TunesIt has been over two decades but there are only a few Bangladeshis who have not heard the song Phiriye Dao byMiles. This legendary song was written by Mahmud Khurshid who will be celebrating twenty-five years in theBangladesh music industry as a lyricist. Mahmud is an established corporate personality with his nameassociated with companies like ACI, Siemens, Trust bank, City Bank and Standard Chartered. Most recently, hehas joined Super Star Group (SSG), a leading electrical and electronics conglomerate in the country, as ChiefMarketing Officer. However, little is known of Mahmud Khurshid's immense contribution as a lyricist. He haswritten for a diverse group of musicians starting from Miles, Warfaze and Feedback to solo artists like KanizShubarna, Jhumu Khan, Akhi Alamgir, Khaled Hossain Milu, and also artistes like Walker Chowdhury andFiroz. Among his famous songs are Phiriye Dao, Dhiki Dhiki, Jala Jala and Shopno Bhongo by Miles.How did it all begin?My entry into the music industrywas not planned. I used to writerhymes and poems. My first workwas published when I was inclass nine in the Shishu by ShishuAcademy, Kochi Kachar Ashor ofthe Daily Ittefaq, Shongbad'sKhelaghor and Nobarun. Later on,two books were published fromthe writing in Nobarun asfollow-ups along with manyother poems. When I was inuniversity, some senior studentsformed a band called Octave.They knew that I used to write,so the band asked me to writesongs for them. It was the firsttime I wrote a song for an album.Was your song released?They released an album but theydidn't take the first song I wrotewhich was Ek Jhor Eshe BhengeDiye Gelo. They took seven othersongs from me, and this one waseventually taken by Miles andreleased later.So your career did not start with abang but gained momentum gradually?Yes, I already had knowledgeabout rhythms from myexperiences in writing poems, butI was not a song-writer. Nothaving any training as a lyricist Irelied on my sense of rhythmwhich eventually transformedinto songs.Why did you decide to start writingprofessionally for bands?As mentioned before, musicwasn’t something I had plannedto do; I did it because I wasasked. The recordings used to takeplace in Dawn Studios and that iswhere I met Manam Ahmed fromMiles. He was directing someoneelse's song and working on theirfirst album Protisruti. It was thenthat Manam bhai asked me towrite a song for them since theyneeded a song for their album. Forthe first time, I wrote a song forMiles, Shei Mishti Hashi Bhulte PariNi and it was released in the albumEi Mon Toh Ar Mane Na. Anotherhit was Tumi Chole Gechho byOctave which was tuned by AliAkbor Rupo.Did you ever consider playing anymusical instrument?I was interested in learning theguitar. Now that I think about it, ifI had learnt the guitar then I couldhave done more. There is ahumming in the mind whilecomposing a song and it could’vebeen implemented properly had Ilearnt an instrument. Every songhas an inherent tune and as I hadprior knowledge of rhymes, mostof my songs had a certain beat toit.Do you still write for bands? Would youconsider writing for new bands?Yes I do, I have recently writtenfor Feedback’s new album.Although I’m not acquainted withthe new bands it was anexperiment to write for them. Forinstance, I have written for Miles,Warfaze and Feedback; each oneof them had a different sound.Other than that, I have written forvarious solo as well as amateurartistes. If someone is interested insinging then I will write for them.Do you think Bangladeshi lyricists getdue recognition?I feel that Bangladeshis need torecognise the lyricists more.Sometimes, even the royaltysystem is not maintained, so at theleast recognition should be given.For example, in a live show, thename of the lyricist could bementioned before theperformance or talked about in aninterview. Songs are intellectualproperties which have royaltyvalue. Here, people know thesongs but they do not know whocreated them.Did you face any challenges?No, I did not face any challengesbecause I had all the freedom towrite. Manam Bhai and ShafinBhai had faith in me and therewere no changes made in what Iwrote. I had full confidence inthem and I knew they wouldexecute the songs well whilekeeping true to the inherent tuneof the song.Not having anytraining as alyricist; I relied onmy sense ofrhythm whicheventuallytransformed intosongs.13
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