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Greate write-up V_S on a fabulous song.
Idhya kovil is an album which is very close to my heart, anytime I will chose a song from this movie (particularly Idhayam oru kovil) when somebody ask to pick top 10 songs (summa oru pechuku :)) of IR. Each song is a gemMO gem. The speciality of this album is anyone can argue for any song. I think only Raj TV plays many 80 songs including IK songs and not popular music channels :banghead: may be 'rights' issue. Ithellam pothu udamai aakkungappa, raajavukku perusa ethavathu senju
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Thank you San_K for your wonderful comments. As you said, we all have 'nanRi kadan' to Maestro. Ketka ketka (sorry, ketkaamalEyE) kodukkum amudha surabhi. Amudha surabhi gives only after we ask for something, but with Maestro, we don't have to ask him, he reads everyone's mind and gives us generously.
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Humour - "mae...."
In the second half of the 90s, almost all the songs of Raaja (except for Kadhalukku Mariyadhai) were looked upon as untouchable stuff by the people (Enna oru nandri ketta ulagamaiyya…). This mediocre film was one of the unfortunate Raaja musical released during this period. As expected, no one was ready give a try to hear this magnificent folky music. All the songs in the film had a fresh folky flavour.
This is actually not a duet. It is sung by 3 singers - Raaja, Sundararajan and a GOAT! How about having a full song with a goat sound (“Mae…”) thru out…? And add to this - all the last word in each of the lines ending with “Mae…”. There you are… Raaja once again is ready with his experimental kit to unleash his skill in bringing out the rustic wit!
Here he pairs up with R.Sundararajan (The same director turned actor, who split with Raaja after his first film Payanangal Mudivadhillai, claiming that it was his directorial skills which made the film a success. After a couple of flops and realizing his foolishness, he again joined hands with Raaja in Naan Paadum Paadal… And after that no turning back, they gave many more memorable films like Vaidehi Kaathirundhaal, Amman koil kizhakalae, Kunguma Chimizh, Mella Thirandhadhu kadhavu, etc). This is the first and last song he has sung in films. Raaja, realizing R.Sundarajan’s limitations, handles him with care ensuring that only short lines are sung by him. And his pronunciations like palam, malai, etc can be pardoned as it is only a fun song.
This song once again brings to the fore Raaja’s imagination skills for a given situation.
The song starts with the screaming of goats in different modes. Then a short juggle bandhi between singers voice and goats’ voice… And immediately Sundararajan starts “Adi Unna Kaanaa..” followed by a short silence. “Onnum Thonaaa…” followed by a goat’s “Mae…” (thereby completing the word). This sets the tone for what to expect from the song…The MAE sound is inserted in various ways and in different tones thru out the song. Most of the time it sounds in the background when the word ends with the letter ‘MAE’. In few places it is used as a filler.. At other places, it teases the voices of the singers… and at times it sounds with a mini tune of its own… Aha… Only Raaja… Only Raaja…
Now – No more description… Get into the song… Raaja is bringing a herd of sheep to your drawing room…. Hear the song with goats surrounding you…
http://www.thiraipaadal.com/album.php?ALBID=ALBIRR00592
Adi unna kaanaMAE… (yamma..)
Onnum thonaMAE… (yehae..)
Thedi alanjoMAE.. (yamma..)
Naadi thalarndhoMAE…
Yen kannula aadudhu oorvasi rambaiyin padaMAE… padaMAE…padaMAE…
Adha kanda pinnalum unarchi illaiyna jadaMAE..jadaMAE..jadaMAE…
Dhum.. dhudhumdhum...
ennada koduMAE.. koduMAE
kolludhae thaniMAE…thaniMAE…
ilaMAE ilaMAE ilachi nikkama jodi ketkuMAE…
andha sogaMAE… sogaMAE…solla varaama thedi paarkuMAE
Poathuna ilaMAE..ilaMAE..
Thirumbuma iniMAE..iniMAE..
kaalaMAE..kaalaMAE..irukkum NeraMAE kaadhal inikkuMAE
pazhutha kilaMAE.. kilaMAE.. aana pinnalum jollu vadikoMAE
Vetti Pozhudha poakaMAE
Oru vevaram givaram ketkaMAE
Thonum paatta padipoMAE
Romba sogusa thaalam adipoMAE
EllaMAE onna vaachakka veluda thambi thayangaMAE
thadiyillaMAE ullasam pirakkum.. saamiyae saranaMAE
Malai vilundha... vellaMAE..vellaMAE..
Kuli vilundha .... pallaMAE..pallaMAE...
kolaMAE...kolaMAE... thanni illaena kaangchi poguMAE..
Mazha jalaMAE..jalaMAE...vandhu vizhundha neranji poguMAE..
Ilai ilaadha maraMAE..maraMAE..
Adhila yedhu palaMAE..palaMAE...
nelaMAE..nelaMAE... neeru kodutha kaachi kulungaMAE
andha pazhaMAE..pazhaMAE..sandhaikku poana panatha kodukuMAE...
vuttalangadi viduvoMAE...
nee keata innum kodupoMAE..
thandhanathan padipoMAE..
thamizh thavara poana adipoMAE..
yeani yedhum illama naamae yeri yeri povaMAE..
rendu rekkai yedhum illama naamae mela dhaan parapoMAE..
In the first interlude, there is a sudden blossom of a classical violin piece followed by a funny sound trying to extend as much as it can – Noteworthy. At the end of the Saranam, the goat sound goes missing…. Maybe Raaja wanted to deliberately keep the goats away as there were the words “Saamiyae Saranamae…” in the ending line of the saranam. This shows how he gets to the minute details of the lyrics – whether it is a serious or light song.
There are 2 other great songs sung by Raaja in the film.
1. Chinna Manikkaaga (Oh.. What a complex rhythm pattern for a village song).
2. Un Pakkathula – Another unique song with the female voice only laughing in various modes in between the lines of the entire song. This is a great song which can be explained in detail by only a great analyst like V_S. Hope he takes up this song in the thread (before I spoil it with my kirukkals)
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this song was discussed in funky ludes of raaja thread sometime back - for guys who proposed a theory that raaja has not been having fun since becoming a spiritual
bented person - this one is a solid fact to chew on and think what they have been spouting..
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Nice write-up raaga_kann and thanks for highlighting this rare song. Wonderful observations! Yes, I love Chinna Manikkaga and Un Pakkathula. Thanks for your confidence in me :smile:. We will sure write about it.
I agree with Jai, that IR has composed and sung many such light moment songs post 90's even till Achadicha Kaasu and Ennada Paandi from Vaalmiki (2009).
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Thanks Raaga Kann for Adi Unna Kaanamma , never heard it before , its just louly
and thanks V_S for Oororama Aathupakkam , its a very favourite of mine
Funkiness to the core
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Old MacDonald Had a Farm And on that farm he just had a sheep lol
Never heard an Indian song like this, Raaja Saab jumping over every possible boundary. Thanks for the no. raaga ji :clap:
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Naarinil Poothoduthu - Irandil Ondru
ஹோல்டிங் மெதுவாக ஓடி வருகிறார். ஆனால் பந்தை மிக வேகமாக வீசுகிறார். நேராக வந்த பந்து. ஆப்-ஸ்டம்பிற்கு எய்திய பந்து. மிதமாக மேலெழுந்து வந்த பந்து. கவாஸ்கர் பந்தின் வீச்சையும் அதன் தடத்தையும் முன்னரே படித்துவிட்டதால் சற்றே பின்னடைந்து, அற்புதமான 'கவர்' ஷாட்அடித்தார். கஸ் லோகி'யால் தடுக்க முடியவில்லை, நான்கு! பந்து மட்டையை முத்தம் செய்த அடுத்த வினாடி, சீறிக்கொண்டு பாய்ந்தது கவர் பௌண்டரி'க்கு.
அடுத்த பந்து. ஆப் அண்ட் மிடில்'லை நோக்கியது. அற்புதமான பந்துவீச்சு. கவாஸ்கர் நிறுத்தி நிதானமாக நேர்த்தியாக விளையாடினர். ஹோல்டிங் பந்தை மறுமுனையில் பெற்று கொண்டு அடுத்த பந்திற்கு ஆயத்தமாகிறார். ரன் இல்லை.
இந்திய ஒரு விக்கெட் இழப்பிற்கு 67 ரன்கள்.
Those who have listened to Ramamurthy IAS, Abdul Jabbar, Koothabiran's thamizh cricket commentaries on AIR during the 80's, can relate to the above commentary and even hear their voices from the above lines. :smile: Especially the former, I am a big fan of his commentaries. When test cricket was so absorbing those days, the commentaries by these experts made cricket even more interesting. In English my favorite commentators were Richie Benaud and Tony Cozier. Also only few has the art of keeping the viewers/listeners in check. Similarly in music too, only few directors have the capability to visually and correctly narrate the music to show what it is capable of. I believe you got it! :smile:
Let's go into the song. Ramki was popular after 'Chinna Poove Mella PEsu' till atleast Rettai Roja and Viswanathan Ramamurthy, not at the level of Mohan or Ramarajan, but he had his own set of audience. These are the times (from 1987) new MDs like Devendran (VEdham Pudhithu - 1987), S A Rajkumar (Chinna PoovE Mella PEsu - 1988), Vidyasagar (Poomanam - 1989), Maragathamani (Azhagan - 1990), Deva (Vaigasi Poranthachu - 1991) kept coming every year (happy it was not like today, as we see new mds every day). The biggest surprise we found in most of the songs composed by them was, for a split second we would think it was composed by our Maestro. Especially it happened in most of their films that time (except Azhagan, it was a classic). But then during the interludes, we would clearly find it was not him. It seemed to us that it was some sort of planned trick to topple Maestro, as he was dictating terms in terms of music at every level (songs and BGM). May be I could be wrong and it was natural, but definitely we thought about it. Clearly those compositions told us they were just an imitation gold and not the real gold, within just few seconds of hearing. Even when this song Naarinil Poothoduthu came out amidst all the new entrants and their compositions, we are going to see how it stood out from the rest.
First and foremost thanks to the director for the situation. Not many directors want to narrate and develop a love story through a song (which will be over in just 4 minutes), instead they want to prolong it by adding more scenes and dialogues without the song,. The song would only start after the love blossoms (yes, after the bell rings from both sides :wink:). Here the director conveys the love between them in a very short and crisp fashion. Chitra's only portion in the entire song, the starting humming. After this, it is a Raja song. Yet the lead given by Chitra is enough to be considered as a duet, even though she is not part of the whole song. Another reason to consider this song as a duet as the visuals. The visuals completely justifies it as a duet song, as we will see in a little bit.
Nadhiya (Chitra) starts humming as she cleans the vessels. That point of time, she is not in love. Once she continues humming, Ramki (IR) adds his voice and answers her. She again hums like 'esapaattu' with her eyes wandering to see from where the sound is coming. No instruments till this point (except the night effect given by Maestro, again only in visuals). Three bass guitar chords add the beauty to his humming. Guitar chord is a symbol of love and the chords expresses his desire to see and connect to her. The point to note here, is the hero is already in love with her, while the heroine does not know him (much, except as a class-mate?). She is eager to know the man behind that voice, but he does not show his face, instead starts the song beautifully like this:
நாரினில் பூ தொடுத்து மாலை ஆக்கினேன்
காதலின் கோவில் வாழும் தேவிக்காகவே
அது காயுதிங்கே
ஒரு காதல் தீயில்
இதை யார் தடுப்பாரோ
பூங்காற்றே நீயும் சொல்வாய்
Maestro punctuates the first line with wonderful guitar, while there is no filler for the second line. From third line onwards; 'அது காயுதிங்கே', 'ஒரு காதல் தீயில்', 'இதை யார் தடுப்பாரோ' and 'பூங்காற்றே நீயும் சொல்வாய்' he plays santhoor (I guess) at the same time when Raja sings the lines, instead of adding santhoor as a filler to each line break. Now the question arises. Why there is filler (guitar) in the first line and why there is no instrument or filler during the second line and, why the remaining lines has instrument playing along at the same time.
Nadhiya acknowledges the first line, as that was her starting humming, so guitar acts as her acknowledgement and also as her appreciation to the tune and singing. But when he sings 'காதலின் கோவில் வாழும் தேவிக்காகவே', she gets the actual meaning and stunned as the song is leading to somewhere else. So there is silence there without any fillers. In next four lines, rather than acknowledging, she is eager into the meaning rather than the tune, so the santhoor plays along with the singing. The tune also supports these poetic lines. So there is a reason when Maestro plays instruments as fillers or as a backdrop. Another example that the tune need not vary so much from lower octaves to higher octaves to bring the beauty. Here you can note the tune operates in middle octaves throughout the pallavi, yet it is not bland, but it has all the sweetness in it. Excellent start to the song right from the humming to the pallavi with some wonderful lyrics and narration by the director!.
Interlude starts with brisk santhoor again backed up bass guitar (please hear the bass guitar throughout the song, it will take you to another song). This interlude is special as this is the one where the hero conveys his love to her. The brisk santhoor denotes his fast heart beat, as he is going to surprise her with a letter, so that anxiety in him. At the same time, we hear a solo violin, which also denotes his fear, if it fails. He throws a letter in her pot and disappears, before she recognizes him. The solo violin can also be imagined as her thoughts about the song which she heard last night. So even when she is with her friends, she is still alone. That solo violin depicts her loneliness.
Once she sees the letter in her pot, suddenly the atmosphere changes electric. Flute comes into play with the majestic guitar. Why?
1. Now that fast flute and guitar shows her anxiety to what's in the letter and she reads it.
2. It can also be viewed that hero is little relaxed as he did what he wanted to do, so that flute acts as a bit of reliever, even though his heart still beats faster.
3. Third interpretation is; this is the first time, both their hearts read the same thing. So the flute (of hero) and guitar (of heroine) plays at the same time.
4. Fourth interpretation; Technically the flute and guitar are in counter-point mode. She throws the letter fooling herself that she is not interested. If you take this into account, she is not accepting his love, so Maestro plays flute and guitar in couter-point mode rather than in harmony.
Director here cleverly writes the same pallavi in the letter which we heard above instead of upcoming charanam. There is a reason to it which we will address shortly. There ends the interlude with Maestro adding one more instrument at the end of interlude along with flute and guitar to give enough strength to their love.
Now hero is singing the same song, assuming the heroine enters the auditorium when the hero started singing the charanam. If the director would have written the charanam in the letter which she just read and threw, she would have immediately got that, the one sings is the one who gave her the letter. Here the director keeps her in suspense as he sings the charanam directly. Clever! Hear the charanam lines. Wonderful analogy describing her beauty with ragam and thalam. Since he saw that his letter was thrown away, he utters these lines; 'வாடுதே என் ஆவியே கேட்குதா என் பாடலே தேவியே நீயும் எங்கே'. What a pain in Maestro's voice there. :notworthy: Another aspect where the director shows his brilliance is when he finishes the last line of charanam; 'பூங்காற்றே நீயும் சொல்வாய்', which falls in the same tune as pallavi last line, the heroine immediately recognizes him (her face changes) when he is singing the last line of charanam rather than waiting for him to sing the pallavi again to recognize him (which is usual). Wonderfully done by the director! Kudos! :thumbsup:
உயிர் மூச்சில் கொஞ்சம் வார்த்தையே பாடல் ஆனதே
உன் மீது கொண்ட ஆசையே ராகம் ஆனதே
அசைந்தாடிடும் கண்கள் அது தாள சந்தங்கள்
உறவாடிடும் உள்ளம் தரும் ராக பந்தங்கள்
வாடுதே என் ஆவியே கேட்குதா என் பாடலே
தேவியே நீயும் எங்கே
பூங்காற்றே நீயும் சொல்வாய்
Once she knows her lover, there comes the blistering barnacles and thundering typhoons from the Maestro (only visually!, not in the audio version). After all the rain and thunder, there is silence and love has blossomed. When Maestro repeats the pallavi we are again back into her house front during early morning hours. The first pallavi was shown during night time. Here the director symbolically shows that dawn broke out from the dark. விடியல்! This is what is called narration of the music!
Another wonderful exhibition of visuals for the music happen in second interlude. But First music. Two guitar playing one the lead and another bass, both again in counter-point. Why counter-point now as the love has blossomed already right? She thinks of him and he thinks of her. He has his own imagination of her and vice versa, eventhough they are both in love. That's why Maestro did not pick up two different instruments, only guitar. Just the instrument here is the symbol of their sync and love, yet their imaginations about each other can be different, hence the counter-point. Again the one which is the lead guitar is of the heroine, as her imagination is over top of his imagination, that is usual of females. May be true or not, but that's how I see it.
You have to hear the racy tabla which pops from nowhere during the interlude. Maestro uses tabla just when their eyes meet. Phenomenal! :clap: That tabla dies down to normal pattern when the flute picks up where he gives another letter to her. You can hear the difference in the flute played in first interlude when the love has not blossomed and now. The flute is more of a soothing nature which implies their two hearts in love. There ends the interlude with trademark santhoor! Classy interlude in all nature!!
Director has captured the visuals in the interlude exceptionally well taking it to the instrument level and the timing (editing) is perfect, especially the tabla part. Now again it is interesting to see how the director captures the visuals in the second charanam. Here he narrates the charanam as read by the heroine in the letter given by hero during the above interlude. The whole charanam is all close-ups of both the lovers, as he is singing the charanam and she is reading the letter at the same time and their facial expressions. Here he switches from wide-angle landscapes to portraits to leave out everything in the world except they two and their love. Wonderful!
இளமாலை தென்றல் வீசியே என்னை வாட்டுதே
குளிரோடை துள்ளும் போதிலே உன்னை தேடுதே
உன் கூந்தல் சேராத மலர் வாசம் வீண்தானே
என் தேவி இல்லாத பொன்மாலை வீண்தானே
துடிக்குதே என் நெஞ்சமே தேடுதே உன் தஞ்சமே
காதலி நீதான் எங்கே
பூங்காற்றே நீயும் சொல்வாய்
Beautiful singing with heart by Raja! Director takes the third repeat pallavi to greater heights with the lovers becoming casual and roaming around, with lush greens and libraries as backdrop. This song is a perfect example how the director is thorough in explaining the situation for a song and how Maestro conceives it throughly. It's not all. Director has to faithfully reproduce what he conveyed to Maestro. He can do that only if he is first satisfied with the tune, mood and its orchestration. Even if he is satisfied, to reproduce to such a level as this song requires a thorough understanding of Maestro's music. In that way, he as accomplished both. With this 4 minute song, director takes from a single side love, to love blossoming on either side till it attains maturity. What else do we expect? Is it not phenomenal from the director's standpoint? May be that's the reason I could recollect those glorious cricket commentators who narrate so well, even when we are not watching the match, we can feel we were there! After praising the director, If I don't know who is the director, it is not good. Anyone know please?
Great folk tune to the roots, backed up by soulful orchestration with western influence! Coming to our original question. Whether this song stood among the rest in terms of tune, singing and orchestration? Definitely! Each and every note and every instrument speak their love and Maestro's love for music. Every instrument has a reason to be played and every note has a reason to be sung and not just for any anonymous reasons. That how Maestro's music is different. Added to this, this time every visual has a reason to be shown and every word has a reason to be heard. Just imagine the first interlude and all the different interpretations, every interpretation seems to be right (IMHO). There could still be many more. These are the different and multiple landscapes which Maestro paints in us for a single interlude. When the same song is done by others, these many landscapes are not there and there it becomes a monotone or monotonous. We are at no fault, as Maestro spoiled us with these enormous treats every day for the past 35 years, a single missing piece or a little downgrade in quality will be immediately spotted by us, as we know he is the real gold, 'Mackenna's Gold'!. :smile:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EzeVHWpcI7s
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Yet another great write-up, V_Sji!
Nice reminiscence of Thamizh commentators!
I'm listening to this song for the first time :oops:
Quite melodious & soothing!
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Thank you sir for your compliments and prompt response and support. :D This soundtrack is dominated by MV, Mano and Chitra, with only one chance for Maestro which he wins! :smile: