Barsalo belongs to the genre of chomaso—a song of the monsoon, a season that is associated with longing and separation. The song describes the rains, the thunder, the lightening and the dark clouds in the month of Ashad. The pangs of separation are felt as the lover laments, “the rains, the clouds all pass by without you, my beloved."

This is a mallari associated with the Rag Malhar, whose performance is said to evoke rains. In the desert of Rajasthan rains are rare and their presence highly anticipated, accounting for the many songs about the monsoon filled with references to the rain and clouds.