So I have been posting lists of songs along with the book reviews, but unlike the book reviews, where I give a rating to the book (“n” stars out of 5), I have been just posting the names of the songs. This may suggest the impression that I like all the songs equally, which is definitely not the case. Even with the songs I like, there are different ways I like them.

Some songs are instantly likable and stay that way for a long time or forever. “Papa Kehte Hain” or “Aey Mere Humsafar” from “Qayamat Se Qayamat Tak” is a great example. Some others, you like them on the first hear, but after a few times, they start grating on you. Sometimes you never hear them again or revisit the song much later and suddenly the whole cycle repeats. With others, the opposite happens. You don’t think much of the song when you first hear it, but after a few times of hearing it on the radio, it sticks with you. This happened to me with “Firework” by Katy Perry.

Even with songs that I keep hearing, there are some aspects of the song that I like and others I wish weren’t part of it. Many good Hindi songs have this weird thing where there are two male or female singers and the singers have different pitched voices. Example: the first “Pardesi Pardesi” song from “Raja Hindustani” where it starts off with a couple of verses sung in a terrible voice — the song in the movie puts this in context, but it still sucks.

Then you have people like Celine Dion who ruins perfectly good songs by attempting every possible voice variation in the song and destroying the mood of the song. Take “Because You Loved Me”. It would have been a much more powerful song if it had been sung in a more conventional way. The lyrics convey a meaning that is diluted as Dion shows off her mastery over her vocal cords. There are other divas guilty of the same behavior as they fall too much in love with their own voice. Along the same lines, you have people like Bryan Adams who suddenly break into shouting at the end of their song and think that adds to the quality. Regardless, I still rate Dion and Adams high on my list, but when I put their songs on my favorites, these considerations are not spelled out.

Finally, some songs acquire special meaning beyond their quality because you heard or sang them during moments of your life that you remember today. To give a few examples:

• “Zindagi Ki Yahin” from “Mr. India”: This is a very uplifting song that came in useful during my childhood years.
• “Dil Deewana” from “Maine Pyar Kiya”: I used to go in the official school bus for years, but then switched to a private bus. The driver used to play Hindi songs all the time and songs from “Maine Pyar Kiya” were played a lot.
• “Palavattam Pookkaalam” from “Manichitrathazhu”: When I was studying for my degree class, my friend Pradeep used to sing this during free time. He dropped out to join a professional degree course and I totally lost touch with him. This is how I remember him.
• Shania Twain songs: She was the one of the first artists whose CDs I purchased after getting a job and I was hooked for a few years. Not so much nowadays.

And others over the years. Some associated with events, others with people. Much of this is not captured by simply having a favorite list.