Da cha parwah na kawo, gham da dunya na kawo, mung da wafa lewani yarada chaa na kawo!
The year was 2010. A group of young teenagers got together in a room, with glasses of cola float, and headbanged to this song, as it was was the concert of a lifetime. For them, it was.
Because that song, much like a youth anthem, became the sound of freedom, love, and friendship for a whole generation.
Almost 11 years ago, when Zakham was released, it was certainly not the first Pashto film on friendship and was just okay, but it was the song “Da cha parwah na kao” that won our hearts.
Sung by the then superstars Rahim Shah and Hamayoun Khan, the song was rare in its treatment of the friendship, craziness, and the riot of emotions, that encompasses our youth.
Over the years, as generations changed from ‘millennials’ to ‘Generation Z’, the rebelious feelings that the song evoked, through its rich lyrics and great music, continued to resonate with the youth.
Music producers Muzaffar Khan and Shah Jahan Khan gifted the audience a single that captured the spirit of liberty and zalmitob that is common to all 19-something-year-olds, while still retaining the individual rhythms that made each of the three leads – Jahangir Khan, Arbaz Khan, and our own Tom Cruise Ajab Gul.
The music video of the song is a bit cringe-worthy if you ask me, but feels good if you ignore the movie scenes and only focus on our favorite vocal powerhouses — Rahim Shah and Hamayoun Khan:
Though the song’s video is far less expressive in the actual film, the music of Riwaj–the only ‘good’ song from the film–feels far more evocative and powerful, thanks to Hamayoun Khan And Rahim Shah’s powerful vocals.
The music gets much lit during halfway (around 2:30) when Arbaz Khan And Ajab gul starts doing Attan. Indeed a perfect beat to Attan at. So perfect that I always find myself moving my shoulders whenver that part comes on.
The beautiful lyrics of the song and the classic Pashto melodies makes it an ode to road trips, friends-like-family, and the ‘good, old, days’.
Da cha parwah na kawo,
Gham da dunya na kawo,
Mung da wafa lewani, yara da cha na kawo,
Pa yaraana ki tol banduna da samaaj na manu,
Mung yaw riwaj na manu…
Yaara yaara.. mung yaw riwaj na manu.
It’s a testament to the composers and lyricist, that an hoenslty bekaar pashto film gave us an ever green youth anthem, as old as 10 years, and yet, dope and relatable AF.
Honestly, if there was a song that summed up our sense of nostalgia and our fondness of youth, it will be “Da Cha Parwa Na Kawo”
