thumri intoxication

​नजर का वार था दिल की तड़प ने छोल दी।
चली थी बरछि किसी पर किसी को आन लगी।।
नजरिया की मारी, मरी मोरी गुइयाँ.....
(छोल:scar, बरछि:spear,गुइयाँ:सखी/female friend)
This is Thumri at its near best. Its context is the play of intimacy between Radha & Krishna and - understandably - the predominant flavour is that of Shringar Ras, i.e., love and joy.
It’s said that in a Thumri it is the lyrics that are of prime importance. But there could perhaps be a diametrically opposite way of looking at this. For if you really lose yourself in a Thumri you realise that since the same set of lyrics are repeated again and again, these lyrics tend to eventually melt away. What remains is pure music.
Why then, you may ask, were lyrics required in the first place? In answer, the closest metaphor I can think of is that of a good whiskey and the barrel it’s aged in. The lyrics - like the barrel - hold the music together and impart it with a distinctive flavour. And yet, one can’t be said to have ‘mixed’ with the other.