Song: Kalaya Nijama
Movie Name : Coolie No 1
Singers : Illayaraja, Suseela
Music Director : Illayaraja
About 8 seconds in to this song, Illayaraja creates a beautiful arrangement of strings, vocals and bass guitar that I find hard to describe. A reason why I am writing about these songs that are "old" is because of new technology and how it enables me to listen to songs in a different way. Back when cassette tapes and mediocre quality sound equipment in theaters were all we had, this song was a good but largely generic number for me. Today, when I listen to a good quality recording, the song has a completely different effect when other instruments jump out at me.
Singers : Illayaraja, Suseela
Music Director : Illayaraja
About 8 seconds in to this song, Illayaraja creates a beautiful arrangement of strings, vocals and bass guitar that I find hard to describe. A reason why I am writing about these songs that are "old" is because of new technology and how it enables me to listen to songs in a different way. Back when cassette tapes and mediocre quality sound equipment in theaters were all we had, this song was a good but largely generic number for me. Today, when I listen to a good quality recording, the song has a completely different effect when other instruments jump out at me.
Bear with me on this long post. Take the prelude as an example. About 8 seconds in to the song, when I originally heard the song, all I could hear was the humming by female singers and the occasional violins. Now, when I listen to this song, the occasional violins are not occasional but are present all through that interlude. Same goes with the vocals, and did I mention the bass guitar ? The point is that you pick any one of these pieces and follow them through the interlude and you will find that they are amazing, they have a simple tune of their own. Forget the original picturization for a minute. What an awesome composition! And then I wonder about Illayaraja. Why the bass guitar ? Wouldnt it have been lost on 95% of people hearing the music back then on the sub par playback systems ? Forget them, how many people on the movie crew got it ? Then why does he add it ? The answer perhaps lies in the way he composes music - it is not through improvisation or incremental addition. It is composed as a whole. Imagine being in the head of Illayaraja and listening to these three pieces playing in synch in your head and writing down the notes to each one separately. For a person like me, THAT is unbelievable!
After listening to this song over and over again, I thought if I was being unfair to other composers. Did other composers also face a similar issue (of being handicapped with subpar playback equipment) ? I skipped to next random song in my playlist "Churake dil tera" from Main Khiladi Tu Anari by Anu Mallik - an awesome song that I will probably write about some day. I strained to listen to any other instruments that I didnt pick up earlier. There were none. The song was exactly as I remember it and I had picked up every instrument back then when I heard it. I was a little disappointed although happy at having listened to one of my childhood favorite songs.(I hope no one is crying foul at the unfair comparison. Firstly the next song was random, and secondly the movies themselves were probably equivalent in content)
Is this why they call Illayaraja ahead of his times ? He has pieces in his song that were not just for the average listener. There were hidden gems which I (and people like me) could not even pick apart till 20 years later. That, to me is dedication. He composed music as he saw it fit and didnt dumb it down because a movie named Coolie number 1 did not need sophistication. If you havent already, get your self some good headphones, get a good quality version of this song, and go discover Illayaraja. All over again!
