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Billy Joel song gets a 'Mulayam' twist for 2014 polls
The Samajwadi Party has adapted a hugely successful English number by American singer-songwriter Billy Joel into a Hindi jingle to promote its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav ahead of the 2014 general elections.
“We didn’t start the fire,” proclaimed American singer-songwriter Billy Joel way back in 1989 in a song that became a rage worldwide.
In 2013, the Samajwadi Party (SP) has adapted the hugely successful English number into a Hindi jingle to promote its supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav ahead of the 2014 general elections.
“Man se hain Mulayam, iradey loha hain” (He is soft-hearted but iron-willed) – goes the Hindi version of Joel’s song, the rights to which were legally bought by the SP.
The Hindi version is the brainchild of Uttar Pradesh (UP) chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, who tweeted, “We didn’t start the fire! — Billy Joel, thank you for the rights.”
Joel’s song has brief, rapid-fire allusions to over 100 news headlines and events between 1949 and 1989.
Similarly, Bollywood playback singer Javed Ali sings breathlessly about Mulayam, several socialist leaders, the SP’s policies and ideology, and the UP government’s programmes and achievements.
The five-minute song mentions Charan Singh, Acharya Narendra Dev and Ram Manohar Lohia, among other socialist leaders.
It has already been uploaded for free download on the party’s official website and on its Facebook page.
The song also talks of the party’s philosophy of secularism, a casteless society, development, free medicines, free irrigation, programmes for minorities and women, and schemes for the poor.
The music was composed by Nikhil of Bollywood’s Nikhil-Vinay composer duo.
The team for this Mulayam song is the same that worked on ‘Yeh Samajwadi Jhanda’ – the party’s anthem for the 2012 UP assembly elections.
“Soon, there will be a full-length video for the song. It will be played on LED screens at every major rally the SP holds for the 2014 elections,” said a party source.
Currently, there is a short video clip available for the song.
“We didn’t start the fire”, from Joel’s album called Storm Front, was a No 1 hit in the United States.
