When Chai Met Toast has recently released a single, ‘Kahaani’, from their debut album , ‘When We Feel Young’. So we asked the band’s vocalist Ashwin Gopakumar to share his to five favourite songs (in no particular order) that weave a whole story in themselves. Here is what he had to say:
‘I lost a friend’ by Finneas
Finneas is the kind of songwriter you aim to be one day. His songwriting skills are so accurate that he makes the most complicated things sound so simple. I lost a friend is about ‘knowing that you had a friend breakup’. The friend is around but you can’t find him — that has been put into simple metaphors of the daily life things you lose.
‘Beautiful people’ by Ed Sheeran
A songwriter who has the capability of telling stories. All his writings have a complete story line. You read the lyrics and in that instance you know what he means. The ‘beautiful people’ he is talking about are those celebrities, the rich and the famous in society. According to the song’s chorus, this group of people seems to live an enviable life but aren’t as happy as they appear.
‘Daddy’ by Coldplay
One of the most sought-after songwriters of our time, Chris (Martin) speaks volumes with just a small set of words, he is a songwriter that weaves a lot of conversation into his style of storytelling. ‘Daddy’ is about the kids who have lost their dads or who have had dads walk out on them when they are really young. He empathises, considering he is a dad himself.
‘New light’ by John Mayer
John Mayer is a purposefully deliberate pop genius. Lyrically, the song is deeper than being about a girl. Mayer’s pursuing a woman who sounds uninterested, or is maybe just unaware of his feelings, and he is urging her to give him “just one night” in order to see him “in a new light”.
‘Lazarus’ by Porcupine Tree
A song that has stayed with me from the time I started listening to international music. This song has such deep meaning that it can be perceived in any way you want. It can be seen as a new beginning, a farewell death note, travel into the wild — the listener can have his own version of what he hears. Steven Wilson is a generation apart, a man with a vision; his song writing is all about perception.
‘As the cheerless towns pass my window
I can see a washed out moon through the fog
And then a voice inside my head breaks the analogue
And says
Follow me down to the valley below
You know
Moonlight is bleeding from out of your soul’
We would love to know how you are keeping busy at home. Tell us what you are listening to, at metro@thehindu.co.in
