IR Compositions: Lyrics and Situation

இந்தத் திரியின் தலைப்பு தான் கொஞ்சம் இடிக்குது..

"பாடல் வரிகளும் சூழ்நிலையும்" என்பதில் சூழ்நிலை என்ற பதம் மட்டுமே ராஜாவுக்கு என்றுமே பெருமை சேர்க்கும் ஒன்று.

கடந்த இருபது வருடத்தில் ராஜாவின் இசையில் வந்த அருமையான பாடல்களை கணக்கிலெடுத்தால், பெரும்பாலானவை மலிவான தரமற்ற, கற்பனை வறட்சி மிகுந்த பாடல் வரிகளைக் கொண்டவை.

இசையை உச்சத்தில் வைத்து அழகு பார்த்த, பார்க்கும் ராஜா, பாடல் வரிகள் விஷயத்தில் கொஞ்சமும் அக்கறையில்லாமல் தரத்தை படுகுழியில் போட்டு புதைத்த பாடல்களும் நிறைய இருக்கிறது.

குறிஞ்சிப் பூக்கள் போல, மேத்தா, ஆர்.வி.உதயகுமார், முத்துலிங்கம், பழனிபாரதி போன்றவர்களிடம் கன்ஸிஸ்டன்ஸி காணப்பட்டது. ஆனால் தொடர்ந்து இவர்கள் எழுதுவதில்லை.

அன்பர் ஒருவர் இன்னொரு திரியில் ஃபிரேவ் ஹார்ட் படத்தின் இறுதிக்காட்சிகள் ராஜாவின் இசையில் எப்படி அழகாக இருக்கிறது என சிலாகித்திருந்தார். எனக்கும் அதுபோல ஒரு ஆசை உண்டு. அது ராஜாவின் கடந்த இருபது வருட மலிவான பாடல் வரிகளை, வைரமுத்துவின் உதவியால் திருத்தி எழுதினால் எப்படி இருக்கும் என்ற கற்பனைதான். அப்படி ஒன்று நிகழுமானால், நிச்சயம் என்னைப் போன்ற பலரை மீளா இன்பத்தில் ஆழ்த்தும் என்ற நம்பிக்கை இருக்கிறது.

உதாரணத்திற்கு நிறைய சொல்லலாம்.

"அழகி" பட பாடல் ..

பாட்டு சொல்லி பாடச் சொல்லி
குங்குமம் வந்ததம்மா!
கேட்டுக்கொள்ள கிட்ட வந்து
மங்கலம் தந்ததம்மா!

பல்லவியின் இந்த நாலு வரிகள் போதும், ஏன் அந்தப் பாடல் "சிறந்த பாடகி" என்ற விருதை மட்டுமே பெற முடிந்தது என உணர.

venki,

I am sure many will agree with you with regard to lack of quality lyrics in many Raja songs in the recent past. Atleast I am one of them. In another thread I had stated that given a choice of getting a better lyricist or a better sound engineer, Raja should opt for the former. Unfortunately looks like Raja with Vairamuthu is a pipe dream given that people like BR have tried very intensely to make it happen. I too would love to see it happen. (I can definitely see how Vairamuthu's contribution elevated Rahman songs in TFM.)(Other than the song of Azhagi you mentioned, I feel that in Valmiki, 'Kooda Varuiya' is a pathetic start for a pallavi.)

Having said that, just wanted to point put that this thread does not look at the lyrics per se but on how Raja changed his orchestration to suit the lyrics. I had mentioned one example of 'Valaidu Nelindu Sellum Padai'. It will be nice to know more such examples where the music was fine tuned to suit the lyrics, however good or bad the lyrics were.

We cannot totally blame the lyricists as well. Mettuku paatu nu oru soozhnilai varum podhu, avanga kadivaalam potta kudhirai madhiri thaan.

Ofcourse there were some brilliant lyrics written to tunes before, but those are exceptions. Ellarum andha alavuku ezhudha mudiyum nu edhirpaakradhu konjam kashtam thaan.

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Originally Posted by Benny Lava

We cannot totally blame the lyricists as well. Mettuku paatu nu oru soozhnilai varum podhu, avanga kadivaalam potta kudhirai madhiri thaan.

Ofcourse there were some brilliant lyrics written to tunes before, but those are exceptions. Ellarum andha alavuku ezhudha mudiyum nu edhirpaakradhu konjam kashtam thaan.

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Well, I believe VM writes for Rahman's tunes. Dont see a problem there. A good lyricist can do it either way much as a good MD can do it either way.

As a rule, one can definitely allege that IR tends to go for the colloquial against the literary. There is a case that can be built that he doesnt care for literary quality of lyrics. But generalising that mettukku paattu will inherently bring down lyrical quality is not tenable.

I do not want to make this into an argument, but this is simply what I feel.

Even when VM (even Kannadasan wrote for mettu) writes for a tune, they bring in their own quality. But my sincere opinion is that, they would write better stuff if allowed to write the verse first.

When he has the right freedom, a poet can write a song with a theme in mind. He can have control over the whole structure of the poem in order to achieve coherence of the verses and influence the reader towards the theme and deliver the impact in final few verses or wherever he feels it is apt.

For e.g, I posted a review of a VM song "Uyirum neeye" in ARR section. The power of the lyrics lie in the verse where he says

"PeNNai padaithaan, maNNai padaitthaan
Katrum, mazhaiyum, oliyum padaitthaan (II)
Boomikku adhanaal nimmadhi illai (II)
Sami thavitthan...
Sami thavitthan thaayai padaitthan "

The other lines nicely build up to this verse. I am not saying it is impossible to conceptualize such a poem with a preset tune, but it is all the more difficult to do it while adhering to a tune. That is why we see that our lyricists have turned towards being innovative within a line rather than across the poem. An e.g for this would be another VM verse that I posted today:

"சொல்லுக்கும் தெரியாமல் சொல்லத்தான் வந்தேனே
சொல்லுக்குள் அர்த்தம் போல சொல்லாமல் நின்றேனே"

Beautiful phrase and the coherence is also there throughout the song. The exchanges between the singer's are enjoyable and do not go out of sync. But as a whole, the poem is just another love poem whereas the former is one notch higher.

It is my belief and assumption that VM wrote the lyrics for the Uyirum neeye song first and the second song was set to tune first before writing the lyrics.

May be Kannadasan did write some exceptional poems while sticking to tunes set by MSV, but not all are Kannadasan. Why, even our ancestors wrote so many great poems while sticking to a tight marabu structure. But for the unimaginative situations in our film songs and for their volume and commercial viability, we cannot expect such a quality. Giving some freedom to Lyricist is perhaps only hope of improving the quality, but how many MD's of today can set tune to lyrics?

mettukku pAttu of course

A cursory reading of VM's lyrics vs. 'poem' collections should make this a no debate.

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Originally Posted by Plum

...
As a rule, one can definitely allege that IR tends to go for the colloquial against the literary,.

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I also have similar opinions but to be fair to IR I think he would settle for simple words versus some archaic words. If you'd observe kannadhasan never used literary words..thats the way it should be because movie is for all versus a book or poetry is for the initiated. But only issue is he slowly degenerated from simple to colloquialism.
Another issue is he wants the lyrics in a certain way..sort of back seat drives it..that is why vaali who writes some cools things for Rahman does not do the same for IR. VM wont work with IR. Completely different mindsets. They were mean to each other and so it would be difficult to reconcile. oh well..that is why he is not god..simply human

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Prabhu Ram

mettukku pAttu of course

A cursory reading of VM's lyrics vs. 'poem' collections should make this a no debate.

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PR, podhuva solreengala illa vairamuthu'ku mattum solreengala?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by kiru

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Plum

...
As a rule, one can definitely allege that IR tends to go for the colloquial against the literary,.

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I also have similar opinions but to be fair to IR I think he would settle for simple words versus some archaic words. If you'd observe kannadhasan never used literary words..thats the way it should be because movie is for all versus a book or poetry is for the initiated. But only issue is he slowly degenerated from simple to colloquialism.
Another issue is he wants the lyrics in a certain way..sort of back seat drives it..that is why vaali who writes some cools things for Rahman does not do the same for IR. VM wont work with IR. Completely different mindsets. They were mean to each other and so it would be difficult to reconcile. oh well..that is why he is not god..simply human

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:thumbsup:

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Originally Posted by Benny Lava

PR, podhuva solreengala illa vairamuthu'ku mattum solreengala?

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podhuvA...

But perhaps I should clarify some personal prejudices. I am not a fan of much of pudhukkavidhai. The structureless broken verse, clever stinging together of phrases and aphorisms are things I invariably find unimpressive. So to take that as a starting point and to fit the music to them is something I find 'inappropriate' and the end product invariably unimpressive.

Music provides a stucture within which the lyricists can be creative, which is what makes the lines stand out. Pick out the great lyrics in the history of TFM, write them in a piece of paper (one below the other of course !) and read/recite them aloud to see how the 'poetry' magically disappears.

PS: Add an 'invariably' somewhere in the above paragraph.