SOTD #670: kaNNaana poo maganE from thaNNeer thaNNeer

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Song of the Day: kaNNaana poo maganE from thaNNeer thaNNeer.

http://www.dhool.com/sotd2/670.html



- Udhaya continues with his second of three P.Suseela songs:

SOTD:"kaNNana pU maganE" from "ThaNNeer ThaNNeer"
Singer: PS
MD: MSV
Lyrics: Vairamuthu

A dreadful drought has snuffed the joy out of a village. A helpless mother lulls her baby to sleep in a wail of words unveiling the hurt, disillusion, and poignancy. PS' voice channels all the conflicting emotions of love, despair, consolation, and failure. MSV attested he hadn't lost his mojo with this trailblazing song. Vairamuthu showcases his free verse nuances in a folk lullaby,

"veettu viLakkerivathaRkku
kaNNeer
eNNai illaiyadaa"

I don't know how many songs MSV/PS/VM did but this one merits distinction among the rest.

- Chandru posted the lyrics of the song here: http://www.dhool.com/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=2167

- Saravanan had written earlier on the choice of K.Balachandar's lyricists:

In his films with V Kumar, he always used many lyricists, the chief among them being Vaali.( Others- Alangudi Somu-Neerkumizhi, Naanal, Pathaam Pasali, Suradha: Neerkumizhi, Naanal, Major Chandrakanth) But in all his films with MSV, the songs were by only Kannadasan, till the latter's demise. Sollathaan Ninaikkiren was perhaps the only exception, the film had music by MSV, but lyrics by Vaali.To make up for this, Arangretram, released in the same year (1973) had music by V Kumar, and lyrics by Kannadasan! (Another exception, in MSV's music, much later, was 'Kannana poo magane' by Vairamuthu in Thanneer Thanneer-1981). Of course, after Kannadasan's death, KB went to Vaali for Poikaal Kuthirai and Agnisaatchi. Beginning with Achamillai Achamillai-1984, he switched to Vairamuthu exclusively till Punnagai Mannan-1986. Then back to Vaali in Manathil Urudhi Vendum (due to IR-VM tiff) Muthulingam, Gangaiamaran and Pulamaipithan wrote for Unnal Mudiyum Thambi-1988. Back to Vaali for Pudhu Pudhu Arthangal-1989. Pulamaipithan wrote all the songs in Azhagan-1991. Back to Vairamuthu for Vaaname Ellai-1992, Jaathimalli-1993 and Duet-1994. Ilandevan was the lyricist for Kalki-1996. Vaali, Vairamuthu and Muthukumar shared the honours in Paarthaale Paravasam.

- thaNNeer thaNNeer was a landmark film in my opinion. It was based on a Komal Swaminathan play. The story outline can be found here: http://www.subamangala.com/komal/plays/plethann.htm

[sb545]

Udaya, another masterpiece. Keeping aside praise on KB, VM, MSV, PS and Saritha, I can see some uniqueness in this song:

1] No interludes. PS continues to sing from Kannana poomagane till end without music in between Charanams. Any other song of this kind ? (may be Metti metti sung by Brumanandham and chrous)

2] Only few instruments are used. 2 or 3? Kottankachi kinda instrument?

3] After the song gets over, oru nisabdham....a complete black-out will be shown in the film for few seconds. It was deliberate by KB, I think.

Coming to singing, at the end of line "kaathirundha paana-kuLLa kaNNeer thuLi pongudhadaaaa". That aaaaa by PS with siriya visumbal brings oru pizhsal in our hearts.

BTW, are you sure whether it is "veettu viLakkerivathaRkku kaNNeer... eNNai illaiyadaa"? I think it is "veettu viLakkerivathaRkku ThaNNeer... eNNai illaiyadaa". Even for viLakku Etra, she thinks of ThaNNeer only (according the imagination of VM).

Waiting for 3rd grand piece from you, U :-)

[Saravanan]

Udhaya, great choices.

Though I confess I'm not convinced about some of your choices being classified as themmaangu (perhaps I'm not clear about what contstitutes themmaangu either!), I greatly enjoy your picks and your succint and stylish write-ups.

Here's one more MS/PS/VM gem: 'raagangaL en jeevithangaL' (thiruppam/1984)

I too remember the line as 'thaNNeer....eNNai illaiyada'

What will the final pick of the PS trilogy be, I wonder!

IR and MSV (and Vaali & VM) having been done, if it is KVM/Kannadasan, is it neela sElai katti or kurivikkoottam pOla or is it thookanaankuruvikoodu?

Or is it S-G/ Ma.ra's aathulE meen pidichu? (Hope all these are themmaangus!)

Can't wait :)

[TruthMan]

Another song with only a few musical instruments in "Thaamtha Theemtha", by SJ in the movie "Pagalil oru Iravu". IR has used only Chorus, Tabla & Bass Guitar throughout. But, can't recognize this, if you don't pay enough attention to this song!!

[KK]

Reminds me of the PS song "Ennai yedduthu Thannai Kodduthu" from the film Paadagoti. IMHO that song seems to appeal better in every element. May be here KKD stamp is missing.

[Guest]

Udhaya, pull the cat out of the bag. Which is the 3rd? KVM? I too go with Saravanan's guess that it must be the wonderful ThookaNang-kuruvi koodu :-)

[Ramesh.P]

Hi
one more great number from MSV-PS combination.
While replying in press conference KB said "it is very difficult to compose a song with minimum instrument but MSV did it without any instrument " .

ramesh

[rajeshkrv]

A Great Number again

KD said after hearing this song "EN Paatu madhiriye irukku" Credit to VM
and a great rendition by PS..

Andha aarambame podhum ..Kannana Poomagane kannurangu sooriyane ..

MSV-- didnt composte.. created this song. Genius by all means

and KB - no intro reqd.. his characterisation, song sequences are always amazing..

Thanks udaya for making my Week ( since one more song is pending for the week)

raj

[Guest]

Dear Udhaya,

Film : Acchamillai acchamillai

Song :' Odugira thanniyilae
urasi vittaen sandhanathai

song : ' Avvaramboovu Aaraezhu naala

indha songs PS padinadhu. Themmangu topic la varuma?
With Love,
Usha Sankar.

[mythila]

The starkness hits u so hard that u are left with
remorse, guilt, shame,despair . Vairamuthu, PS, MSV - their creativity
and sincerity amply evident. Iam not sure if PS won any awards for this.
It is heartening to see our president giving a serious thought to the
interlinking of rivers, nationalization of rivers issues. Will our
politicians ever come out of their narrow minded state partisanship
and think about what is good for the country in the long run?

[hehehe-walrus]

thanks for the song. I was searching for this on coolgoose last sunday with all types of different spellings but no luck. It rained my way today :lol:

[Udhaya]

makkaLs,
I keep seeing comments where people aren’t sure about classifying a song as themmAngu. In the first song of the series, we identified some key ingredients for themmAngu. In a way we’re still defining it. Some of the factors I’ve used to pick a song:
-Does it have a raw, rural, from the heart feel to it? (emotions should be on the surface or at least be unambiguous)
-Is it rhythm-dominant? Is there a strong beat or arrangement that’s present throughout and propels this song?
-Does the music have a simple, uncontrived structure? (uncontrived in that, the song wasn’t shoe-horned into a specific rAgam)
-Is the diction colloquial or informal? (If “mazhai pEnjaa vedhai vedhaichu” is sung as, “mazhai peidhAl vidhai vidhaiththu” then the song fails this criteria)
-Does the singing style sound unschooled and natural? (i.e. not Hariharan, or Unni Krishnan; No, I don’t dislike these singers, so lay those doubts to rest.)

Not all my SOTDs have come through in all the categories, but they match most of them. Of course, I’m just defining it as I see it. I’m no more an authority on this than you. I’m also trying to highlight lesser known songs rather than a “mAnguyilE pUnguyilE”.

[Saravanan]

Udhaya, thanks for the clarification! I think I'm getting the picture now.

Btw, I agree with your post entirely, except this: do you really feel 'ennadi rakamma' , 'ponnula ponnula', 'muthu kuLikka vaareegaLa', 'kEttELE angE', or even 'kaNNaana poo maganE' are lesser known songs? All these wonderful songs are hugely popular ones, big hits in their time, often played on the radio, and I guess they are also available elsewhere in the net, like in musicindiaonline.com. In what way would you classify them as lesser known, even as compared to 'maankuyilE poonkuyilE'? :)

[Udhaya]

Saravanan,

True, some of these songs were hits in their time. But my experience in the web is, most browsers were born in the late 70s or early 80s whose frame of reference starts at IR. Even people who listen to IR songs, may not remember Ponnula Ponnula from Chittukkuruvi. En Kanmani and Adadada MaamarakkiliyE were the most played from that soundtrack.

Kannaana Poomaganae, I had to remind many people in my generation about it. It was not a well known song when it came out. Like one of the contributers reminded, Aathula Meen Pidichu was overshadowed by Paruthi EdukkayilE when it came out.

Another reason, there are many non-Thamizh speakers visiting here with limited exposure to TFM songs. Also, with Sun TV and FM stations drowning out even two-year old songs in an avalanche of new releases, I don't expect many people to remember or recollect these songs. I agree that Ennadi Raakkammaa and Muthukkulikka were huge in their time, but they're certainly dated. I needed to start with a quintessential themmAngu and figured to go with Ennadi Raakkammaa. But none of this would matter for you. With your memory and song collection, could there be an unfamiliar song? I think I've stumped you only once with a song. OISG is said to have done it with a few.

[Senty]

Nice song udhaya,
Ps is awesome.In the second saranam she pretty much changes the emotions to every single line.