Winning Speech by Karan Aujla Explained

Two horses like Magna
Four G-Wagons
I have them raised by six inches

Incredible numeric wordplay in the opening bars itself. Ghode could have two meanings: horses (literal) or handguns (metaphorical). Aujla says he has two horses – so he’s got two horses like Magna Grecia (the Irish Thoroughbred racehorse) and/or he’s got two Magnum handguns. Continuing with the numeric lyricism, he says he has four Mercedes-Benz G-Wagon SUVs, and that he has them raised by six inches. It’s amazing how this raising metaphor works for all possible interpretations: raising the SUV’s wheelbase, a galloping horse raising its legs, or raising a firearm in the air. The 2-4-6 count coupled with the sandwiching alliteration of do-do and chhe-chhe really hits a spot. ↩︎

It’ll take some time for us to get erased
For you to throw us down
Several (36) have tried many times (21 times) in vain

The numeric lyricism continues. This time collaborating with a Punjabi hip-hop cliché of “I am above you”. Aujla talks at the imagined hater and tells them that it will take a while for him to be forgotten from public memory. That it will take a long time for them to throw him down from this throne. That several people have tried it before and yet he is still here atop his throne – the true king.
Vocabulary:
• Chhattiyaan (ਛੱਤੀ/छत्ती) – literally the number 36; but metaphorically used in Punjabi to mean “several people” - consider Diljit’s hit 2012 song Kharku where he sings he knows chhatti daa’ or thirty six moves to annihilate his enemies ↩︎

I am a fan of only one woman
I waive over her head ten times
Stacks of hundred dollar bills

Here Aujla professes his loyalty to his woman. He says he is not the one who is usually a fan of anyone but he is a fan of hers. He wards off the evil eye by waiving stacks of hundred dollar bills over her head ten times. One stack of hundred dollar bills amounts to $10,000, so that’s about a million dollars that Aujla claims that he is happy to waive over his woman’s head for her safety. ↩︎

I straightened shit out, my dear
Now my shirt’s crease doesn’t even wrinkle
I am a bit rough in my mannerisms
Not as sophisticated
Here, take my mother’s dupatta
I drive my Rolls-Royce in my dad’s shirt

Partly soft boy, mostly gang shit. Aujla says that he’s sorted the kinks out - whether that’s people or situations - and now he’s in a place so good that he doesn’t have to do much, as you can tell from his neatly creased shirts. Like a typical bossman, he confesses that his personality is a bit rough around the edges, he’s not as sophisticated as some would like. The placement of this confession evokes the idea that his rough mannerisms are to be expected and excused since he comes from a tough background and deals in gang shit where this is necessary. He follows it up with his soft side: giving his mother’s chunni/dupatta to his beloved woman. Aujla has been open about how much his deceased parents mean to him so this is supposed to be an illustration of the fact that he cares about his love so much that he is willing to give her his mother’s belongings. To drive the point home, he talks about how he still wears his dad’s shirts after having amassed all this fame and wealth (he drives a Rolls-Royce). ↩︎

Khera isn’t too far for Ranjha any more
I don’t have to go too close, just my silhouette/glance is enough
I don’t stop for long, just a quick ride around
Girls twist twice just to look at me once
We cannot be stopped, they have already tried
I shop in Milan and consume opium from Afghan
Change your tailor, girl, from Mohali
I’ll get you shoes from Paris
Three months three changes in my location
I frequently rotate between the UAE and UK

In the Punjabi folk tragedy of Heer and Ranjha, Heer was married off by her family to a man who belonged to the Khera clan. Ranjha then spent his life living as an ascetic trying to find the village where Heer lived. Here, Aujla likens himself to the proverbial Ranjha looking for his Heer (wealth? fame? power? love?) and says that the destination (Heer’s village, Khera) isn’t too far for him anymore. He switches things up and in the next lines illustrates how powerful he is by saying that people are so afraid of him that he doesn’t even need to go close or use words anymore, just a glance from him or a spotting of his silhouette is enough to make people toe the line. He is so busy that he doesn’t stop anywhere for too long (probably because he is rotating frequently between UAE and UK, as he says in a later line). In one of his visits, a young woman (naddi) kept twisting around just to get a good look at him. People have tried to stop him and his parade but to no avail.
He shops in Milan (known for high fashion) and his opium comes from Afghan (known for high fashion). He asks his dear girl to change her tailor from Mohali because he is going to get her fancy shoes from Paris. He is a busy man who moves around the world - three months, three locations, frequently flying between the UAE (where he lives) and the UK (for work, presumably). ↩︎

I would love to stop but my brain just won’t
I’d be happy to meditate and become a mystic
People learned from us and now try to teach us
We received so much from our roots, our fields
Wherever I go, cameras flash
They click my photos now, who used to pull my legs before

Man is tired of being successful. He says he’d be happy to stop all this zipping around the world, being a powerful leader type of shit but unfortunately his brain is always scheming for the next big thing. He’d be happy to sit in meditation and control his brain, his urges, his desire for power and fame. People who learned the ways of the world from him, now try to teach him how to live. He has learned so much from his roots, his background, the fields of Punjab. Wherever he goes in the world (and presumably especially back home in Punjab), people now click photos of him, with him. But when he wasn’t a big deal, the same people would tease him, pull his leg, try to bring him down.
Vocabulary:
• Vatta’an, vatt (ਵੱਟ/वट्ट) – a raised boundary line between two agriculture fields; metaphorically used here to denote roots, simpler life ↩︎

She says she can’t sleep since she’s fallen for me
We have been put on the right path by all the wrong circumstances
You are already tired of losing sleep
We haven’t slept well in several years
I keep women cold (at a distance), and enemies jealous
My friends and I hang out at the motor drinking nicely decocted tea
In love of your sweet lips, I have spent One M(illion)
The Ferrari is still new, love, careful with your shoes

Aujla continues to play hot and cold with love, power and fame. He sings that his dear woman can’t sleep since she’s fallen in love with him. In response he tells her that he hasn’t slept well in several years because of his circumstances. Nonetheless, these unfavourable conditions of his life are what have put him on the ‘right’ track (of wealth, fame). His newfound status attracts the attention of women (who he keeps at a distance) and jealousy of his haters (who he loves to spite). He is unbothered by it all and hangs out at the motor in the fields, drinking heavily boiled tea with his friends. Smitten by his woman’s beauty (lips, specifically), he has spent one million dollars on buying a Ferrari. In the last line he plays on a couplet often used by truckers: “jutti jhaad ke chadhi’n muteyare, gaddi hai shaukeen jatt di” – clean your shoes before you get in, girl, I am really fond of my car. ↩︎

I have broken hearts
Sent back several advances for marriage
Several more wait in the queue
They pay obeisance from afar, turn around to catch a glimpse of me
But I don’t ever look at them
My guy the desirable young man. Women are dying to be with him but he doesn’t care because all he cares about is his one lovely woman. ↩︎

My woman recognises my scent from afar
I am not new to the games of love
“I get tongue-tied in my sleep when you come to my dreams”, she says
She sleeps with a glass of water next to the bed since then ↩︎

Even my counterfeit coins work just fine
Even the Chinese come hang out with me
My dear beautiful woman, I’ll protect you from the sun with my hands
The way young banyan trees in my village give us shade
Chinese here is supposed to be a metaphor for Aujla’s influence. He is such an influential character now that people come hang out in his yard from across the world. ↩︎

You are running high fever, maybe you ate something wrong
Come let me ward off the evil eye with some gunpowder
Don’t be afraid, try using it as a eye liner
When the Beretta fires, it leaves a dark streak like surma (kohl) behind
I have earned a lot, spent a lot on/with my friends
But I keep it humble, I have lowered my Lamborghini
These new lads can’t drive straight
I am such a pro I can reverse park a tractor-trolley with my eyes shut

The first part here is just hypermasculine, romanticized aggression. He proposes using gunpowder for warding off the evil eye and tells his lover to use it as a eye liner. Basically playing on the usual gangster trope: “I live a dangerous life and if you are going to be with me, you should be able to wear that darkness like makeup.”
The second part is flexing about being humble: I make money, I blow money, I have a Lamborghini but I keep it lowered. Lowering a Lamborghini means modifying the suspension so the car sits closer to the ground, which is something people do to make a supercar look even more aggressive and stylish. The last part is him shitting on younger, upcoming lads who allegedly can’t drive straight (metaphorically). But Aujla is such a pro at being a gangster that he can reverse park a tractor-trolley laden with sugarcane even with his eyes shut. Reversing a tractor-trolley is notoriously difficult especially when the trolley is filled with sugarcane. ↩︎

The girl is so in love with me, she needs me like an addict needs a drug
The girl is blooming like a freshly burst boll of cotton
You get hiccups in your sleep when I miss you
Just like that song by Waris

Aujla refers to a track by Manmohan Waris “Sutti Payi Nu Hichkia” (Hiccups In My Sleep) where Waris sings that whenever he thinks of his lover, she will get hiccups in her sleep. Aujla says to his lover that she too will have the same fate. ↩︎

A girl fans over me, she is restless
There are several more like her whispering in Aujla’s ear
But I don’t care
The lions don’t pay attention
To sheeps congregating dozens of times
Vocabulary: • Unnati (ਉੱਨਤੀ/उन्नत्ति): Literally the number 29 but metaphorically several ↩︎

I am a fan of only one woman
I waive over her head ten times
Stacks of hundred dollar bills
It’ll take some time for us to get erased
For you to throw us down
Several (36) have tried many times (21 times) in vain ↩︎