The Firstpost Playlist: Songs about love, homesickness and a call for revolution

When Band of Skulls sang about “living for the weekend”, we knew just what they meant! Well, the weekend is here, and so is another edition of the Firstpost Playlist. So what have we got for you to tune in to this week? Hmm, some Prince, Tina Charles, dreams of California and a whole lot of good music. So get to reading, and to listening. Seacrest, out. ’Ma Lkit (Not Found)’ by Emel Mathlouthi Thirty four-year-old Tunisian singer Emel Mathlouthi’s voice is searing, soulful and sure. This version of her song, ‘Ma Lkit (Not Found)’ is a call for revolution — one that implores the listener to react. Mathlouthi, a prominent figure from the ‘Arab Spring’ said in an interview, “The power is to write songs, because songs are eternal; the melodies will be here like witnesses”. — Vishnupriya Bhandaram ‘Jungle Love’ by Morris Day and the Time

In light of the passing of Prince — or the artist formerly known as The Artist (Formerly Known As Prince) — on 21 April, it seems only apt to pay tribute to him with a run through his back catalogue. And once you’re done with that, it’s probably a good idea to groove to a fantastic song by one of Prince’s greatest creations: Morris Day and the Time. The Time, a pop-funk group set up by Prince — taking advantage of a clause in his contract that allowed him to hire and produce new artistes — and fronted by Morris Day — who would appear in such Prince films as Purple Rain and Graffiti Bridge — is a grossly underrated entity. Jungle Love, the song you are about to hear, shows off the full repertoire of the band’s sound — its tight rhythms, synth-pop sensibilities and deeply-ingrained sense of fun. With its singalong chorus and generous dose of lyrics like “Come on baby, where’s your guts? You wanna make love or what?”, this is a song that’s going to stick in your head like a fishhook — the forced extraction of which is likely to rip out a part of your brain. Oh, and did I mention the song gave birth (in popular culture at least) to one of the finest dance moves ever invented? via GIPHY But that’s enough of my jibber-jabbering, on with the song! — Karan Pradhan ’Fall in love tonight’ by Prince & Zooey Deschanel

If you didn’t think the next few weeks were going to primarily be about Prince, you’re living under some rock. We can debate about which Prince song is our favourite, OR , we could just listen to all his tracks, back to back, and grieve. And because Prince was deeply revolutionary, and cared two hoots about norms and rules, I am going to muster to courage to say that my favourite Prince song is ‘Fall in love tonight’ — a track he wrote with Zooey Deschanel for the show New Girl, that not too many people know about. Apart from the fact that it’s a great song (a couple of friends and I have termed it the best third drink song: you know, when you’re three drinks down and something is starting to kick in, only a groovy Prince song can get you mojo running), it also embodies everything Prince stood for: it’s a foot-tapping funk number that was never publicized, sounds as good live as it does recorded, and it’s all about LOVE. — Swetha Ramakrishnan ’California Dreamin’ by The Mamas & The Papas

‘California Dreamin’ is all about home and homesickness. The song is about how a person is missing the warmth of Los Angeles as he is walking along the streets of New York “on a winter’s day”. Of course, that is the literal meaning of the song. It will strike a chord with anyone who identifies himself or herself with a place or is simply missing home. The song was first recorded by Barry McGuire but the best-known version was performed by The Mamas & The Papas. This song was also ranked 89 in Rolling Stone’s list of 500 greatest songs. — Ansh Lal ‘I love to love’ by Tina Charles

There are some songs that get stuck in your head very serendipitiously. While watching the British crime drama ‘ River’, the opening sequence starts off with this disco song from the late 70s. A glance at the comments section on this song’s YouTube link, makes it evident that I am not the only one who has fallen for this song due to River. It’s a light listen with instruments such as the keyboard, electric and bass guitars and percussion supporting Tina Charles’ vocals. The lyrics are self-explanatory. The way Charles sings it, is a throwback to the era of audio cassettes. Also, one can’t help but draw parallels, in terms of overall performance and style of music, with Nazia Hassan singing ‘Aap Jaisa Koi Meri Zindagy Me Aaye’. — Nimish Sawant