The Unheard Years : Raja in the mid 90s

[Sureshs65]

Song No: 30
Song: Love Pannidathaan
Film: Chinna Vadiyar
Singers: SPB, Chitra
Lyricist: Vaali
Link: http://www.thiraipaadal.com/tpplayer...2'&lang=en

The popular song from this movie was 'Kanmaniye Kanmaniye' but I thought it was spoiled by the constant stream of dialogs. I mean, a bit of dialog is OK but for every line it gets a bit tedious. The tune per se was good but that 'dialog' diminished the experience.

Today we will hear a song which seems to be in a very different genre. Is it somewhat connected to Spanish music or some other music? I am not too good at world music genres so someone who knows the details can enlighten us.

The song starts with an accordion / harmonium type of sound being played by the synthesizer. The tune is so very different from the normal songs we hear and there is a clear influence of some other world genre. The accordion type of sound accompanies the pallavi all along and so does the bass. The first interlude is a lovely play between the strings and the bass with a synthesized (?) flute entering in once a while. The charanams have some finger snapping for rhythm, which accentuate the standard rhythm being played.

The second interlude is again driven only by the rhythm, chorus and the accordion sound. The charanam is so very well constructed with a very long twist before joining the pallavi. Just check how long that descent happens in Chitra's voice in the second charanam to know the complex way he has constructed the charanam. Here the seemingly simple song changes shape to a complex one.

SPB is in his elements here. Given that this songs asks for a lot of 'voice acting' from him, he enjoys himself thoroughly. Chitra is also up to the task and it is a delight to hear both of them in full form. And that enhances the enjoyment of the song. I would file this song under the 'experiement' category of Raja.