Introduction
Wish I could leave you, my love, but my heart is a mess.
Prateek Kuhad’s Cold Mess
How can something evoke pain and tranquility at the same time? Often described as his breakthrough song, “cold/mess” is a breathtaking, soulful, and mesmerizing composition by Prateek Kuhad. One can discern the artistry behind the song from the fact that it made it to the 2019 Playlist of Mr. Barack Obama, the iconic Former President of the United States.
The video, with Kuhad’s soulful voice, takes you on an emotional ride. The ascending tune brings you in touch with all your emotions. The couple explores the sentiments of comfort and intimacy in a relationship. They share a kiss under the water, which at first, looks powerfully pleasing. However, the song leads to a darker side of their relationship. They pull each other down under the water, just to be together. They keep coming back to each other, no matter how much they suffocate each other until they finally scream under the same water where they initially kissed. “Wish I could leave you, my love, but my heart is a mess” speaks volumes of the pain of a lover. It brings to light the toxicity in their relationship. It emanates pain and leaves your heart aching. Yet “My days they begin with your name and nights end with your breath” comforts you. It makes you believe in their love, no matter how much it hurts them.
The conversation which they share at the beginning marks the dynamics of their relationship.
“You think this is a good idea?”
“What do you consider a good idea?”
“Lemon tarts”
“I don’t like lemons.”
“I don’t like tarts. Just the idea of it.”
“Maybe you’re right. Maybe it’s not a good idea.”
Even though they knew it in their heart that it’s not a good idea, they end up exploring it. Maybe that is love, the adrenaline rush you feel, the need to be wrapped around in each other’s arms constantly, the desire to call each other their own, the jealousy and insecurity that comes with it until all that is left is suffocation. It is a mess after all. A cold mess.
Cold/Mess Lyrics
Let’s have a look at the lyrics first before we dive into the deep and intricate meaning of the song conveyed to us by the soulful voice of Prateek Kuhad, the charm and the emotion conveyed by Jim Sarbh and Zoya Hussain, and the beautifully shot music video produced by Jugaad Motion Pictures.
[Verse 1]
When I feel cold
I’ll keep you close
And if I could hold you
And take you home
[Verse 2]
When at night
Your toes touch mine
I’ll sing you to sleep
If you were mine to keep
[Chorus]
I wish I could leave you my love
But my heart is a mess
My days, they begin with your name
And nights end with your breath
I wish I could leave you my love
But my heart is a mess
My days, they begin with your name
And nights end with your breath
With your breath
[Verse 3]
To sway just like
It was Friday night
And all the lights
Will blind me dry
And my lullaby
Is your sigh
And I can feel it
When you cry
[Chorus]
I wish I could leave you my love
But my heart is a mess
My days, they begin with your name
And nights end with your breath
I wish I could leave you my love
But my heart is a mess
My days, they begin with your name
And nights end with your breath
With your breath
[Instrumental]
[Chorus]
I wish I could leave you my love
But my heart is a mess
My days, they begin with your name
And nights end with your breath
I wish I could leave you my love
But my heart is a mess
My days, they begin with your name
And nights end with your breath
With your breath
[Outro]
When I feel cold
I keep you close
And if I could hold you
And take you home
And if I could hold you
And take you home
Cold Mess Song Meaning
Prateek Kuhad’s music beautifully represents modern relationships and heartbreak. Prateek Kuhad gave us the gem that is cold/mess back in December 2018.
The music video gave us a beautiful storyline to muse over for the rest of our lives.
A lot of us found ourselves.
A lot of us moved on from our past relationships and heartbreak.
A few of us found new love.
About cold/mess.
When Barack Obama gave validation to this song in 2019 with his ‘Favourite songs of 2019’ list, average Indian listeners started appreciating Kuhad’s music and indie music in general. Before that this song was sitting in the backseat only handy to a few avid indie listeners who were active on the scene.
Cold/Mess is written, sang & composed by Prateek Kuhad himself and is filmed by Jugaad motion pictures.
Jugaad Motion Pictures are known for their modern & millennial, Gen Z centric style of storytelling.
This team has also contributed with their stories for songs like:
Baatein Karo by Vayu
Sage by Ritviz
![Ritviz - Sage [Official Music Video]](https://i.ytimg.com/vi/_kUrW9SEaJc/hqdefault.jpg)
Nit Nit by Jasleen Royal
The storyline of Prateek Kuhad’s cold/mess.
The story revolves around two different characters, that display deep, individualistic personalities, choices, and opinions.
There’s Jim Sarbh, who seems to be kind of old school, finds peace with his sorrows, likes to listen to sad music when feeling low or heartbroken who doesn’t like tangy or sharp flavors like lemon.
The second character, that is played by Zoya Hussain seems to be more outgoing and progressive.
The story begins with the two characters; seated beside each other, engrossed holding filthy hands while eating, depicts the beginning of some chemistry between these two individuals.
One doesn’t like tarts and the other doesn’t like lemon.
They try to decide whether it’s a good idea or not.
Here, the story of liking and disliking the idea of “LEMON TART” is a metaphor used to relate to the idea of “RELATIONSHIP” and their individual personalities.
I would like to appreciate Dar Gai, an India-based Ukrainian director & screenwriter who is behind this beautiful video. She hasn’t tried romanticizing the idea of “LOVE” & “RELATIONSHIP” but tells us how important it is to “TALK” it out and figure out things in a “RELATIONSHIP”.
Zoya talks about leaving it to the future by saying “JUST DON’T PLAY SAD SONGS WHEN I LEAVE” and their relationship begins.
The beautiful montage of their intimate kisses gives us the clarity that they both are deeply in love with each other.
In spite of various differences in choices, maybe opinions, and lifestyle too.
There is a burst of surprise to the audience when Prateek’s rhythmic, tension-building music comes in after the kissing montage.
When i feel cold
Cold Mess, Prateek Kuhad
I’ll keep you close
The couple dives into a pool showcased here as a metaphor for “LIFE”.
Both of them decides to dive in deep together into each other’s life, finding meaning in each other’s company, explore the side of life that is dark, not so happy, full of sorrow, failures, past baggage, disagreements for whatever reasons as well as figure out the better side of life.
In the next scene, what we see is an immediate change of setting; both Jim & Zoya are comfortable with each other in the bed together.
When at night
Cold Mess, Prateek Kuhad
Your toes touch mine
These lines portray the comfort between these two individuals when they are in what can only be described as a “HEAVEN” zone, a zone where they are joyful, happy, excited. there’s a dopamine rush within and they are looking for more. They crave for each other’s belongingness, their comfort of being at each other’s side, they are vulnerable as kids.
The next cut emphasizes the other extreme, or the “HELL” zone, where they begin to dive deep within each other’s life. They fight. They argue. They disagree with each other. Zoya is showed as a character that displays a powerful and independent personality and hence she packs her bag and leaves the house a lot of times when there’s a quarrel between the two.
Jim Sarbh seems to be a submissive character here because he rushes every time to get her back. “LOVE” has a different kind of energy. We are made to believe that Heaven is good and Hell is bad.
The Marriage of Heaven & Hell
William Blake, an English poet & painter explains this theory in his book “The Marriage of Heaven & Hell” published in 1973.
Blake says, for humans –
‘Attraction and Repulsion, Reason and Energy, Love and Hate, are necessary to Human existence & any kind of relationship.’
The Depiction of Love & Relationships in Indian Media
Now, let’s take a pause from cold/mess and talk a little about “LOVE” & “RELATIONSHIPS”, especially when it’s in India and how our music scene has been narrating it through various mediums over the past few decades.
In India, love is usually misguided as a concept where two individuals are alike and have similar choices, family backgrounds, profession and carries no baggage whatsoever and hence they are soul mates. In other words, the complex concept that is love has been simplified to something that even a second grader would understand.
The music, lyrics, and songs usually depict how an individual completes their partner’s shortcomings.
How it breaks one free from loneliness and makes the world a better place to live in only in the presence of each other when together in life. They communicate love or fall for one another by looking into each other’s eyes.
If they travel together, they’ll be able to find their soul mate on the road and they make us believe that it’s easy for two individuals to live together. Love is depicted by beautiful sceneries, violins being played in the background, and if Hollywood movies are to be believed then with fireworks. The couple is all happy and especially the woman is highly obliged to the man falling for her and loving her.
It’s rare when “LOVE” is depicted with the idea of both sorrow and happiness. What we are made to believe is the idea of “THE ONE” which is absolutely delusional.
Few iconic movies & web series depict modern relationships in a manner that is way ahead of their time and narrates a story that aligns closest to reality.
From Bollywood, we have Rockstar, Akshay Khanna’s character in Dil Chahta Hai, and Tamasha. Imitiaz Ali is known for this sort of storytelling in Bollywood.
In Hollywood, we have gems like the Sunrise Trilogy, Eternal Sunshine of Spotless Mind, and Lost in Translation.
From the Indian web series category and probably the most realistic depictions of the lot we have – Permanent Roommates and Little Things.
But wait a minute, aren’t we used to labeling relationships as depicted in cold/mess as “TOXIC”?
Is the relationship depicted in cold/mess toxic?
Coming back to cold/mess – both Jim & Zoya are terribly close to each other, they belong to each other, and they live together, share mental & physical space with each other.
Jim’s character displays insecurities and depicts some sort of possessiveness too and here is when the heat is turned up and the ‘cold’ in cold/mess turns ‘hot.
Prateek Kuhad makes a special cameo in here for a moment and creates a rift between the two. This moment of tension is focused on Zoya when accused irrationally and is thrust upon with unwanted stress, brings out her defense mechanism from her “HELL” zone, and hits Jim, or at least that is what is interpreted here. There could be other interpretations but this seems the most likely.
If you see, when out of the club, Jim is bleeding on his forehead. The story is all about being vulnerable, bringing out both the HELL & HEAVEN zones, drowning deep into life joys and sorrows.
As showcased earlier in the story, Zoya decides to part ways again, then comes back to Jim again, they both make love to each other again and they are still drowning in the sorrow, once again.
The story ends with both of them deciding to let go of each other.
The story begins with hand-holding and ends with leaving each other’s hand to find peace within oneself.
Maybe, this was the end, maybe this wasn’t, but according to Prateek:
Wish I could leave you, my love, but my heart is a mess.
About The Album
In Cold/Mess Prateek Kuhad has released another eloquently written folk album that has shot to the top of the streaming charts. It is in Kuhad’s words a ‘Heartbreak Album’ and has themes primarily of angst and heartache. The album takes you on a tour of the darker aspects of love and has a more complex take on it as opposed to the usual rainbows and unicorns associated with love. Prateek Kuhad has penned his lyrics in a way that resonates with listeners on a much deeper level; most people have experienced toxic love and unhealthy relationships at some time in their lives. While the songs themselves are the same simplistic earworms we have come to expect from this heartthrob, they seem to convey a rich undercurrent of sincerity and depth. On the whole, Cold/Mess is a particularly emotional and angst-ridden EP that speaks volumes about the feeling of suffocation that often accompanies love.
Who is Prateek Kuhad?
Hailed by Rolling Stone India as “one of the country’s leading singer-songwriters,” Prateek Kuhad has taken the rest of the world by storm in recent years, garnering a slew of accolades and honors around the globe with his mesmerizing, cinematic songwriting. His ability to write with equal ease in English and Hindi, while keeping the lyrics at the core of his songwriting has kept him in good stead with his Biggest International Tour in 2019 across North America, UK, Europe and India.
Official Website – https://www.prateekkuhad.com/
Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prateek_Kuhad
Commonly Asked Questions About Prateek Kuhad
Who is Prateek Kuhad’s Girlfriend?
Prateek Kuhad is currently dating Niharika Thakur who is a doctor by profession.
— Prateek Kuhad (@prateekkuhad) May 16, 2020
Niharika makes a regular appearance on Prateek Kuhad’s Instagram Page. You can check out his Instagram page by clicking here.
Prateek Kuhad Songs
In 2013, he released his first EP (Extended Play) titled “Raat Raazi” in 2013.
He made his first full length album debut in 2015 with “In Tokens & Charms” which had amazing tracks like “Oh Love”, “Into The Night”, “Go” and “Cold Shoulders”.
He made his Bollywood Debut as a Singer and Songwriter with “Kho Gaye Hum Kahan” from the 2016 film “Baar Baar Dekho”. He then went on to make the soul soothing tracks “Saansein” and “Kadam” for the 2018 film “Karwan”.
What genre is Prateek Kuhad?
Indie Folk
What is Prateek Kuhad’s age?
Prateek Kuhad was born on 3rd March 1990 and is currently 30 years of age as of 2020.
Similar Artists to Prateek Kuhad
Cigarettes After Sex, Ankur Tewari, The Local Train, Parvaaz, and When Chai Met Toast are some artists that are similar to Prateek Kuhad and you should definitely give them a listen.
Below are some more artists that are similar to Prateek Kuhad.
To find more similar artists check out this site – music-map.com. It’s a great site to find artists that are similar to the ones you love.
Prateek Kuhad’s name is in the center and similar artists are surrounding his name. The closer the two names are, the greater the probability people will like both artists.
Support the Indian indie music scene so that these underrated artists get the recognition they deserve. Watch their music videos, stream their songs, go to their concerts, and support them in whatever way possible.
We do our part to try and promote them and we could really use your support as well so please donate to us so that we could provide you with better content. Little donations can go a long way in improving our content. Donate by clicking on the link below.
Prateek Kuhad’s best songs
Prateek Kuhad has a whole host of amazing songs but here are a few ones that are a must-listen.
Prateek Kuhad’s must-listen Hindi songs –
- Tune Kaha – See lyrics and translation
- Tum Jab Paas – See lyrics and translation
- Kasoor – See lyrics and translation
- Kahan Ho Tum – See lyrics and translation
Prateek Kuhad’s must-listen English songs –
- 100 words – See lyrics
- Into the night – See lyrics
- with you/for you – See lyrics
See full list of Prateek Kuhad’s songs here on Label Rebel.
Rolling Stone India has a lovely list of ’10 Prateek Kuhad Songs for Every Mood’ – check it out by clicking here.
Prateek Kuhad’s best lyrics
To pick any one of Prateek Kuhad’s lyrics would be almost impossible. Here are some of my favorite’s not in any particular order and avoiding the songs already mentioned above:
Click here for lyrics of Cold Shoulders.
How did you perceive me
Lyrics from ‘Cold Shoulders’ by Prateek Kuhad
How did you complete me
Cold shoulders apart
Sway into my arms
Slip into my heart
Click here for lyrics of Yeh Pal.
Labon pe jo bhi ho
Lyrics From ‘Yeh Pal’ by Prateek Kuhad
(What ever is there to say on your lips)
Keh bhi do thehra hoon main
(Tell me, I am waiting)
Ye dil ki baaton ko
(Whatever matters of the heart there are to be discussed)
Roko na thehra hoon main
(Do not postpone, I am waiting)
Click here for lyrics of Raat Raazi.
Andhere ka ye jaal hai
Lyrics From ‘Raat Raazi’ by Prateek Kuhad
(Is this a trap of the night?)
Ya saanjh ki ye chaal hai
(Or a trick of the evening?)
Ye aaina bekaar hai
(This mirror is useless)
Main kon hoon ye raaz hai
(Who am I? This is a mystery…)
Click here to see our post on ’10 best Prateek Kuhad songs and lyrics’.
ScoopWhoop has a similar post but with a list of 19 best songs and lyrics – check it out by clicking here.
Thanks for reading!
