Karvan guzar gaya, Gubar dekhte rahe.

This shows his frustration that he's falling behind while the rest of the world is moving on quickly.

I see what you mean, but typically the day is associated with hope and determination to do something, whereas the night is associated with hopelessness and dormancy. For example, in Yeh Honsla from Dor, there are the lines "shaam chhupale suraj magar, raat ko ek din dhalna hi hai"

I'm not saying this is the only way day and night can be used. But in the same song, Neeraj used it this way earlier, so I just think it would have been better for him to be consistent. But anyway, "Kaarvan Guzar Gaya" is an awesome song otherwise!

Originally posted by: .:.Suhana.:.

No doubt about that...but there are still certain metaphors that really don't make sense. I think the first two lines of "Humne Dekhi Hai In Aankhon Ki" falls into this catagory (I have no complaints about the rest of the song). Associating aankhen with khushbu is just random use of beautiful words...I just can't see the message behind it. I see it as being similar to discussing tears flowing from your ear. Why would you even go that way? It would have been more sensible (and powerful) for him to say something like "Humne Dekha Hai In Aankhon Ka Nirala Jaadu" and then go from there.

Anyway, I don't mean to be bashing Gulzar. He's very original and does not let his lyrics become repetitive, which I have to give him credit for. I'm glad we have someone like him in the industry.

Oh I totally agree about "Ankhon ki khushbu" sounding senseless. Does that mean you have really strong-scented eye-drops? 😛

Originally posted by: Morgoth

Oh I totally agree about "Ankhon ki khushbu" sounding senseless. Does that mean you have really strong-scented eye-drops? 😛

lol, exactly! 😆