Intermission: Flower
by Zayn

Album: Mind of Mine (2016)
Play Video

Songfacts®:

  • This 104-seconds-long folky song is sung by Zayn in Urdu. Over finger-picked acoustic guitar the half-Pakistani pop star croons lyrics in his father's native language.
  • The song was produced by Malay Ho, who is best known for his work on Frank Ocean's Channel Orange. Ho, who is half Asian himself, recalled to Entertainment Weekly: "He knows how to sing like that and he's always been able to do it, but he just never took it that seriously."

    Ho added that he was playing around with a guitar one day, when Zayn "just picked up the mic and tracked that whole thing basically live, in one take. I was just blown away. I didn't know he could sing like that."

    "Afterward," the producer continued, "he told me he was in a super spiritual place, and that the saying is something one of his family members had told him that had always stuck to him."
  • The Urdu lyrics translate into English as:

    Until the flower of this love has blossomed
    This heart won't be at peace.
    Give me your heart.
    Give me your heart.
    Give me your heart

Comments

Be the first to comment...

Editor's Picks

Creedence Clearwater Revival

Creedence Clearwater RevivalFact or Fiction

Is "Have You Ever Seen the Rain" about Vietnam? Was John Fogerty really born on a Bayou? It's the CCR edition of Fact or Fiction.

JJ Burnel of The Stranglers

JJ Burnel of The StranglersSongwriter Interviews

JJ talks about The Stranglers' signature sound - keyboard and bass - which isn't your typical strain of punk rock.

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music Scene

Sub Pop Founder Bruce Pavitt On How To Create A Music SceneSong Writing

With $50 and a glue stick, Bruce Pavitt created Sub Pop, a fanzine-turned-label that gave the world Nirvana and grunge. He explains how motivated individuals can shift culture.

Famous Singers' First Films

Famous Singers' First FilmsSong Writing

A look at the good (Diana Ross, Eminem), the bad (Madonna, Bob Dylan) and the peculiar (David Bowie, Michael Jackson) film debuts of superstar singers.

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"

Lou Gramm - "Waiting For A Girl Like You"They're Playing My Song

Gramm co-wrote this gorgeous ballad and delivered an inspired vocal, but the song was the beginning of the end of his time with Foreigner.

Elton John

Elton JohnFact or Fiction

Does he have beef with Gaga? Is he Sean Lennon's godfather? See if you can tell fact from fiction in the Elton John edition.