Toxic by AP Dhillon Explained

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Song bio: In ‘Toxic’, AP Dhillon sings an ode to the woman he is pursuing, telling her that her love could turn a ruffian/gangster into a sadhu or hermit.

Lyrics

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O Chobran De Kaalje Machaundi Vaar Vaar
Mundeyan Da Vairi Tikha Nakk Hathyaar
1

Gal Wali Gaani Sohne Yaar Di Nishani
Jatti Chum Chum Hikk Naal Laayi Phirdi
2

Oh Lagda Eh Velliyan Nu Saadh Jahe Banau
Kudi Saanha Jahe Jatt Pichhe Laayi Phirdi

Oh Lagda Eh Velliyan Nu Saadh Jahe Banau
Kudi Saanha Jahe Jatt Pichhe Laayi Phirdi
3

O Feem Waali Ghaat Poori Kare Billi Akh
Maut De Saudagaran Di Maar Chhadi Maat
4

Keelne Nu Kaahla Tenu Jachda Ae Balla
Til Thode Utte Billo Aa Machayi Phirdi
5

Oh Lagda Eh Velliyan Nu Saadh Jahe Banau
Kudi Saanha Jahe Jatt Pichhe Laayi Phirdi

Oh Lagda Eh Velliyan Nu Saadh Jahe Banau
Kudi Saanha Jahe Jatt Pichhe Laayi Phirdi

Magnum Rakhan Hath’in Phade Red Rose
Hood Vich Mundeyan Da Vajjda Si Boss

Magnum Rakhan Hath’in Phade Red Rose
Hood Vich Gundeyan Da Vajjda Si Boss
6

Din Ki E Rattan Dekh Hon Vaardatan
Lendi Pind Di Mundeer Pichhe Layi Phirdi
7

Oh Lagda Eh Velliyan Nu Saadh Jahe Banau
Kudi Saanha Jahe Jatt Pichhe Laayi Phirdi

Oh Lagda Eh Velliyan Nu Saadh Jahe Banau
Kudi Saanha Jahe Jatt Pichhe Laayi Phirdi

Nakhra Nawabi Koi Karu Barbaadi
Sahiban Waale Lachhana’an Te Ayi Phirdi
8

Oh Lagda Eh Velliyan Nu Saadh Jahe Banau
Kudi Saanha Jahe Jatt Pichhe Laayi Phirdi

Oh Lagda Eh Velliyan Nu Saadh Jahe Banau
Kudi Saanha Jahe Jatt Pichhe Laayi Phirdi

Meta

Performed by: AP Dhillon
Lyrics by: Rajan Lahoria
Music by: Intense
Label: Run-Up Records
Release Date: October 16, 2020
(Source: Genius)

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Do you want me to explain a Punjabi song? Send me a link in this Google Form!


  1. You burn the hearts of young men repeatedly,
    Your sharp nose (/beauty) is their mortal enemy.

    AP starts by softly ‘accusing’ the woman of messing with the hearts of young men, owing to her beauty.

    Vocabulary:
    • Chobar (चोबर) – young men ↩︎

  2. The necklace around your neck, a token of love by your lover
    You kiss it and hold it close to your chest.

    Remembering her lover, the woman (referred to as Jatti) holds the necklace he gave her close to her chest. One could assume that the lover here is AP himself. Or it is someone else and AP is trying to woo a woman who already has a lover.

    Vocabulary:
    • Gaani (गानी) – a necklace (colloquially: a necklace given to a lover as a token)
    • Hikk (हिक्क) - chest ↩︎

  3. It seems you’ll turn us ruffians into hermits,
    We bullish sons of soil are madly in love with you.

    (I find this chorus beautiful.) Here, AP tells the woman that he and his crew are all loafers who are strong as bulls, always ready for a fight, and yet her love has them all ready to give up their rough ways and become hermits - a hint at the story of Ranjha (of Heer-Ranjha).
    Vocabulary:
    • Velli (वैली): idler, loafer, ruffian
    • Saanha (सान / ਸਾਨ੍ਹ): bull, stud bull ↩︎

  4. Your eyes make up for the intoxication of opium,
    We rough gangsters frequently dance with death,
    Yet we have lost our minds in your love.

    Continuing to describe himself as a gangster, AP says that he is basically a merchant of death (bringing death upon others / facing it himself), and yet the intoxicating eyes of the woman have him and his crew losing their minds.
    Vocabulary:
    • Feem (फ़ीम): opium ↩︎

  5. It is spellbounding, it suits you so well,
    The mole on your chin that you wield.

    Back to describing her beauty, AP refers to the mole on the woman’s chin (commonly used to describe a woman’s beauty) and says that it seems to magically transfix anyone who looks at it. In a way he calls the woman a magician who can cast a spell over anyone with her beauty.
    Vocabulary:
    • Keelna (कीलना): to captivate, spellbound, transfix, cast a spell over (colloquially used in reference to a woman’s beauty - remember, Jazzy B • Til (तिल): mole ↩︎

  6. I used to wield a gun, and now here I am holding a rose,
    I was the leader of the gang in the hood.

    Continuing the idea that AP is slowly losing his ruffian ways, he says that where earlier his hands only held guns (a Magnum pistol), now he holds red roses (for the woman he is wooing). He was the leader of the pack in the hood, thus, the baddest of the baddies, and look how things have changed. ↩︎

  7. Day and night, we led a life of crime,
    The whole crew now is mad for your love.

    As gangsters in the hood they were engaged in crime all the time, and now the whole crew (mundeer) is chasing this woman because she’s just so gosh darn pretty. ↩︎

  8. Your mannerisms are like those of the royals, it’ll bring us ruin,
    You seem to be the on the same path as Sahiban.

    Here, first AP compliments the woman on her alluring behaviour that is fitting for a Nawab (royal). So alluring in fact that he knows that it’ll ruin him because he is so deeply enamoured by her that he can’t think straight. In the second line he makes a reference to Sahiban (of Mirza-Sahiban), saying that just how Sahiban wooed Mirza and then had him killed by her brothers, you too could do the same to me.
    Vocabulary:
    • Lachhan (लच्छ्न): traits, characteristics ↩︎