Main Pariyon Ki Chhori - Begunah by Lata Mangeshkar, Shankar, Jaikishan

The Begunah album has several strong tracks, but Main Pariyon Ki Chhori - Begunah is the one most listeners come back to first. The production by Shankar, Jaikishan is understated in the best way — supportive without overshadowing the vocal.

There are singers who perform songs and singers who live inside them. On Main Pariyon Ki Chhori - Begunah, Lata Mangeshkar, Shankar, Jaikishan clearly belongs in the second group. Shakila, Kishore Kumar, Raja Nene, Helen, Mubarak, Krishnakant, P.M. Maniyar, Radhakrishan, Prakash, Brahm Bhardwaj, Bhupendra Kapoor, Samson, Haroon, Tuntun, Nadir, Devraj, Wajid Khan, Sheela Vaz, Mehmood, Naazi, Naseem Banu, Moni Chatterjee, Ramlal, Praveen Paul are at the heart of Begunah, and Main Pariyon Ki Chhori - Begunah captures their dynamic at its most compelling.

By the end of 1957, Main Pariyon Ki Chhori - Begunah had moved well beyond its original audience and into everyday playlists. Main Pariyon Ki Chhori - Begunah is the song for the end of a long day when you want music that understands something without being asked to explain it.

Running to 3:37, the song is exactly as long as it needs to be, which is the hardest length for a songwriter to find. It is, at the end of it, a very good song — and sometimes that is the only explanation that matters.