Song A Day – Page 5 – indianmusics.com

4: Song of the Day: Kadhal Kavidhai Paada

Song: Kadhal Kavidhai Paada

Composer: Devendran

Lyrics: Vairamuthu/Jeevabharathi

Singers: S.P.Balu, Chitra

Movie: Ganam Courtar Avargale

The Bowli raga is pretty rare in film music and the song in this post is a song set in Bowli, composed by Devendran, who only composed for a handful of movies. The instrumentation is simple with Keyboard, flute and guitar. Those days the keyboard was a new instrument and they seem have experimented with it including using the pitch bender 🙂 Nevertheless, the song’s tune is very refreshing and SPB/Chitra seem to be enjoying singing this. The backing vocals have also done a good job. Apart from Vedham Pudhidhu and Mannukul Vairam (where almost all the songs were very good), this song is a feather in the cap for Devendran. Song link:

https://wynk.in/music/song/kathal-kavidhai/si_ING110004216

3: Song of the day: Ennai Konja Konja

Song: Ennai Konja Konja

Composer: Vidyasagar

Lyrics: Yugabharathi

Singers: Hariharan, Sujatha Mohan

Movie: Aadhi

Composer Vidyasagar’s music has always been a mix of the style of Ilaiyaraja & ARR. It’s almost like he picked the best of both the composers to create a signature sound for himself. He is known as the “Melody King” and there is no second thought about it. Ennai Konja Konja is a perfect example of why he is called so, The song is composed in the raga Meghmalhar and since it is a Hindustani raga, Vidyasagar unleashes its full potential all through the song. The song has Dholak for its rhythms and the first interlude is a Shehnai peace ending with some nice bass pluckings. It’s in the charanam that Vidyasagar innovates, as the tune touches some crazy chords and it adds to the overall effect. Both the stanzas end with a Hindustani vocal flourish with ease by Hariharan, he must have relished singing this song. The second interlude has Dholak beats with some bols, followed by a mellow flute piece after which we hear the divine strains of the sitar and the piece is sort of played off-beat to enhance the effect. There are not too many songs in South in this raga (which sounds close to Darbari Kanada) and this song is a worthy addition to the list. The song can be accessed from the link below:

https://www.saavn.com/s/song/tamil/Aathi/Thadakku/ClEoYgZ8cGo

2: Song of the Day: Yen Swaasathil

Song: Yen Swaasathil

Composer: Ramesh Vinayagam

Lyrics: Kavivarman

Singers: Madhu Balakrishnan, Kalyani Nair

Movie: Jery

Ramesh Vinayagam is one of the most talented composers in the industry. Though his discography is rather small, each of his albums has a couple of excellent songs. Jery was an obscure movie that faded away but this song in the movie was a very melodious one and was hardly noticed. It is based on the Brindavana Saranga raga. The song begins one a very melodious note with triangle, symbals and flute pieces. Madhu Balakrishnan has a voice texture similar to the legendary Yesudas and it suits this song very well. The first interlude has an interplay between keyboard with some awesome bass lines and the clarinet jumps in and the highlight of this song is the varied use of the clarinet all through the song. Sometimes it just comes like a breath sound but it enhances the overall effect on the song. Kalyani Nair jumps in the first stanza and she sounds really good as usual. Another highlight of the song is that most of the ending portions of the lines are sort of extended like an alaap and this is where Ramesh shows his originality as ultimately the tune has to stand on its own. The second interlude starts with clarinet which sounds very elegant, followed by Kalyani’s humming ending with a flute piece. In the second stanza, the singers continue with the same zest and at it ends on a Hindustani -style humming. In the last lap of the song, the singers voices overlap when they sing the end of the line and it adds to the songs variety. The link to the song is below:

1: Song of the Day: Thaen Aruviyil

For every famous song there is another almost unknown gem which is not so popular, which eventually fades away owing to the passage of time. The purpose of this series is to introduce the rarely known yet masterpiece songs covering different composers. The first song of this series is:

Song: Thaen Aruviyil

Composer: Ilaiyaraja

Lyrics: Mu.Metha

Singers: SPB, Janaki

Movie: Aagaya Gangai

Thaen Aruviyil is the best song from Aagaya Gangai. It starts in the raga Shuddhadhanyasi with the Dheem Dhirana refrain. The song’s percussion has Mridangam which aptly fits its classical moorings. The first interlude is a melange of jal-tarang, veena, flute and keyboard and its a typical Raja interlude, his interludes always sound complete. The second interlude has Veena, female vocals (singing swaras) and Janaki humming effortlessly. In fact, all through the song there are humming counters by the two singers and it adds beauty to the song (not an easy thing to do in live recordings). The second stanza shifts to Bageshri and especially the way SPB sings “Yaen Tholaivo, Nee Nilavo” is a lesson for singers in emoting as per the raga’s style. At the end of the second stanza, the song jumps back to Shuddhadhanyasi, it sounds so seamless. All-in-all, this song is a flawless song and the tune is pure gold. It’s a pity that such songs are not sung in reality shows (will be a fantastic song in the duet or classical round). The song is available at the link below in good quality:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yaqb9uozG9E