Three Songs of Freedom
Music has the power to delve into the heart of the listeners and create decision affecting moods. During the liberation war, songs became a weapon to influence the mood and morale of the nation. Some of these songs are products of their time, and could have only be written against their cultural, political, and emotional backdrop. They are successful because they captured the spirit of the age, zeitgeist. Some of these songs are cheery marching songs that glorify personal sacrifices for the collective goal.
In 2006, BBC conducted a survey to find out about the popular songs that resonate with Bengali listeners. Surprisingly, most of these songs are either patriotic or war songs. One of the top ten songs is "Joy Bangla, Banglar Joy." This was originally written for a movie called Joy Bangla (1970). Gazi Mazharul Anwar recalled how he took the half-finished lyrics from Anwar Parvez, and put it to music while standing opposite to an alley near where the parliament building stands today. The recording was secretly done at a studio in Indira Road, and somehow the news got leaked. When the musicians came out of the recording they found people chanting Joy Bangla. The film however had to change its name to Shanghat (The Struggle). Each song has many such stories behind their composition. It's important to preserve the stories behind the songs too for future enthusiasts and scholars. Here's an attempt to translate three war songs.
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