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At one point in the charanam interlude I felt like why does this lude have to end? what more can words describe that this music has shown to me? And in the charanam words too Ilaiyaraaja and his guitar provide apt support to subtle lyrics of Vairamuththu.
It takes extreme guts or an Ilaiyaraaja to score this gem and it takes an equally fearless Bharathiraaja to even film this song so beautifully.
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This is the Credit for the song.........
you told very nicely jaiganes....
Wow !! Great write ups jaiganes and Suresh65. After reading your posts, I see/listen to those songs with a new perspective. Thanks for letting people like us know about the intricacies of the songs. Eagerly looking out for more posts from you.
Being in and out of office for the past week, am not able to sit down and post peacefully.
Jai, great post on kodiyilE. "Narrative integrity" is one aspect of Raja's music that fascinates me the most. I even coined that phrase to emphasise my POV of Raja appreciation. This is where a song like this scores over a pani vizhum malar vanam for me. In other words, while I am not a fan of cinema as much as I am of music, I am inexorably drawn to music that has a set context in a movie than otherwise. It is a paradox that I cannot explain but bonds me to Raja in a way I feel very personal.
The observation about the hesitancy of the staccato pallavi is spot-on. And the way parikka cholli thUndhudhae has the hopes soaring, and the way that yearning comes back at "nerunga vida villaiyE"( that sigh is enshrined in the tune and PJC's voice there).
The interludes, as you observed are sheer magic, One of those where every moment of the ludes are packed with sangathis.
And I daresay, SPB's rendition in Telugu actually is a notch lesser both for this and Adi AthAdi - a rare occurrence, that.
Plum,
You hit the nail on the head with the word "Narrative integrity", an apt description for IR's mastery in bringing out the context through his music.
great post abt jaiganes "kodiyile malligapoo"
It is one of my most favorite IR songs. But even when suggested to IR fans who know abt fusion, they view it as too "south Indian" and "folksy". This is infact a great example of fusion. Thanks for describing it in detail!
Sweet description for a great song, jaiganesh!
Isn't this song the one guitar Prasanna described as the "perfect 10 song"?
That BR / IR decided to skip the repeat of pallavi after the first saraNam but place that fantastic interlude helped the "narrative integrity" as well, IMHO :-)
True indeed it is a 10/10 song.
nice point A_E on the lack of repeating pallavi. (idhai ellaam vilambarapaduthikkama vittutaanga Raasavum BRum)
Couple of points I missed out
1. The staccato style is not restricted to pallavi alone. When we watch the ludes closely they too see saw and stop repeating in a neat circle - Quite extraordinary and revolutionary for a montage kinda song where everyone intends to keep the music as free flowing as possible.
2. Another Raaja song that pops up in my mind when I hear this song is 'Poongaatru Pudiraanadhu' from Moondram pirai.
There is 'Poongaatru' a pause electric guitar strum and then a pause and then 'Pudhiraanadhu' this continues another time and then the third line is the answer 'Irandu manadhai inaithu...' What an intricate puzzle and what an answer from the lyricist . Same way here 'KodiyilE' as per thamizh phonetic maathirai - KodiyilE ends in a big 'E' kaaram (ஏ) that would have had every music director reaching out to their singers to sing it stretched and a violin bow to accompany to the limits, Raaja the master chooses to deemphasize there and wait till the third line where the E kaaram gets the emphasis.
Jai,
Excellent writeup about a great song. Not much to add after what you have said. (Not that it had stopped me earlier :lol: ) I have been advocating Plum's phrase 'narrative integrity' in many places and that wonderfully captures what Raja does in his music.
The great paradox, if you can call that, is that two of the music greats whom I revere, have done all their innovation after first restricting themselves!!! Tyagaraja in Carnatic music decided that he will compose only krithis (not touch padams, swarajathis etc) and not sing anything other than bhakthi. And within these constraints he created magic which is still unmatched.
Similarly, Raja in film music restricted himself to be true to what was happening on the screen, true to the culture being portrayed and true to the basic form (folk, carnatic, amma songs etc) and within these restrictions he has done so many innovations that it will take a very very long time for any composer to match a fraction of his output, in qualitative and quantitative terms.
Jai,
One song which popped in my mind when you mentioned 'kodiyile' and wanted to give as an example for genesis earlier was 'edho mogam'. That is also an amazing blend of WCM with our own nativity. The Malayalam music director Sarath in one episode of Idea Super Singer mentions about this song and that is an amazing song which Krishnachandar has sung well.
Edho mOgam , despite being a product of early 80's, has excellent recording / stereophonic distribution etc. I've placed it in a CD among jAnE do nA, cheeni kum hai, bAtEin, kaiyeththA kombaththu, dheemi dheemi, sArAh yEh Alam (all post 2000 songs, with decent recording) and still it does not sound out of place (unlike 'endRendRum AnandhamE' from same time period of 'EdhO mOgam', whose recording sounds pathetic and mono as well).
A song that obtained appreciation for IR from the likes of RDB ("Raja is a decade ahead of us") & Paul Mauriat!
நல்ல வேளை அருமையான ஒலிப்பதிவு இந்தப்பாட்டுக்குக்கிடைத்தது :-)