Anything about IR found on the net - Vol 1

அந்த மேடையில், 'உனக்கும் எனக்கும் இருக்கும் திறமை, கடவுள் போட்ட பிச்சை

Note:
1. I am writing this without having heard the song in a long time, and purely out of my memory of the song, the lyrics and the orchestration.
2. .

Traditional texts in India talk about 4 stages of a man’s life. The second of these is called Samsaram, essentially the purported prime of a (hu)man’s life, involving the trials and tribulations of earning a livelihood, seamlessly coupled with the joys and bliss of companionship and often, parenthood.

I could spend the next few paragraphs detailing the philosophical and practical aspects of samsaram, or I could just point you to this song, which is essentially samsaram in a capsule.

Presumably, from the lyrics, this is a ditty sung by a wife to her mentally tired and frustrated husband, perhaps caused by the first defining characteristic of samsara that I outlined – namely, the trials and tribulations fo earning a livelihood.
She sings to soothe his woes, and as she does, explains the essence of samsaram.
Banal, but appropriate lyrics, which sit well on the tunes thus providing sonic flourish, add to the bliss.
It is a typical day in the life of a samsAri, and as the wife addresses his concerns, soothes him pointing that there’s nothing unusual about his plight, and then moves on to the silver lining, we get 3 paragraphs which change his mood from despair and frustration to grudging acceptance to immersion in the bliss that is the other side of samsaram.

The first stanza has the wife gently pointing that the situation is nothing unusual for a samsAri and one just gets on with life. A banal comparison with the waning and waxing moon which gives light regardless(all on shaky ground, scientifically) is the tool she uses but then, isn’t that appropriate and given it is a typical lower middle-class household, with the concerned principals having grown up probably watching 60s tamil movies and reading AV and Kumudam, it is quite well positioned here.


Vazhkai Endral Adhil Naalumundu
Andha Vattathile oru thittamundu
Valarndhaalum Kuraindhaalum
Nilavondru Oli Veesum
adhai Kaanum Balam Vendum
vilaiyadum Manam Vendum
Sugamo Aayiram
Uravo Kaviyam
The last two lines expressly catch in a capsule what you need for indulging in samsaram. So, keep that in the back of your mind 

Then, she goes on to up the ante, with a lyrical paean to samsAram and upholding its virtues. She slowly indoctrinates him that while the designs weaved by destiny might give déjà vu, there are several patterns, and each pattern brings in a new wave of exhilaration, therefore, it is a bliss that can never go out of fashion.

Kaalangalil Pala Kolam Undu
Andha Kolangalil Pala Pulli Undu
Dhinandorum Rasithaalum
Oru Naalum Thevittaadhu
Adhudhaane Samsaram
Adhilthaane Santhosham


The last two lines are her gambit to up the ante even further – Adhilthaane Santhosham – is an emphatic declaration and she is going to explain why, not so much in words, in the next stanza

The first two lines set off the final stanza, by when the male of the species, if he is warm-blooded, has presumably caved in. I am not going to explain further 

Punnagaiyil Vandha Pennazhagu
Oru Pon Nagaiyil Illai Nalluravu
Enai Neeyum Unai Naanum
Unarndhaale Adhu Podhum
Adhuthaane Panbadu
Adhai Naalum Pan Padu
Sugamo Aayiram
Uravo Kaviyam


Ignoring the rather ill-placed puns, it still captures the essence of the thought-process of a older generation raised on different values, wherein love and affection are uncomplicated, and can simply be shared by tuning your heart to the appropriate frequency. It all bolis down to understanding each other, and accepting what you have.(A later generation had to have a mass movie star punching it on their faces with a “unnE virumbaravangaLE kattikkO; vaazhkE nallA irukkum”)

That’s on the lyrics. I focussed on that since the orchestrational excellence of the song has been discussed extensively in the song. However, it is worth placing that orchestration in context as well. For, if we just wrote about orchestration, it is possible to do it for any song. What is so special about Raja songs, you might ask. And that is that his orchestration is not a whim, a compiled sequence of nice-sounding patterns of sounds, something that makes you feel pleasant. There is emotion running through each twist of the tune and the interludes. If you don’t look for that in your music, if you want just pleasant sounding tunes, that’s when you ask “What’s so special about Raja”

@drunkenmunk rightly points the predominance of Veena , and it is the pleasant but slightly melancholy plucking of the Veena strings that sets the stage for the situation as the song starts – no matter how melancholy a sound you pluck out of the Veena, there is an inherent sweetness to the sound, and when rightly tuned, even a joyful ditty of a Veena could have an underlying despondency to the sound of a Veena. Isn’t that an apt way to start and anchor a song about samsaram, whose essence, as I claimed above, is similarly bitter-sweet? The tune of the prelude on the Veena does set the tune for capturing both the husband’s juvenile(in a way) gloominess, and the wife’s optimistic outlook. As the prelude ends, the flute piece concludes, with the Veena joining just for half-a-sec, which almost makes you feel the more mature wife’s chuckle as she sets out to allay her husband’s concerns – she knows this is life, and, yes, suck it up is the mantra, and she knows she has the husband in her thrall, and she is going to get around his moroseness and show him the other side of samsAram. Again, I’ll stop here on this topic 

Among other special moments in the orchestration, watch out for the third stanza, where breaking from the pattern of the previous two stanzas, Raja gets in a brief flute piece between the first two lines of the stanza.

Punnagaiyil Vandha Pennazhagu
(brief flute piece – an intriguing one)
Oru Pon Nagaiyil Illai Nalluravu


Why that flute piece there? What is special about this stanza, and why not the same in the first two stanzas? In the answer to that lies Raja’s genius, and I can only keep claiming that, and I suppose I will end up explaining it inadequately, thereby opening myself and my claim to ridicule. But then, we must try, and I am going to try:

The first two stanzas are the set-up punches, with her gently opening his eyes to the fact that he is just another run-of-the-mill guy with very standard worries in life, and that Life goes on despite all these worries, and that’s how it has been for ages.

The third stanza is more personal as this is where she comes to the point – namely, the bliss that is part of samsAram, which is obviously the immediate anti-dote to his depression on the day. Again, I will not dwelve deep into that but suffice to say, this is where she knows that she is going to turn his mood around, and the self-assurance comes through in the words that follow. So, that flute piece after the first line is a teaser, as this is the big-reveal moment. “Hey look, yeah, I told you all the philosophical stuff about the mixed blessings of Life. I wasn’t kidding you know – look here, this is exactly what I meant, don’t you see the pleasant side of it?”

This is the knockout punch, and the Eureka moment of the song, actually showing her hands. “Now that is what I meant all along, buddy” . Hence, the punctuation with the teasing flute piece. You want to credit the director for that? Go ahead, I know whom to credit.

Although you bachelor boys might marvel at the orchestration and the sweet turns of the tune, wait until you marry and beget a couple of kids, and go through the tribulations and joy of samsara to truly understand and enjoy this song

P.S: For those might find my eulogising the house-wife-ness of a housewife, offensive, I am not going to judge my ancestors based on current values. Besides, this is equally applicable to a non-housewife wife as well and the setting could well be modern, even with roles reversed and I would feel the same. It is all about togetherness, and the bitter-sweet pill that is life

Drunkenmunk wrote:Normally not in the habit of sharing my blog everyday. But this felt good while writing. Do read

http://raajasongadaykeepsboredomaway.wordpress.com/2013/07/07/45-everything/

kiru wrote:Re: IR and BR tiff on media. I am really saddened to see this. Usually IR puts a full stop to these sort of things. I hope it happens soon.

ஆனால், இப்படி நான் சில படங்களுக்கு இசையமைத்து விட்டு பின்னர் இளையராஜாவை என் படத்துக்கு இசையமைக்க கேட்டுச்சென்றபோது டென்சன் ஆகிவிட்டார்.

ஆர்மோனியப்பெட்டிய சரஸ்வதியா நான் வணங்கிக்கிட்டு இருக்கேன். நீங்க எப்படி அதை தொடலாம் என்றார். அதற்கு ஏன் சரஸ்வதியை நானும் வணங்கக்கூடாதா என்றேன்.

பின்னர், உங்க முதல் படத்துக்கு யார் இசையமைத்தது என்றார்.

அதற்கு என் முதல் படத்துக்கு கங்கை அமரன் இசையமைத்தார் என்றேன், இதனால் கடுப்பாகி விட்டார் இளையராஜா.

நீங்கள் வாயசைத்து பாடிய வான் மேகங்களே நான் இசையமைத்த பாடல்தானே என்றார். ஆமாம் என்றேன். அப்போதுதான் அவர் நான் இயக்கிய படங்களை கேட்கவில்லை. ஹீரோவாக நடித்த முதல் படத்தை கேட்டிருக்கிறார் என்பது எனக்கு புரிந்தது. இப்படியாக எங்களுக்குள் வாக்குவாதம ஏற்பட்டு, பின்னர், நான் இசையை ஓரளவு தெரிந்து கொண்டுதான் இசையமைத்தேன் என்பதை சொன்னபோதுதான் ஓரளவு அமைதியானார் இளையராஜா.

தொடர்ந்து எனது படங்களுக்கு இசையமைத்து, ஹிட் பாடல்களாக கொடுத்தார் இளையராஜா என்றார் பாக்யராஜ்.

Film: The oboe is often used in film music, especially in sad scenes. The Indian film composer Ilaiyaraja uses oboe in much of his film music.

Music maestro Ilayaraja has almost finished the composition of the songs.

இசையமைக்கிறேன்னு சொல்லிக்கிட்டு, இளையராஜான்னு வந்துருக்கானே அவன ஒதைக்கனும் மொதல்ல.
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எப்புடியோ இளையராஜாவ வளத்துட்டாய்ங்க

ஒருவரை எனக்குப் பிடிக்க "இளையராஜா இசை எனக்குப் பிடிக்கும்" என்ற வசனம் போதுமானது