AI-generated art depicting tombstones in a barren landscape.
About the song:
| Artist | Junoon |
| Album | Parvaaz |
| Year | 1999 CE |
| Lyricists | Salman Ahmad and Sabir Zafar |
| Language | Urdu |
| Type | Sufi rock |
Introduction:
A soulful reminder of human mortality, “Mitti” is an amazing, underrated song by the Pakistani band Junoon. Founded in 1990 and comprising Salman Ahmad, Ali Azmat, and Brian O’Connell, Junoon introduced the genre of “Sufi rock” to the world. Sufi rock takes modern musical compositions featuring the electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums, and infuses them with poetry written or inspired by spiritual masters such as Bulleh Shah and Allama Iqbal. It is an appealing combination, particularly for those dissatisfied by the vacuous lyrics of a lot of modern music.
“Mitti” was released in 1999 on Junoon’s fifth album, Parvaaz. The band dedicated the album to Bulleh Shah (1680-1757), a renowned Punjabi mystic and poet. Some of the songs on Parvaaz, including “Bulleya” and Aleph”, directly feature Bulleh Shah’s poetry, while others were inspired by his work. The lyrics of “Mitti” were co-written by Salman Ahmad (1963-present), the lead guitarist and main founder of Junoon, and Sabir Zafar (1949-present), a Pakistani poet. Zafar wrote several songs for Junoon and other Pakistani artists, such as Nazia Hassan and Sajjad Ali.
Through Ali Azmat’s powerful vocals, “Mitti” serves as an auditory memento mori, or reminder of death. The key Urdu idiom used in the song is “miTTi meN mil jaana” (مٹّی میں مِل جانا) – which literally means “to mix/blend into the soil of the earth”, referring to the decomposition of corpses. Figuratively, the phrase also means “to turn to dust” or “to be ruined”. Perhaps the songwriters were inspired by the following Punjabi lines attributed to Bulleh Shah:
نہ کر بندیا میری میری نہ تیری نہ میری
چار دناں دا میلا دنیا فیر مٹی دی ڈھیری
न कर बंदेया मेरी मेरी न तेरी न मेरी
चार दिनां दा मेला दुनया फ़ेर मिट्टी दी ढेरी
na kar bandiya meri meri na teri na meri
chaar dinaaN da mela dunya fer miTTi di DHeri
O mankind, quit saying “Mine, mine!” Let there be no more “Yours!” and “Mine!”
The carnival of this world lasts but four days, then we’re just a pile of dirt!
Original studio recording from the 1999 album Parvaaz
