I realize this song is more than three years old now but I’m listening to the Hindi intro and suddenly wondering what it means.
Googling a bit, I found that it’s apparently superimposed over “Thoda Resham Lagta Hai” by Bappi Lahiri, lyrics by Lata Mangeshkar --who has a killer voice for a 70-year old! (BTW, they sued the shit out of Aftermath Records because they never got permission to do that --uh-oh. Helps explains Truth Hurt’s one-hit wonder status.)
Anyway. Can anyone provide an English translation? (grabbed the lyrics off a Hindi message board where NOBODY translated.
kaliyon ka chaman jab banta hai
thoda resham lagta hai
thoda sheesha lagta hai
heere moti jadte hain
thoda sona lagta hai
sawan ki jhadi jab hoti hai
thode badal hote hain
jaise kajal hota hai
thodi boondein hoti hain
man yeh pagal hota hai
youwan ki rut jab hoti hai
thode bhaware hote hain
thodi masti hoti hai
bade toofan hote hain
unme kashti hoti hai
Thanks! Now I hope this doesn’t fall all the way off the front page here.
Disclaimer: My translation, amateurish as it is, should not be used to judge the body of work that is Hindi and Urdu poetry. They say French is the language of love. That’s because ‘they’ haven’t yet read an Urdu verse. The intoxication, the passion, the pain - the sheer depths of feeling - that these languages are able evoke and convey are without parallel (in my somewhat biased opinion).
That said, the lyrics Askia unearthed are from a Bappi Lahiri song. Therefore, I am doing them not just justice, but a favour.
In a garden of blossoms,
There is some softness,
There are some mirrors, Eh?
Diamonds and pearls strung in.
When the winds of the monsoon blow,
There are some clouds,
Dark as kohl.
There are some droplets,
This mind of mine is restless.
In the season of youth,
There are some bees,
There is some fun.
There are great storms
With boats in them. Eh?