Wake Up!! – Waleed Qureshi

Waleed Qureshi

ENG 1121

Dr. Carrie Hall

3/26/2019

 

Laga Reh (Keep It Up) is a song by Shehzad Roy, a Pakistani singer. Everyone knows that no country is perfect and Pakistan is of them. It is filled with corrupt politicians and protesting people. Which is not very uncommon in any country. In this song the singer is telling people that everyone in this country, after every little period of time, the country is in a delicate situation and it never changes. He is telling the people that they are just too greedy when it comes to themselves. Everyone is just not satisfied with what they get. They always want more. In this, to some extent they themselves don’t understand that when they are trying to do something for themselves, they end up making it worse for the other person who is not in the same position as they are and they never stop. In the song, when the singer explains this to the public, a man just says, “so what should I do, lose hope”, at this time the singer just tells the man to never mind and keep doing what he’s doing. According to the song, even elders of the country have lost all hope and they are just praying that God will handle everything by himself so just leave everything to Him. The singer even explains that just by saying this, people are still not doing anything better and leaving everything in the hands of God. Then the singer talks about the good people in the world. He says that if anyone had a chance to, their greed would not let them stay good and they will instantly turn into the people that they are trying to stop. He tells in the song that even right now anyone who has stayed good was ditched at some point when they almost turned bad. I don’t completely agree to this that not all people are like the people he displayed in the song but I don’t completely disagree with him either because even I don’t know what I might do if I had everything in the world I wanted because probably by then I would so self absorbed, I might not realize what I might be doing wrong. In the end he gets to the straight to the point and explains that everyone is just sleeping and they need to wake up and look around and realize what is happen next to them or to them but if they don’t do it right now, it will probably be too late but right now nobody understands him.

LINK TO SONG:

TRANSLATION:

Shehzad Roy: When I was ten years old, I heard on the 9 o’clock news that Pakistani history is at a critical crossroads/crisis.

Kid: Daddyy!!

Then I turned twenty, and heard on the news once again…that Pakistani history is at a critical crossroads.

Having tied your impossible dreams to yourself, you’re standing, holding your ground.
You’re an ordinary person, dude, enough, can’t do it anymore.

Political activist: So what should I do? Lose hope?
Roy: No. Just keep at it.

Chorus:
Keep at it, keep at it, you keep going.
Keep waiting, keep waiting, you remain stubborn.
Laying still, laying still, you stay still.

Respected elders–they asked me, how will the nation run?
Respected elders–I told them, keep at it, keep at it.
Respected elders–they asked me, how will the nation run?
Respected elders–I told them

I’m not concerned about whether the nation will run. I’m concerned that it might go on running like this.

Keep at it, keep at it, you keep going.
Keep waiting, keep waiting, you are waiting.
Laying still, laying still, you stay still.

Dude, there’s a lot of tension in the nation.
It’s nothing, it’s nothing, leave everything to Allah.

Don’t do a thing.
You don’t do a thing.
Everything you leave to Allah.
Allah is your protector, period.

Oi, brother, you too are facing a crossroads (can also mean “have become a cause of catastrophe“),
holding your ground.
You’re an ordinary man–hey, stop! …Now it’s painful, dude.

Lawyer: No way. There’re still a few noble people remaining…on the planet.

Respected elder–he asked me, who is noble, tell me.
Respected elder–I told him

A noble person is he who hasn’t had the chance yet to prove himself otherwise

Keep at it, keep at it, you keep going.
Keep waiting, keep waiting, you are waiting.
Laying still, laying still, you stay still.
Keep at it, keep at it, you keep going.
Keep waiting, keep waiting, you are waiting.
Laying still, laying still, you stay still.

Reporter: The entire country’s law and safety has been restored to order.

And then one day the ground will disappear beneath your feet (pun, can also mean “you will face the biggest catastrophe” and “your land will be snatched away“)
And then to you, they will say..
They will say, “you’re soaring in the clouds.”
You’re soaring in the clouds.
(pun, can also mean “you are finally free“)

Poor man: So…will we really, truly be soaring in the clouds? Eh?
Roy: If you won’t understand, fool, then…!

Keep at it, keep at it, you keep going.
Keep waiting, keep waiting, you are waiting.
Laying still, laying still, you stay still.
Keep at it, keep at it, you keep going.
Keep waiting, keep waiting, you are waiting.
Laying still, laying still, you stay still.

Poor man: That boy’s face resembled Shehzad Roy’s so much…

Politician 1: Sir, it might be time to wake up the nation.
Politician 2: Don’t wake them up! They’re sleeping because of some very important work.

 

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