Agar Tum Saath Ho: Song analysis

Jaish
Jun 11, 2017
2 min read

There are things you think when you listen to a song, and things you feel. This song, became one of my favourites ever since I first heard it; and now when I listen to it on repeat, I wonder about the things it implies, the underlying emotions and feelings.

This is what the song means to me:

Keyboard intro: It starts out mellow, and the first words imply that she is imploring her beloved to stay awhile with her.

Pal bhar theher jaao, dil yeh samhal jaae,

Kaise tumhe roka karoon...

She says her heart wouldn't be able to take his sudden absence, and that if he stayed back, she would talk to him without speaking.

Meri taraf aata har gam phisal jaae,

Aaankhon mein tumko bharoon...

Basically, she is saying how much their relation means to her, while he replies that:

Teri nazron mein hain tere sapne, tere sapnon mein hai narazi

Mujhe lagta hai ki baatein dil ki

Hoti lafzon ki dhokhebaazi...

You have just your dreams in view, and your dreams contain anger, to be literal. I think symbolically this means that he thinks she's being selfish without her realising it. I feel that matters of the heart are just a play of words. (literally, the deception caused by charming words.)

Tum saath ho, ya na ho, kya fark hai?

Bedard thi, zindagi, bedard hai...

What does it matter if you are with me or not? This life was unrelenting, merciless before, and it will remain so.

Here, though, I think he's also trying to convince himself that he doesn't need her; maybe because he thinks loving her will only cause him heartbreak...it's a way of denying himself what he thinks will only cause him pain in the future.

She, on the other hand, only listens to the heart and pleads with him not to leave, for various reasons she thinks they should be together.

He repeats what he said earlier, and maybe even with more conviction, about how it wouldn't make a difference if he left.

The song ends with both of them trying to convince the other what they think if best; her between his lines, as if losing the argument.

The song ends with her singing alone, Har gham phisal jaae, like he has left her already, and she cries out her last plea, without him yielding.

The piano tune at the very end also makes me imagine her alone, with a numb heart, having failed to make her lover stay.

Whew.

I don't do these kind of articles very often. But perhaps these lyrics deserve a moment of appreciation. Penned by Irshad Kamil and composed by AR Rahman, this song has a way of touching deep chords in my heart whenever I listen to it.

Come to think of it, I