Barely a minute long and only consisting of a few lines, fLoWer manages to be one of ZAYN’s most intricate pieces in his debut album.
As an adamant ZAYN ‘stan’, I have followed the singer’s career from his X Factor days to his solo career by religiously streaming his music and consistently having him as my #1 artist on my Spotify Wrapped year after year. Because of my passionate dedication to him, my passion blog will be a review of some of my favorite songs from ZAYN’s debut album, Mind of Mine. In my fourth blog, I will be reviewing INTERMISSION: fLoWer.
fLoWer is a simple song included as the intermission piece in Mind of Mine. The song is entirely sung in Urdu and consists of three lines:
English translation:
“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”
Simply, ZAYN compares his relationship to a flower, expressing that he will not be at peace until his love for the person has not peaked. The lyrics themselves are very simple, but the intricacy and context of the song is what gives it a deeper meaning.
During his time in One Direction, ZAYN was never entirely open with his heritage. Although he acknowledged his Pakistani and Islamic background, he seemed to avoid those questions in interviews. On social media, ZAYN was met with overwhelming racism and Islamophobia, furthering his silence. Many speculate that one of the major reasons for ZAYN leaving the band is due to the lack of support he was receiving from his bandmates regarding this issue. However, in fLoWer, ZAYN reaches back to his roots, giving his fans a song that incorporates Pakistani and Islamic culture.
ZAYN begins the song with angelic vocals, which is a pattern that occurs in Pakistani folk music. This music is referred to as a “ghazal”, which is a poetic expression of pain of loss or the beauty of love. Here, ZAYN expresses both pain and love, combining both strong emotions to create a compelling piece with only a few words. The song being in Urdu is also quite symbolic, as the language is his father’s native tongue. The song is thus a tribute to his family and culture, while also indirectly addressing the struggle that he has gone through with his identity while being in One Direction. ZAYN embraces himself in this song, making such a simple song overwhelmingly meaningful.