Kande Utte Meherma Ve: The Ingenious Qawwali of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan
nusrat fateh ali khan
Sajna tera rah takday takday
Kande Uttay Meherman We
Mein te kadon di kharee.
Translation:
The breath of my awaiting eyes is gasping now
Oh my beloved watching your way back home
From the wall (of rooftop), O’ my beloved,
I have been awaiting you since ages.
Kande Uttay Meherma is one of Nusrat Sahab’s earlier Qawwalis. It remains surprisingly simple in its tune, with usual minimalist sounds of handclap, harmonium and tabla only. A song of love and longing, crafted in the most beautiful lyrics, it conjure to mind the beautiful Punjab instantly.
Qawwali tend to be longer than usual songs, with the longer ones exceeding 30 minutes. In the times of audio cassettes, it meant simply couple of tracks on a 60 min cassette! However, Kande Uttay Meherma have a variety of Raag and Flavours which NFAK has perfectly condensed into a single track harmoniously without breaking the rhythms.
