‘Ye Dunya’ Song Review

In my humble opinion it’s the best cinematography so far in Coke Studio Season 14. It took me around ten minutes to absorb those visuals along with the audio.

My take on the track, “Ye Dunya” by Karakoram × Talha Anjum × Faris Shafi.

The way Sherry started singing, I was awe-struck by the deep tonal throw of his vocals.
“Ye dunya rukti hai kahaN kisi ke bhi liye,” it is quite true that nobody waits, the world doesn’t wait for you. This line reminded me of Bukowski spitting truth bombs,
“and when nobody wakes you up in the morning, and when nobody waits for you at night, and when you can do whatever you want. what do you call it, freedom or loneliness?” And then, Talha intensifies this track’s beauty on a level up with a boom in his meaningful verse cum rap. The whole verse was like a constant journey of pain in the hands of time, and at last, the painful cry of the narrator reconciled with the ultimate power of the world i.e. Khuda.

“Khuda tu deta hai be-hisaab,

Mere dard me thodi to kami kar.. 

Ki koi nahiN agar tera,

To meri jaan Khuda hai..”

 These lines hit me hard right between the ribcage and reminded me of Ghalib lamenting over worldly pain, “Dard ka had se guzarna hai dava ho jana.”

Last but not the least, Faris Shafi’s entry with his fantastic flow was something you look for in this kind of terrific track. When he switched from Urdu to English a majestic change occurred in his tone and the whole mood of the track changed from dark to grey and then again in the dark. Just look at the depth of the lyrics,

“Main Ismat Chughtai,
Kaise kismat khul aayi..

Lafz mere medicinal se
Love kiya maine qalam se..”

Allusive style of writing with a great command of words, flow, and beats. He knows when to hit, where to hit, and how to hit on the right spot. Slow clap for his phenomenal efforts. Solo guitar performance of a few seconds, followed by Talha’s second intervention by his powerful verse was a fantabulous fusion of Hard Rock and Rap as Marilyn Manson, a pop culture artist once said, “Music is the strongest form of magic.”

The ending scream by Sherry on ‘DUNYA’ and Shafi concludes with ‘YOU ARE NOT ALONE’ were the highlights of the song with a cherry on the top. All three voices perfectly blended with each other when it comes to the coordination of the Rock and Rap union.

Some cherry points for the lightning and sound squad too. A kind of mesmerizing eye-catching, soul-soothing, mind-boggling atmosphere created with the perfect coordination of light-music-beat. An amazing blend of raw talent and sheer hard work. The amalgamation of Rock and Rap was absolute carnage in a unique way for music lovers, especially to the young listeners of today’s Hip-Hop and Rock world. Kudos to the whole team of Coke Studio Season 14.

This track is magic. Go and listen.
Music helps in healing, peeps. Keep healing.