Frames of Reference

My last playlist was “The Songs of Innocence“. Continuing on the William Blake theme, this playlist is “The Songs of Experience”.

There comes a moment in life when innocence gives way to insight. The world that once seemed fair, loving, and full of promise reveals its cracks—hypocrisy, betrayal, inequality, loneliness, and the compromises people make to survive. Hindi cinema has often captured this transition beautifully through songs that carry the wisdom of disappointment.

As with grief, disappointment also has its stages – it starts with bitterness. It then turns into animosity. From there it goes to disdain. Eventually it becomes gritty determination. Finally, into a serene acceptance of reality.

If childhood belongs to wonder, adulthood often belongs to experience. That’s when you look for guidance and inspiration from songs of experience.

This playlist gathers Hindi film songs that reflect a hard-earned understanding: the world is not as kind, honest, or noble as it ought to be. Yet these songs are not merely cynical. They are observant, poetic, and deeply human.

I have chosen ten of my favorite songs of experience. These are songs that express each stage of disappointment eloquently. Please listen to these songs and provide your feedback in the comments section.

What are your favorite “Songs of Experience”? Please tell us in the comments section below.

Songs of Experience Stage 1: Bitterness

“Dil Aaj Shayar Hai” – Gambler (1971)

• Composer: S.D. Burman
• Lyricist: Neeraj
• Singer: Kishore Kumar

Gambler was a flop for many reasons. Dev Anand’s roguish charm was way past its expiry date (and the weird moustache did not help!). Zaheeda with her blank expressions had no chemistry with Dev Anand.

The story of the down-on-luck hero on the wrong side of law finding redemption through love has been beaten to death and shown far more effectively in the past (including by Dev Anand himself in Kala Bazar).

Songs in Dev Anand movies are good, even if the movie itself disappoints you. But other than this one, even the songs were a disappointment.

But this song worked, as it fits well with the plot, and aptly expresses the hero’s anguish and bitterness when he finds out that the girl who inspired him to find his “inner shayar” is now going to leave him and marry someone else. Neeraj’s simple but effective lyrics portray this very well –

आके ज़रा देख तो तेरी खातिर
हम किस तरह से जिये
आँसू के धागे से सीते रहे हम
जो ज़ख्म तूने दिये
चाहत की महफ़िल में ग़म तेरा लेकर
क़िस्मत से खेला जुआ
दुनिया से जीते पर तुझसे हारे
यूँ खेल अपना हुआ ...

The father and son Burman duo knew how to get the best out of Kishore Kumar, and this song did not disappoint. He expresses melancholy without gloom and makes this a rueful introspection that is appropriate for the “bitterness” stage of disappointment.

S.D. Burman’s music and Neeraj’s lyrics create the perfect cocktail of ranjish and shikwa.

“Waqt Karta Jo Wafa” – Dil Ne Pukara (1967)

• Composer: Kalyanji Anandji
• Lyricist: Indeevar
• Singer: Mukesh

Another good song from an otherwise mediocre movie. Dil Ne Pukara is a complicated love triangle with every conceivable Hindi movie plot twist that you can imagine, with amnesia added in for good measure.

Shashi Kapoor was struggling as an actor when this movie came out. He had a string of flops to his credit, and this movie just added to that list. He plays the role of the guy who gets the girl (Rajshree) on the rebound when her lover (Sanjay) disappears after an accident at sea. It wouldn’t be a Hindi movie if the lover doesn’t come back from the dead – with amnesia to boot.

This situation for this song is when Shashi Kapoor realizes that he’s going to lose Rajshree to Sanjay. Once again, bitterness is expressed in song. Indeevar expresses this aptly

अपनी तक़दीर में पहले ही कूछ तो ग़म हैं
और कुछ आप की फ़ितरत में वफ़ा भी कम है
वर्ना जीती हुई बाज़ी तो ना हारे होते
वक़्त करता जो वफ़ा ...

I think Mukesh is tailor made for songs like this. You can almost imagine a crestfallen hero looking sadly into the eyes of the girl as he sings this song, even if you haven’t seen the movie or the video. I have lost count of the number of Mukesh songs in this genre – from Raj Kapoor to Manoj Kumar to Amitabh Bachhan, Mukesh has been the voice of the baleful aashiq who lost his mashooka.

Kalyanji Anandji gave this song a slow, lilting tempo that suits Mukesh’s plaintive singing and conveys heartbreak in a dignified manner.

Songs of Experience: Animosity

“Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein” – Humari Yaad Aayegi (1961)

• Composer: Snehal Bhatkar
• Lyricist: Kedar Sharma
• Singer: Mubarak Begum

Once again, a great song in an otherwise obscure movie. Kedar Sharma made Hamari Yaad Aayegi to launch his son Ashok Sharma and cast Tanuja as the heroine. I did not see the movie, but from the lyrics and the video, it appears to be the hero pining for the girl that was rejected by him who is now reminding him that he is reaping what he sowed by letting her go. It also appears to be the hero’s imagination as Tanuja is shown singing from the clouds above. Perhaps it is his guilt in letting her go that is depicted in this song.

Mubarak Begum is a rare voice that I believe was under appreciated in her times. If one were to measure the success of a singer by the percentage of their songs that remain popular decades after they sang them, then Mubarak Begum should rank as one of the most successful singers in Hindi movies. Unfortunately, the reality is that she died penniless in obscurity.

This song impressed Kedar Sharma so much that he changed the title of the movie from “Jawaan Mohabbat” to “Hamari Yaad Aayegi”.

I don’t think I can get a better example of bitterness turning into animosity than this song. Kedar Sharma wrote the lyrics himself. Here is an example of the unusually sharp expression of animosity in this song –

“ये बिजली राख कर जाएगी तेरे प्यार की दुनिया
न फिर तू जी सकेगा और न तुझ को मौत आएगी
कभी तन्हाइयों में यूँ… “

The song carries an unusual mix of vulnerability and quiet menace, as though the singer is delivering a carefully constructed curse in a measured manner. I guess hell hath no fury like a woman scorned!

Snehal Bhatkar’s music is quiet and intimate, with very few instruments. His melody matches Mubarak Begum’s voice and tone perfectly.

Kedar Sharma’s lyrics inverted the stereotypical jilted lover’s lament into something that is passing judgement on the man who spurned her love.

“Meri Bheegi Bheegi Si” – Anamika (1973)

• Composer: R. D. Burman
• Lyricist: Majrooh Sultanpuri
• Singer: Kishore Kumar

Anamika was a complicated romantic mystery, with a somewhat farfetched premise. An heiress to a publishing fortune escapes the clutches of her evil brother-in-law and ends up being rescued by a reluctant misogynic author after she goes through a series of misadventures. For reasons not revealed to the audience, she pretends to have amnesia, and claims that she is the wife of the author.

Eventually of course the two fall in love. As it happens so often in Hindi movies, just as the hero starts to fall in love with her, he gets to know the complicated story of the girl, including the fact that she was married to a publisher and is now a widow.

The hero sings this song when the audience in one his book release functions insist that he sing about the heroine of his novel.

Just like “Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein”, here too the singer is not just lamenting his loss. Instead, he is passing judgement on the bewafa, by singing

“जैसे बिरहा की रुत मैंने काटी

तड़प के, आहें भर-भर के

जले मन तेरा भी किसी के मिलन को

अनामिका, तू भी तरसे”

The animosity in this song is less pungent than Kabhi Tanhaiyon Mein, but it is nevertheless harsh in its judgement and firm in its rejection of the girl who played with his emotions.

Majrooh Sultanpuri’s lyrics are direct and pointed. I spent time pining for you, now I wish you to suffer the same fate pining for someone else.

R. D. Burman was riding a popularity wave in the wake of movies like Hare Rama Hare Krishna, Apna Desh and Amar Prem, and composed many popular songs for this movie. This song in particular was very popular and came at paydan #4 on the Binaca Geetmala’s 1973 list.

Songs of Experience: Disdain

“Yeh Duniya Agar Milbhi Jaye To Kya Hai” – Pyasa (1957)

• Composer: S.D. Burman
• Lyricist: Sahir Ludhianvi
• Singer: Mohammed Rafi

This song deserves an entire blog post all by itself. If you want to find an example of disdain for the wicked ways of the world, you cannot find a better example than this song.

This song comes at the supposedly posthumous celebration of the hero’s genius. The hero however is not dead, so he is witness to the blatant commodification of his poetry by the very people who rejected him when they thought he was alive. Instead of accepting this belated recognition, the hero denounces the hypocrisy of a world that honors the artist but crushes the human being.

This is a searing climax song in the movie that fuses Sahir Ludhianvi’s radical poetry with Rafi’s volcanic singing, S.D. Burman’s soulful tune with its stunningly captivating crescendo, and Guru Dutt’s imagery.

Sahir’s lyrics haunt you, leaving you with an intense distaste for the crass commercialization of art –

“जवानी भटकती हैं बदकार बन कर
जवाँ जिस्म सजते हैं बाज़ार बन कर
यहाँ प्यार होता है व्योपार बन कर
ये दुनिया अगर मिल भी…

ये दुनिया जहाँ आदमी कुछ नहीं है
वफ़ा कुछ नहीं, दोस्ती कुछ नहीं है
जहाँ प्यार की कद्र ही कुछ नहीं है
ये दुनिया अगर मिल भी…”

The power of this song lies in refusing to either indulge in self-pity or exude irrational optimism that “all is well”. It forces the audience to confront the emptiness of success in a world built on exploitation. It is the ultimate rejection of success by a dignified poet who holds the world in contempt.

“Meri Mehboob Kahin Aur Milakar Mujh Se” – Gazal (1964)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-u4r6xEHPs&list=RDG-u4r6xEHPs&start_radio=1

Credits

• Composer: Madan Mohan
• Lyricist: Sahir Ludhianvi
• Singer: Mohammed Rafi

Lyrics

This is the second song by Sahir Ludhianvi in this list. That is not by accident. When it comes to expressing disdain and rejection of the evils of society, I cannot think of another lyricist who comes close to Sahir’s intellectual audacity.

As it happens frequently with Sahir’s songs, the context and picturization of this song in the movie is a bit of a disappointment. Sunil Dutt, who is a poet is in love with Meena Kumari. She expresses a wish to see the Taj Mahal, and the hero sings this song in a Mushaira as a response to her desire. It seems the director and script writer created a situation to somehow fit Sahir’s poem into the movie.

The actual context of the song is far more serious and rooted in Sahir’s radical worldview. This song was originally written as a nazm by Sahir before he entered the cinema world. it was then proposed for another movie to be shown as a love song between the hero and heroine in front of the Taj, but the hero, the director and the music director of that movie rejected this and instead chose another song written by Shakeel Badayuni. I am sure readers are familiar with this background, but I will leave it to those readers to elaborate in the comments section.

The song itself is a powerful indictment of how money and power corrupt the most basic human emotion of love –

“अनगिनत लोगों ने दुनिया में मुहब्बत की है
कौन कहता है कि सादिक़ न थे जज़्बे उन के
लेकिन उन के लिये तश्हीर का सामान नहीं
क्यों के वो लोग भी अपनी ही तरह मुफ़लिस थे

ये चमनज़ार ये जमुना का किनारा ये महल
ये मुनक़्क़श दर-ओ-दीवार, ये महराब ये ताक़
इक शहनशाह ने दौलत का सहारा ले कर
हम ग़रीबों की मुहब्बत का उड़ाया है मज़ाक"

Music

Madan Mohan and Sahir Ludhianvi is an unusual combination, but in this case it really worked. Mohammed Rafi’s ability to reflect the intent of the poet at every step of the song makes this song touching. For instance, he gives an endearing stress on the word महबूब! in the beginning to show his love, but when he comes to the line लेकिन उन के लिये तश्हीर का सामान नहीं his voice focuses on the irony of the contrast. Finally, when he sings इक शहनशाह ने दौलत का सहारा ले कर हम ग़रीबों की मुहब्बत का उड़ाया है मज़ाक, his pitch goes up and you can feel the indignation and defiance in his voice.

This song is an exceptional poem set to music by a composer sensitive enough to leave its argument intact, and sung by a singer gifted enough to render it with quiet authority. It poses a question that no other Bollywood song had dared ask: what does it mean to celebrate a monument to love built on the backs of forgotten, nameless poor? It does so without rage, without preaching — only with that most devastating of tones: sorrowful dignity. That it remained obscure for so long is itself a commentary on the preference for comfortable sentiment over genuine art.

Songs of Experience: Determination

“Duniya Mein Hum Aaye Hain To Jeena Hi Padega” – Mother India (1957)

• Composer: Naushad
• Lyricist: Shakeel Badayuni
• Singers: Lata Mangeshkar & Chorus

Mother India is perhaps the ultimate anthem of gritty determination in the face of adversity. Nargis plays the role of a poor peasant woman whose husband abandons her, leaving her to care for her two sons in a hostile world full of lecherous moneylenders and indifferent neighbors. Even mother nature seems hostile to her as she faces droughts and floods alternatively.

This song is her expression of defiance in the face of such forbidding combination of forces out to break her determination. Having come into this world, one must live, no matter how hard the circumstances.

“गिर गिर के मुसीबत में सम्भलते ही रहेंगे
जल जाएं मगर आग पे चलते ही रगेंगे
ग़म जिसने दिये हैं बही ग़म दूर करेगा”

Shakeel Badayuni uses simple idiomatic statements to underscore the iron will power required to succeed in the face of adversity. “We have come into the world, so we must live / If life is poison, then we must drink it.” There is no consolation offered, no assurance that things will improve. Life is called poison outright and the only answer given is to drink it anyway. It is stoicism expressed as folk wisdom.

Naushad’s music is set like a folk song – simple rhythmic pattern that is easy to sing.

Lata Mangeshkar excels in songs like these. No one can express the quiet dignity of a woman the way she does.

It is a song that looks suffering in the face and says: endure. That is a harder thing to accomplish musically, and Naushad, Shakeel, and Lata accomplish it with dignity. It is, in the end, the perfect song for a film whose entire moral argument rests not on hope but on resilience.

“Woh Subah Kabhi To Aayegi” – Phir Subah Hogi (1958)

• Composer: Khayyam
• Lyricist: Sahir Laudhianvi
• Singers: Mukesh & Asha Bhosle

Phir Subah Hogi was a difficult subject based on Fyodor Dosteovsky’s famous novel “Crime and Punishment”, exploring complex philosophical questions about morals and conscience. To the credit of director Ramesh Saigal and the talents of the entire team, this movie was a box-office success in 1957.

To me this was one of Raj Kapoor’s best movies, although he is known more for movies like Awara and Shri 420. He plays the role of a poor but kindhearted student who saves a young boy who meets with an accident and in the process falls in love with the boy’s sister played by Mala Sinha. In order to save her from a forced marriage to a pawnbroker, he attempts to rob the pawnbroker, and in the process ends up accidentally killing him.

The setting for the song is the hero consoling the heroine in the immediate aftermath of an assault on her by some goons in a park. The song expresses optimism in the face of adversity, and assures us that

“जिस सुबह की खातिर जुग-जुग से,
हम सब मर-मर के जीते हैं
जिस सुबह की अमृत की धुन में, हम ज़हर के प्याले पीते हैं
इन भूखी प्यासी रूहों पर, एक दिन तो करम फ़रमायेगी
वो सुबह कभी तो आयेगी”

This is determination, but not the stubborn determination of a struggling peasant woman as in the case of “duniya mein hum aaye hain”, but rather the poet’s reassurance that if you keep drinking the poison that life serves you, you will eventually find that elixir of life.

Sahir once again reveals his genius in this song. He is giving reassurance but not making empty promises of certain victory. He just says “कभी तो आयेगी”. The future is uncertain but keep your faith. “एक दिन तो करम फ़रमायेगी”.

The story of how Khayyam came to compose this film’s music is itself instructive. Sahir told the producer Ramesh Saigal that while there was no doubt Shankar-Jaikishen were excellent composers, he wanted someone who had not only read Crime and Punishment but understood it. When Saigal asked who he had in mind, Sahir replied: “Khayyam.” This insistence tells us everything about how Sahir conceived of Hindi film music — not as decoration but as an intellectual engagement with the material.

Phir Subah Hogi had other great songs as well, including “cheeno-arab humara” (can anyone tell me which famous poem is this song a parody of?) and “do boondein saawan ki”.

It is a song about the necessity of hope in conditions that make hope difficult — which is a much harder and more honest thing. Unlike the strident certainties of pure political anthems, its uncertainty — kabhi, someday — is the source of its emotional truth. The song lives in that tension and refuses to leave it.

Songs of Experience: Acceptance

“Waqt Ne Kiya” – Kagaz Ke Phool (1959)

• Composer: S. D. Burman
• Lyricist: Kaifi Azmi
• Singer: Geeta Dutt

Guru Dutt had the knack of creating haunting visuals for climax songs. In Kagaz Ke Phool, Guru Dutt plays the role of a celebrated director who is eventually forgotten by the industry, leaving him to contemplate the sobering truth that fame and fortune are transient, leaving him with a beqaraar dil in an empty movie studio.

And then enters his protege, the talented actress he discovered and mentored until she overtook him and went on to achieve the pinnacle of success, while his own career went into a downward spiral.

This song is the emotional unraveling of this tense reunion, handled beautifully by Guru Dutt the director, Guru Dutt the actor, Waheeda Rehman the actress, Kaifi Azmi the lyricist and S D Burman the composer.

Waheeda is standing in silence. Guru Dutt approaches her slowly, looks at her and turns back. Waheeda looks up in distress, and Geeta Dutt’s haunting voice sings in the background. The studio lights and the shadows highlight the poignancy of the moment.

Kaifi Azmi is the poet to express complex human emotions in a sensitive and tender language. When you listen to his songs like “Tumhari Zulf Ki Saaye Mein shaam Kar loonga” or “Dhadakte Dil Ki Tamanna Ho Mera Pyar Ho Tum”, the first thing that catches your attention is the careful selection of words. Every word in his song has a relevance to the essence of the song. Whether it is unrequited love or the pain of leaving a loved one behind, nobody can express emotion as well as Kaifi.

“बेकरार दिल इस तरह मिले
जिस तरह कभी, हम जुदा न थे
तुम भी खो गये, हम भी खो गये
एक राह पर चल के दो कदम

जायेंगे कहा, सूझता नहीं
चल पड़े मगर रास्ता नहीं
क्या तलाश हैं, कुछ पता नहीं
बुन रहे हैं दिल ख्वाब दम-ब-दम”

The song doesn’t ask for sympathy. It silently presents the tragedy of time as an undeniable unalterable barrier in life.

Acceptance in this song does not come as a mere acknowledgement of the inevitable, but rather as the moment when two people next to each realize that they are separated by the cruel wall of time that neither can walk through.

“Wahan Kaun Hai Tera” – Guide (1965)

• Composer: S. D. Burman
• Lyricist: Shailendra
• Singer: S. D. Burman

We began this list with a Dev Anand / S. D. Burman song, and we will end it with another song from this duo.

Guide is an adaptation of R. K. Narayan’s novel that explores the transformation of the personality of Raju the guide from desire to liberation. To start with, he is driven by material wealth and fame, and he feels entitled to Rosie’s wealth as he thinks he was the one who was responsible for her success.

After getting arrested for forgery, he ends up in a village suffering the consequences of drought. The villagers mistake him to be a saint who has come to save them from poverty and destruction through his prayers and sacrifice.

Although he takes on the role of the saint just so he will be fed by the villagers, the experience transforms him into actually becoming a saint.

This song is a background song that plays throughout the movie and forms the underlying thread that underscores his transformation. The essence of the song is telling him that the pleasures he is seeking with his selfish pursuit of material wealth is merely an illusion (“maya”).

“वहाँ कौन है तेरा, मुसाफ़िर, जायेगा कहाँ
दम लेले घड़ी भर, ये छैयां, पायेगा कहाँ
वहां हौन है तेरा …

बीत गये दिन, प्यार के पलछिन
सपना बनी वो रातें
भूल गये वो, तू भी भुला दे
प्यार की वो मुलाक़ातें – २
सब दूर अन्धेरा, मुसाफ़िर जायेगा कहाँ …”

Shailendra is known for using simple words to express deep truths. His poems go straight to the heart and make you think. Whether it is “kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar” or “khoya khoya chand, khula aasman, aankhon mein sari raat jaayegi”, his songs leave an impression without using complex words.

His moral clarity in this song shows in the final verse of the song –

कहते हैं ज्ञानी, दुनिया है फ़ानी
पानी पे लिखी लिखायी
है सबकी देखी, है सबकी जानी
हाथ किसीके न आयी – २
कुछ तेरा ना मेरा, मुसाफ़िर जायेगा कहाँ

Acceptance in this song is the realization that one’s realizaation that liberation lies in the realization that “कुछ तेरा ना मेरा”. Acceptance is also redemption through sacrifice. The rain at the end is not just a weather event; it is a symbol of spiritual purification and the universe’s response to a pure sacrifice.

Conclusion

Listen to these songs not when life is easy, but when it has taught you something. They belong to the hour after sunset, when memories speak honestly and illusions grow quiet.

Because experience may harden us—but music helps it become wisdom.

What are your favorite “Songs of Experience”? Please tell us in the comments section below.