SOUNDSCAPE: HOW DOES A NATION SOUND?
Sounding a nation is no easy task, especially one as diverse as Pakistan. This is nevertheless what Coke Studio Pakistan, arguably the most successful private-sector endeavour involved in managing this public good we call “Pakistani music” has done for over a decade. Such audacity bears challenges, some all too similar to the ones faced by the nation itself. For example, how to represent the linguistic variety of Pakistan, while not sucking at it.
Languages are a sensitive issue in Pakistan. They represent class, ethnicity and culture, as well as classical and folk traditions. Moreover, they have a shared story of struggles and conflicts. Indeed, addressing language in Pakistan is hard because — for good or for bad — it implies referring to particular groups of people, and the differences between them.
Coke Studio Pakistan knows this well, and has done a fantastic job engaging with transcription and translation of lyrics throughout its eleven seasons. However, which languages made it to the show, and who can listen to more performances in their mother language in this nation-wide platform, is a completely different story.
Coke Studio has come to represent Pakistani music not only to the world but also often to Pakistanis. So what does an analysis of the languages it employs in the songs it creates tell us?
If the slogan The Sound (or The Spirit) of the Nation is more than a marketing prop, it becomes interesting to see how does this nation linguistically look to the creators of Coke Studio. To find out, I analysed all 291 songs Coke Studio Pakistan has released during its first eleven seasons.