I saw the movie Vetrivizha in my secondary school days... 18 years ago..
There are many things I remember of that movie.. The villian played by the character called 'Jinda' was a new face.. I still remember his real name as 'Saleem Gous'..
Name of Kamal as an under cover agent penetrating his network was "Stephen Raj"..
When Jinda asks Stephen Raj to join his gang, Stephen mocks him that he is fit enough to play, only with the Toy guns meant for kids that can be purchased from 'Funskool'..
Mind is a strange thing that somehow remembers a lot of trash.. for ever.. for reasons you don't know...
Other memory that I carried forward from this movie was its opening sequence... Kamal is chased down, Shot and gets drowned in the sea (Falls from a cliff I think ..!!??); Its another trash memory if not for what follows.. The Titles of the movie.. A Rustic folky tune that transformed me that day from a remote corner of Southern Tamil Nadu to the Konkan Coast.. instantly..
Unlike Saleem Gous, it was an experience I carried with me for ever for reasons I know.. Its one of those that didn't go to my head but to a place a feet lower to the left..
To this date, I remember the tune of that pallavi... That visuals... and those intermittent chatter of fishermen (Signaling the dusk and returning home perhaps.. I don't know Konkani, which is my best guess of the language in which the song is based..)
But heart ultimately depends on the head and it could only remember so much.. My cluttered memory never remembered the Stanzas and I had long resigned to the fact that I will never listen that song again in my life, Until I came across the video here..
As I hear this song after all these years, something astonishing strikes me in face...
THIS IS THE FIRST AND ONLY INSTANCE IN A RAAJA SONG WHERE A FULL LENGTH SONG WITH A REGULAR METER IS COMPLETELY BACKED BY GUITAR STRUMMING ALONE FOR RHYTHM + BASS GUITAR... With no percussion instruments whatsoever. Not even symbols or a metronome on the full count..
See it for self..
Maarugo Maaruga
(I think you lost yourself and didn't pay attention.. Why don't you listen to it once more and take a note of the peculiarity.. )
I mean we have songs like "Naan porandhu Vandhu" (Maaya Bazaar) with no rhythm instruments and only voices.. But the specialty here is - the kind of original genre to which this song fits...
Set in Folky environment, with only guitar strumming as the backbone for the whole song, bass guitar providing the necessary drone, sung by a solo lead singer (Raaja in this case) and Solo wind instruments providing the side act (Flute in this case and typically Harmonica) and above all downright SIMPLE and elegant..... This is a perfect fit into the American Folk/ Country Genre made popular all over by the American Singer-Songwriters
Blowing In the wind - Bob Dylan
Starry Starry night - Don M'c Lean
The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel
This Old Guitar - John Denver
Maarugo Maaruga - Ilaiyaraaja..
Its indeed a special feeling...
With Love
Vicky
Hi Vicky
ReplyDeleteAmazing!!!!! Just like that song! I like the way you write so that even a person like me (huge zero in music) can understand.... Hats off to you...
Ramji
Dear vicky,
ReplyDeleteNice post.
Goa and IR
Naan last year Goa pona poadhu,
Vetri Vizha padam padalgalum, BGM um ,
IR um dhan manadhil maari maari vandhargal.
Chinnadha oru ship visit irundhadhu.
Anage entertainment kaga
Goa folk songs padi dance adinanga.
Indha trip kku piragu, Vetri vizha
parthen.
IR - Imayam alavirku Uyarndhutar.
IR Goa ponara, avargalin culture
ellam therindhu kondara - theiryadhu.
Anal Vetri Vizha music - Perfection
to the CORE.
Great film and Extraordinary composition.
With Love,
Usha Sankar.
Dear Vicky,
ReplyDeleteLong time ago, I used to play the flute in light music troupes in chennai, though I have been fully focussed on practising carnatic music lately.
I wanted to listen to the music of the movie "Slumdog Millionaire" today to see why it's being talked about so much. I searched and listened to it online.
It left me with a bad aftertaste. I just felt like cleansing my ears, body and soul by listening to some Raaja music and landed in your blog.
Thanks for the wonderful analysis, sound clips. You (and Raaja) made my day.
with love,
srikanth.
who is raaja?
ReplyDeleteVetri Vizha was one of my favorite movies at that time as well. I did not know about Bourne Identity (which eventually turned out to be one of my fav) and Kamal did a nice job of making it suit for tamil movie fans. Jindhaaaaaa (he was in Devar Magan and Chinna gounder also) remained in my head for some reason too.
ReplyDeleteI believe ARR experimented just like this for "Raasaathi En Usiru Ennudhulla" in Thiruda Thiruda. In fact, that whole song was completely backed by humming and nothing else (no guitar strumming, etc)
Srikanth:
I understand you are a puritan but you sound a lot like my uncle. He had the same words about Raja when he first came out with the likes of "machana paatheegala" and preferred melodies by V-R and AM Raja, etc. When you take the 'aftertaste' out of your mouth, please stop by http://ursmusically.blogspot.com/2009/02/illayaraja-vs-arrahman.html for a different perspective on this topic.
Dear Anonymous:
ReplyDeleteRaaja is how Ilaiyaraaja (on whom this blog is based) is affectionately known to many in Tamilnadu.
Dear Suresh:
"Raasathi" by ARR as well as "Naan porandhu" by Raaja are loosely based on A Capella type of genre where vocals are primarily used to back the whole song. My point was to highlight the guitar strum oriented arrangement as much as absence of rhythm. So in that sense Raasathi and Maarugo are still quite different from each other (The former being A Capella and the later being soft country folk). That said I am a fan of ARR too..
With Love
Vicky
Excellent article Vignesh.
ReplyDeleteNaren, ignore that low life Srikanth.
Saleem Ghouse, who played "Jinda" in "Vetri Vizha" didn't act in Devar Magan.
Hi Vicky
ReplyDeleteOn a slightly different context, please hear the track - Manjolum Raathri from Yatra Mozhi (Malayalam). The entire song is backed only by the strumming guitar and the synth. I am not sure, about Maarugo as there is percussion in both the pallavis.
Cheers
Ravi
Dear Ravi:
ReplyDeleteThe criteria I have highlighted is not the absence of the rhythms . Its the simple arrangement of vocals + a Guitar Strum substituting the rhytmic backbone in the song..An arrangement that can be noted in the other western songs that I mentioned..
In any case, I am able to confirm now that there is NO percussion as you noted in the pallavi of Maarugo .. There are only 2 tracks.. Lead Vocals that of Raaja.. One Guitar track with strumming in the last 4 strings + Bass played in the first 2 strings.. (So in effect one guitarist playing 2 tracks simultanesouly.. which amounts to one track from a 'recording' perspective; But since Bass tends to be louder it feels separate; This is quite common in guitar strum accompaniment oriented playing); In addition, there is a odd bells track thats punching the Sa + Pa on 'samam' sporadically .. (Probably appears all of 8 samams in the whole song.. but its absent in pallavi :-)). And a flute track that comes in interludes + while accompanying Raaja.. thats all.. So Can you please come back on where you found percussion on Maarugo..?
Now coming to "Manyolum", first of all, this is a heavily orchestrated song with all kind of Synth keyboards (Soft pads, keyboard bass... what not..); Its certainly not recorded with as minimalistic tracks as Maarugo. and certainly it cannot be characterized as (loose) Country Folk - which is kind of my point in the post (please listen to the other songs that I have mentioned.. you will get the drag); And for the records Manyolam does employ percussion all over albeit not in a traditional sense. In pallavi on every samam, you hear a overpowering full jarring note (probably from a synth rhtyhm pad) that rhythmically fads out.. In Saranam, on every 4th count you hear a 'snap' ("sodukku") and Triangle is almost playing the role of symbol through out saranam while the synth pad is all along heard in the background. But these finding are only academic. As I said, my point is not to highlight the absence of Rhythm. There could be a few more in no rhtyhm/ minimal rhythm category (like Manyolum/ Arumbum Thalire etc..) But to highlight the arrangement of one single Guitar track acting as a backbone for the meter (Clearly, this is not the case in Manyolum);
If you want parallels, you can think of songs like Pallavi of "Mazhalai endrum maaradha" from Sethupathi, while the songs starts.. But later Rhythm picks up.. There are many more such songs where you can see similar arrangement but just during the pallavi or intermittently in saranams.. I am not sure if there is another song (Than Maarugo) where such arrangements are spotted through and through.
With Love
Vicky
Hi Vicky
ReplyDeleteSorry about the confusion that I created. I did not hear the Marugo Marugo song that you posted on your blog - instead I heard the one that SPB and Chitra sing and my comments were based on that version.
Yes, the Manjolum song does have synthetic percusssion as you have noted.
On both counts, you are wiser.
Sorry about the confusion, again.
Cheers
Ravi