Of Gangnam, Kolaveri and Himesh

So what is common between 'Gangnam style', the immensely popular gig by humorous Korean entertainer Psy; 'Why this Kolaveri Di?', a Tanglish song from Tollywood; and Himesh Reshammiya? - They were all very famous at one point of time.

If you are unsure of what these three phenomena are, you might probably be living in the long forgotten dark ages where you do not have access to the internet, the television or the radio. But just for the sake of such poor souls, here's what I'm talking about:

Gangnam Style

This obviously hilarious video which is still on the top of many charts has a very peculiar dance style which people can apparently do when they sit on a horse. But if you do not know Korean, it is probably more funny since you are just looking at a person dancing to a weird tune. 

Why This Kolaveri Di?

This Tanglish song, though has most of its lyrics in broken English has a peculiar video. And since this can be easily understood, it also conveys a sense of need and belonging. Though I must admit I watched the video for Shruti Hassan; this song did become popular among the masses and this was the first time I heard a non-bollywood song on mainstream radio.

Aashiq Banaya Aapne

And finally a man who needs no introduction - our very own Himess Bhai who with his shabby stubble, repulsive body hugging t-shirts, matching caps and annoying nasal twang came into our hearts and playlists with a bang, had many songs which came and went soon enough and this guy disappeared completely. 

So what is common between these three exhibits? They were out of the ordinary. None of these things were ever in mainstream media before. And as it happens, things that are not of beauty may not be joy for long. So the minute they became popular, they died out. And this is the tendency for most music. Music that is not art is enjoyed only for some time. And since it is unique, once the concept is out, people start copying it and adding their own flavours. As is commonly done in the intellectual property protection world, you take a patent, claim what is not claimed and presto-change-o you have a patent of your own. But interestingly, and as a data point for my research, these cheap imitations neither capture as many hearts as the original, nor do they stick around. They just become crazes on facebook. 

One such shining example was Pavan on New Year's day waiting for Dhanush of Kolaveri fame to pay tribute to Amitabh Bachchan for his lifetime achievement award in some award function. He made us wait and watch till the very end. But in the wait and anticipation, the hype had grown very high. And in the end the lyrics were so lame that they did absolutely no justice to BigB's glamour, charisma and lifetime achievement. In this example the original artist himself tweaks the performance a bit and it has become way too pathetic. Something similar was the case of K'naan's performance at the 2010 FIFA world cup.

As against these let's look at old hindi songs; which I was never around to listen to when they had launched, but still, will happily listen to them if they are playing in the background; as against the infi long stream of swear words for the people who'll play Kolaveri in the same sense. One thing that makes these oldy goldies so great, apart from the amazing melody and music is the meaning in the lyrics.

And these need not necessarily be restricted to Indian stuff. Try comparing Bieber or Call me Maybe to something like Rolling Stones. On a closing note, here's a clip of You Can't Always Get what you want by Jagger and co. which always soothes the soul at any occasion.

One great point of reference to compare one time hits and one hit wonders against this things of joy is that the limited time hits have parodies and spoofs made of them, but the great ones only have covers.

So, in my opinion, all such things follow the following curves: