Musical Thoughts

The Making Of The James Bond Theme Music

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 15:59:00 +0000

Ever since Ian Fleming created James Bond in 1953 and wrote "Casino Royale", the first novel featuring Bond, the charisma of 007 and the craze for Bond movies has remained unaltered. Though "Casino Royale" was the first novel; "Dr. No", originally written in 1958 was made into the first Bond movie in 1962 with Sean Connery depicting the secret service agent on the silver screen. Authors have changed after Fleming's death in 1964, artistes depicting Bond have changed repeatedly from Sean Connery to Daniel Craig; but what have remained constant in the Bond movies are the character of Bond, Ian Fleming's name, the name of Albert R Brocolli as the producer even after his death and the theme music of all James Bond movies.
There has been a lot of controversy about the origin of this theme music. Without going into debate, I have tried to give you a feel about its origin and I have left it to your judgement to decide about giving credit for the creation of this timeless piece of music. I am keeping this post short and will be stressing more on music which is how I feel that a music blog should be.
Let us first hear the original theme music

Now I am sharing a playlist of all the music and songs that have gone into making the James Bond theme. Beyond doubt John Barry made a marvelous arrangement by borrowing from different tunes and songs dating as far back as 1940s. The result was an epic which is cherished by one and all.

To conclude watch this video which is a brilliant piece of work, a musical experiment, which is a potpourri of all the pieces of music that have gone into the making of the James Bond theme. It is not my work, I have merely borrowed it and I acknowledge and give full credit to the creator of this video (blofeld39).

I leave it to your judgement now.

The unexplored side of Pannalal Bhattacharyya - Modern Songs versus Devotional Songs

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 12:16:00 +0000

Every connoisseur of Bengali music remembers Pannalal Bhattacharyya, as one of the finest exponents of devotional songs dedicated to Goddess Kali. Born in 1930, he was the younger brother of another great singer Bengal has produced - Dhananjay Bhattacharyya. Both the brothers were great singers of Bengali modern songs and later diversified to singing only Kali bhajans, popularly known as "Shyama Sangeet" in Bengal.
Pannalal started early, at a young age of 17, and before concentrating only on devotional songs of Kali he sang quite a handful of Bengali modern songs. He was more famous as a great exponent of Shyama Sangeet and therefore the modern songs recorded by him have gradually faded into oblivion. Below is a playlist of the Bengali modern songs sung by him.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

In his mid twenties Pannalal took to singing only devotional songs. The reason for such a shift is largely unknown. Such was the devotion and dedication in his singing that he expected to have "Darshan" (holy sighting) of Goddess Kali. On the other hand, his elder brother, Dhananjay was also a great singer of Kali songs. It is alleged that one fine day Dhananjay had the "Darshan" of Kali and he shared his experience with his younger brother. It is said that Pannalal suffered an extreme bout of depression following this episode and told that he does not want to continue living if he does not have the privilege of the "Holy Sighting" before his elder brother. "Ma Tui Dhana Da Ke Dekha Dili, Aamay Dili Na", is what he said in Bengali meaning thereby, "Mother, you have appeared before Dhananjay Da and you have eluded me despite my devotion". Shortly thereafter he committed suicide on 27th March 1966 at his home in Calcutta. Below is a playlist of all the devotional songs by him.

He took his life only at an young age of 36, but he has claimed an important position in the heart of thousands of Kali devotees.

Uma Basu - The Unsung Heroine of Bengali Music

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 20:24:00 +0000

Many of us are not aware of Uma Basu; at least the present young generation in their teens and twenties. I still vividly remember that I first heard Uma Basu at the insistence of my late father. Those were the days of LP records and he had just bought a long playing record from HMV and was playing it on our old Fiesta Popular. I was too young then to value and cherish that golden voice. As time went by, I listened to her songs innumerable number of times and I was, and I am still amazed at the rich and melodious voice that she possessed.
Uma was the first child of Dharani Kumar Basu, and she was born in Kolkata (Calcutta) on the 22nd of January 1921 and she passed away on the same date in 1942 just at the age of 21. She was born in a family which had deep connections with the doyens of Hindustani classical music and therefore music was deeply ingrained into her heart and soul from childhood. She recorded her first song on HMV at the age of 13 with Harindranath Chattopadhyay. During her short career she recorded close to 27 songs including a couple of Rabindrasangeet, most of which are in my collection and I shall be providing them as a playlist in the end. She was fondly called "Hasi" (meaning smile in Bengali) and Mahatma Gandhi called her the "Nightingale of Bengal" after listening to her sweet voice at a private function. She was a disciple of Dilip Kumar Roy and his influence is very well evident in all the songs that she has recorded.
Very little, apart from what I have already told, is known about Uma Basu. What we know is that had this prodigy lived longer she would have made a mark in the Indian music scenario.
Enjoy the playlist of Uma Basu's songs.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Happy listening.

Vande Maataram revisited - Did the song get a fair deal ? - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 11:33:00 +0000

Prologue
I am touching on a very controversial topic today as is evident from the title of this post. Let me clarify that I am an Indian to the deepest core and I fully respect my National Anthem. Its position is secure in my heart as is in the hearts of all other Indians. This post is not to demean our National Anthem but will try to look into the circumstances that led to Jana-Gana-Mana being adopted as our National Anthem and Vande Maataram being assigned the title of our national song. All views expressed here are my personal views and the reader may or may not subscribe to them. I will begin with a treatise on Vande Maataram and then in the next part of the topic I shall be discussing about Jana Gana Mana, our National Anthem, in comparison to Vande Maataram. I would also like to clarify that I have only included those versions of Vande Maataram which include the original verses as penned down by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay or part thereof. There have been many variations of Vande Maataram in both lyrics and tune and I have purposefully omitted those with only the term Vande Maataram in the entire song, those inspired by Vande Maataram with totally different lyrics and translation of Vande Maataram into other languages (barring one in English). I have tried to include the different versions of Vande Maataram in the different ragas in which it has been sung.
Vande Maataram
Little did Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay (1837-94) foresee the epic role that his composition, Vande Maataram, would play in India's freedom struggle. As he sat on the banks of the river Hooghly (The Ganges, as it is known in the southern part of West Bengal, before it merges with the vast expanse of the Bay of Bengal) in his native locality of KaNthalpara (KaNthal - Bengali for Jack Fruit and Para - Bengali for conglomeration of few houses usually smaller than a village; a locality within a village usually demarcated on the basis of the profession of the inhabitants) in the Naihati village of the erstwhile 24 Parganas district of Bengal. (For the benefit of readers unfamiliar with the geography of West Bengal, let me add that Naihati is no longer a village but a teeming town in the North 24 Parganas district, about 37 kilometers by train, north of Sealdah station in Kolkata and KaNthalpara still exists).
The date was 7th November 1875 and Bankim Chandra wrote the whole song, partly in Sanskrit and partly in Bengali, in one sitting. He was probably moved by the need of the hour - the need to imbibe the Indians with a strong feeling of nationhood, the need of a guiding force in her freedom struggle; he having witnessed the unsuccessful Sepoy Mutiny of 1857 and the attempt to force "God Save The Queen" on Indians as the national anthem by the British Raj around the year 1870. It was first published in the Bengali magazine Bangadarshan in 1879. These verses were later included by Bankim Chandra in his epic novel Anandamath which was first published as a serial in the magazine Bangadarshan from 1880-82. Bankim Chandra was a writer par excellence in classical Bengali and his works included mainly novels and essays; he rarely wrote poems and verses apart from those as a part of his stories.
This is what Bankim Chandra wrote in Sanskrit and Bengali. For the benefit of readers it is being presented here in English alphabets.

"Vande maataraM
sujalaaM suphalaaM malayaja shiitalaaM
SasyashyaamalaaM maataram ||

Shubhrajyotsnaa pulakitayaaminiiM
phullakusumita drumadala shobhiniiM
suhaasiniiM sumadhura bhaashhiNiiM
sukhadaaM varadaaM maataraM ||

Sapta koti kantha kalakalaninaada karaale
Dwisapta koti bhujai.rdhR^itakharakaravaale
abalaa keno maa eto bale
bahubaladhaariNiiM namaami taariNiiM
ripudalavaariNiiM maataraM ||

Tumi vidyaa tumi dharma
tumi hR^idi tumi marma
tvaM hi praaNaaH shariire

Baahute tumi maa shakti
hR^idaye tumi maa bhakti
tomaara i pratimaa gaDi
mandire mandire ||

TvaM hi durgaa dashapraharaNadhaariNii
kamalaa kamaladala vihaariNii
vaaNii vidyaadaayinii namaami tvaaM
Namaami kamalaaM amalaaM atulaaM
SujalaaM suphalaaM maataraM ||

ShyaamalaaM saralaaM susmitaaM bhuushhitaaM
DharaNiiM bharaNiiM maataraM |"

Much later Sri Aurobindo translated it into English. Here is the original translation which I thought should find its place right after the original Sanskrit/Bengali text for the benefit of readers.

Mother, I bow to thee!
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
bright with orchard gleams,
Cool with thy winds of delight,
Dark fields waving Mother of might,
Mother free.
Glory of moonlight dreams,
Over thy branches and lordly streams,
Clad in thy blossoming trees,
Mother, giver of ease
Laughing low and sweet!
Mother I kiss thy feet,
Speaker sweet and low!
Mother, to thee I bow.

Who hath said thou art weak in thy lands
When the sword flesh out in the seventy million hands
And seventy million voices roar
Thy dreadful name from shore to shore?
With many strengths who art mighty and stored,
To thee I call Mother and Lord!
Though who savest, arise and save!
To her I cry who ever her foeman drove
Back from plain and Sea
And shook herself free.

Thou art wisdom, thou art law,
Thou art heart, our soul, our breath
Though art love divine, the awe
In our hearts that conquers death.
Thine the strength that nervs the arm,
Thine the beauty, thine the charm.
Every image made divine
In our temples is but thine.

Thou art Durga, Lady and Queen,
With her hands that strike and her
swords of sheen,
Thou art Lakshmi lotus-throned,
And the Muse a hundred-toned,
Pure and perfect without peer,
Mother lend thine ear,
Rich with thy hurrying streams,
Bright with thy orchard gleems,
Dark of hue O candid-fair
In thy soul, with jewelled hair
And thy glorious smile divine,
Lovilest of all earthly lands,
Showering wealth from well-stored hands!
Mother, mother mine!
Mother sweet, I bow to thee,
Mother great and free!

The fact that although the novelist was himself a musician, he never composed the music for Vande Maataram. It was set to tune by Pandit Jadunath Bhattacharya (1840-83) from Bhatpara (another locality near Naihati, whose chief inhabitants were Bhattacharyas). It was most likely set in Malhar raga; Kawali taal, but unfortunately that melody is long lost. There is a footnote in Anandamath, in the first edition of Bankim Rachanavali (collected works of Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay) that the song is in Malhar raga, ektaal. (Personal communication with Dr. Siddhartha Chatterjee). There is no way to confirm what Jadunath composed, but to speculate.

Pandit Jadu Nath Bhattacharya (1840-83)

A maestro of Bishnupur gharana, Jadu Bhatta, as he was popularly known, was born in the year of 1840. He was a resident of Kadakuri, a village beside Bishnupur town in West Bengal. His father Madhusudan Bhattacharaya was an eminent classical vocalist and also instrumentalist. Jadunath at very tender age learnt 'sitar' and 'mridanga' from his father. Latter, he learnt music from Ramshankar Bhattacharaya and Ganganarayan Chattopadhyay, both the court musicians of Bishnupur Rajas. Jadunath was the music teacher of Rabindranath Tagore in his young age. For his melodious voice, Rajas of Panchakote conferred him with the title of 'Ranganath' and Maharaja of Tripura, Birchandra Manikya conferred him the title of 'Tanraj'. He had written many songs in Bengali and Hindi. He was known for 'Khanderbani' dhrupad music. At the age of 43 he expired.

This is an example of Raga Malhar to give you a feeling how the original composition would have sounded.

Sometime before Bankim's death the first two verses of the song were set to music by the poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941) and he sang it at the sixth session of the Indian National Congress in Calcutta (now Kolkata) in 1896. Tagore used the raga Desh and Ek tal.
Below is an example of Raga Des.

After this, in the 1901 Indian National Congress session, Dakshinaranjan Sen sang it and thus was started the convention of starting the Congress sessions with Vande Maataram and the song started gaining popularity. Given the popularity of the song Nicole Record Company and Bose Records engaged Rabindranath Tagore to sing for them on Gramophone Records. These records were pressed by Pathe company in Paris and when the British police destroyed the existing stock of this gramophone record in Kolkata, a few of them survived in France and Belgium. This is oldest available recording of Vande Maataram and is recorded by none other than Rabindranath Tagore. Unfortunately it is a collector's item and not available readily. I was unable to get the recording although All India Radio has published it as a CD alongwith the book Rabindranath Tagore : Facets of a genius, in 1996.
Below is a rendition of Vande Maataram as per the tune set by Tagore.

Tagore set the "Laya" of his original composition in raga Des as "Vilambit - Laya" (slow pace). The other Layas possible are "Drut - Laya" (fast pace) and "Madhyam - Laya (medium pace). Below are two examples of Vande Maataram being performed in Raga Des in Vilambit and Drut Laya by Harindranath Chattopadhyay (brother of Sarojini Naidu) and Hemanta Mukherjee respectively.

This is a photograph of the gramophone record of Vande Maataram by Rabindranath Tagore on Bose Record in collaboration with Pathe Record, Paris.

This is a version of Vande Maataram being sung as a chorus led by Dwijen Choudhury and also including Nihar Bindu Sen, Gita Naha, Suchitra Mitra, Debabrata Biswas, Supriti Ghosh & Kanak Biswas Das.

The song when sung in Raga Des, as was first done by Tagore, led to its acceptance by the masses and even the official website of the Government of India has the song in Raga Des. This is the official version of Vande Maataram, in the form that has been assigned the status of the national song of India; with the first two stanzas of the original composition.

This is the orchestral rendition by the All India Radio orchestra.

Another one in the same Raga by Pandit Bhimsen Joshi

The fact that since Bankim Chandra did not himself assign a tune to his composition, the proponents of Vande Maataram were at liberty to set a tune according to their interpretation and according to the occasion where it was being performed.
Pandit Vishnu Digambar Paluskar had composed this song in the Raga Kafi and he used to sing the whole song based on this raga in all the meetings and gatherings including the annual conventions of the Indian National Congress. Later Pandit Omkarnath Thakur, a disciple of Pt. Paluskar, also popularized the song in the same raga and he sang this version on 15th August 1947 from the studios of All India Radio, standing in attention throughout while singing Vande Maataram, as the entire nation heard him holding its breath.
Below is an example of raga Kafi followed by the rendition in Pt. Omkarnath Thakur's voice.

Pandit V D Ambhaikar, set the song to tune in raga Khambavati. Below is Vande Maataram being sung in this raga by Mogubai Kurdikar of the Jaipur gharana (mother of Kishori Amonkar).

Dilip Kumar Roy, another stalwart in the field of Indian music, also recorded Vande Maataram in his own voice which was a conglomeration of ragas Bilawal and Bageshwari.

Here mention must be made of Master Krishnarao Fulambrikar, who single handedly fought a battle to make Vande Maataram the National Anthem of India. Though Jana Gana Mana was declared the National Anthem of independent India on the 24th of January 1950, it was due to the efforts of Krishnarao that Vande Maataram was assigned the glory of being called the national song. Here is his rendition in raga Jhinjhoti.

Pandit Vishnupant Pagnis sang Vande Maataram in a different style, in the reverse order and in the raga Vrindavani Sarang. Here is his composition.

Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose declared Vande Maataram the marching song of The Indian National Army. The version which was adopted by the INA was composed by Timir Baran Bhattacharya and was based on raga Durga. Here is that song both as a vocal rendition and as a marching song on a military band.

In the post independence era, Hemanta Mukhopadhyay (Hemant Kumar) composed one of his masterpieces for the Hindi film Anandamath (1952). Composed with a mixture of ragas Sindhu Bhairavi and Ahir Bhairav this song is still popular among the masses. Here is the song in two different forms, sung by Hemanta and Lata Mangeshkar from the same film.

And how can one forget the revival of Vande Maataram by A R Rahman based on which Vande Maataram was chosen as the world's second best song by the BBC on 21st December 2002. Incidentally this is also in raga Des and has the saxophone played wonderfully by Chris Davis.

There are many songs with the words Vande Maataram in them, but only two are worth mentioning here. The first one is by M S Subbulakshmi called Vande Maataram Nalirmani Neerum written by Thyagaraja and the second one is composed by David Mills and is called The Land Belongs to the Children.
I shall be ending the first part now by providing you with two renditions of Vande Maataram; the first on Sarod by Pandit Amjad Ali Khan and the second on Santoor by Pandit Rajan Sharma, both in raga Des.

The second part of this topic will deal with the circumstances which led to Jana Gana Mana being selected the National Anthem of India and Vande Maataram being declared the national song of India with my interpretation of the situation. As it remains a controversial topic I intend to publish it after a full research and verifying all relevant aspects.

Suchitra Mitra - Beyond Rabindrasangeet

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Wed, 05 Jan 2011 07:28:00 +0000

With the sad demise of Suchitra Mitra, the noted exponent of Rabindrasangeet, the cyberspace is loaded with obituaries about the legend. All these are essentially the same; often copied from one to another with little originality.
Despite being known all over the world as a doyen in the field of Rabindrasangeet, Suchitra Mitra started her career with Bengali modern songs (Adhunik Gaan) and songs for the IPTA. Suchitra even sang songs of Atul Prasad Sen, Jyotirindranath Tagore, Kazi Nazrul Islam and Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay.
This is my way of paying homage to this great artiste by providing you with some of these songs, other than Rabindrasangeet, which the singer had recorded in her voice.

The first playlist is of Bengali modern songs (Adhunik Gaan) with two songs by Suchitra Mitra.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

The second playlist consists of the four songs of IPTA in which Suchitra Mitra has featured.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

The third playlist has five songs of Atul Prasad rendered to perfection by Suchitra Mitra.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

The fourth playlist consists of three songs by Suchitra Mitra, one each by Bankim Chandra Chattopadhyay; Kazi Nazrul Islam and Jyotirindranath Tagore in that sequence.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Apart from these fourteen songs in the four playlists, there are some more non Rabindrasangeets by Suchitra Mitra which are not in my collection. I would remain indebted to the readers of this blog if they are able to enrich my collection. The missing songs are i) Phirey Tumi Aasbey - Adhunik, ii) Aaj Banglar Bukey - IPTA, iii) Se Daake Aamare - Atul Prasad.

Please send in your comments and suggestions.

The Concept of Impact Factor in Music with reference to El Condor Pasa

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 03:44:00 +0000

It so happened not so long ago that I was standing in a queue to get my immigration clearance done at the international terminal of the Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose airport at Kolkata. The two gentlemen standing just in front of me were talking amongst themselves about “Impact Factor” of articles published in scientific journals. The older of the two, a professor in an engineering college, was elaborate in describing the role of IF to the younger gentleman, who also happened to be his student. The queue moved on, so did the gentlemen but I kept on thinking about the impact factor. It was not due to that I did not know about IF, but I kept on wondering about extrapolating the concept to plagiarism in music.

The impact factor, often abbreviated IF, is a measure reflecting the average number of citations to articles published in science and social science journals. It is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field, with journals with higher impact factors deemed to be more important than those with lower ones. The impact factor was devised by Eugene Garfield, the founder of the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), now part of Thomson Reuters. In a given year, the impact factor of a journal is the average number of citations received per paper published in that journal during the two preceding years. For example, if a journal has an impact factor of 4 in 2009, then its papers published in 2007 and 2008 received 4 citations each on average.

A = the number of times articles published in 2007 and 2008 were cited by indexed journals during 2009 B = the total number of "citable items" published by that journal in 2007 and 2008.

("Citable items" are usually articles, reviews, proceedings, or notes; not editorials or Letters-to-the-Editor.)

2009 impact factor = A/B

It is to be noted that 2009 impact factors are actually published in 2010; they cannot be calculated until all of the 2009 publications have been processed by the indexing agency.

Now how can we extrapolate this concept to plagiarism in music? Let us term it as Music Impact Factor (MIF). The less the MIF, the more is the originality. The MIF, for obvious reasons cannot be calculated on a yearly basis but it can surely be calculated for a particular song or for a particular album as a lifetime factor. The factor can and should be updated on a constant basis and the previous year’s or the previous decade’s MIF can be calculated as a factor. The MIF can be conveniently subdivided into Forward MIF (FMIF) and Reverse MIF (RMIF). The FMIF will obviously be for the older song from which the new song is copied or is influenced and the factor will always be greater than 1 and the more is this number; the more number of newer songs has the older one influenced. The RMIF, on the other hand, will be calculated for the newer song and will depend on the number of older songs that have gone into the making of the new song. It will always be a fraction of 1 and the lesser the fraction; the more is the number of songs that have gone into the making of the new song. Let me propose, at this juncture, that a blatant lift would be assigned a score of 1, an influence would get a score of 0.75 and barely some notes in common would qualify for a score of 0.5 and just a coincidence will be let off with 0.25.

With this background, let us discuss today’s song and at the end we will try and calculate the MIF. It is to be noted that I shall be calculating the MIF for a song in this post only and shall not be repeating the calculation in any of my future posts as this is of purely academic and scientific interest. Those interested can perform the calculation on their own.

Recently I was watching a Hindi movie “Kites”. I was just about to pass it off as an insipid and uninteresting movie when I noticed something which needs mention. As the end credits of the film were rolling out, the music caught my attention; it sounded familiar.

Here is the tune. Does it sound familiar to you also?

If you hear the song with all your concentration you will come to know that this piece of music used in the prelude of the song “Kites” has a few notes in common from an old folk tune originating from the heights of Peruvian Andes known as El Condor Pasa. The popular folk tune is a bit faster, but Rajesh Roshan has modified the pace of the composition making it much slower and hard to decipher. Actually Rajesh Roshan's composition closely resembles the original notes of the Peruvian composer Daniel Alomia Robles. Robles's composition has its slow and fast portions and it is the notes of the slower part that has the resemblance. Here is that original composition with the sheet music.

Traditionally the tune is played on Peruvian flute and it has been performed and modified over these years by many musicians all over the world. The original composition consists of three parts: a Yaravi, a Parade or "fox" Inca and leaking Huayno, the three native rhythms of Peru. Now let us concentrate on the original El Condor Pasa before moving on to many versions of the song and the direct lifts and inspirations. As I told previously, El Cóndor Pasa (The Condor Goes by (or Flies by)) is a song from the zarzuela El Cóndor Pasa by the Peruvian composer Daniel Alomía Robles written in 1913 and based on traditional Andean folk tunes. The original words are in Quechua, the language of the Incas, and it was written by Julio Baodouin Y Paz. It is as follows.

Yau kuntur llaqtay orgopy tiyaq
Maymantam gawamuhuakchianqui, kuntur kuntur
Apayllahuay llaqtanchikman, chay wasinchikman chiri orgupy,
Kutiytam munany kuntur kuntur.

Kuzco llaqtapyn plazachallampyn suyaykamullaway,
Machupicchupy Huaynapicchupy purikunanchiqpaq.

Transliterated into English it means:

Oh mighty Condor, owner of the skies,
take me home.
Up into the Andes, Oh mighty Condor,
I want to go back to my native place,
to be with my Inca brothers.
Thats what I miss the most, Oh mighty Condor.
Wait for me in the Cusco, in the main plaza,
so that we can take a walk in Machupicchu and Huaynapicchu.

The scene of this song and the zarzuela is set in a mine in the Peruvian Andes. It describes the exploitations of the workers while the condor flies as a symbol of freedom. Here is that original version of the song in Quechua by a Peruvian group called Wayna Picchu.

It was first brought into mainstream music by a group called Urubamba, formerly known as Los Incas. Here is El Condor Pasa by Los Incas

It is possibly the best-known Peruvian song worldwide due to a cover version by Simon & Garfunkel in 1970 on their Bridge Over Troubled Water album. This cover version is called El Condor Pasa (If I Could). Paul Simon heard a version called "Paso Del Condor" by Jorge Milchberg, who is head of the group Urubamba when the group was touring France. Simon became friendly with the group through this song, and ended up touring with them and producing their first American album. Paul Simon personalized the song by adding his own English lyrics. On the Simon & Garfunkel version, Robles, Milchberg and Simon are all listed as songwriters. Here is the world famous song by Simon and Garfunkel.

Later that year, Perry Como released a cover of Simon's English version on his album It's Impossible, while Julie Felix took advantage of Simon and Garfunkel's decision not to release their version as a UK single, and had a UK Top 20 hit with it. Here is that song by Julie Felix.

Simon & Garfunkel did release their version as a single in the U.S. and it reached number 18 on the Billboard Pop Singles chart in the fall of 1970.
Here is a selection of different artists both vocal and instrumental, performing El Condor Pasa. I have deliberately chosen these pieces to give you a feel of how the music sounds when it is sung in different languages and played on different musical instruments. The inspired portion from El Condor Pasa has been used in the Hindi film "Kites" when the end credits start rolling and has also been used as a background music during the movie when Hrithik and Barbara Mori enjoy their glasses of champagne sitting in front of the dancing fountain.

Sur le chemin des Andes - Marie Laforet (French)

El Condor - Placido Domingo (Spanish)

El Condor - Esther Ofarim (Hebrew)

Il Condor - Gigliola Cinquetti (Italian)

Apart from these there are three remixed versions of El Condor Pasa. The first one is by DJ Sami, which has different lyrics (just four words) and the second one is by Russian pop star Valeriy Leontiev with the same lyrics.The third version is a Polish version by Mano Erina and is called 'Nyu Chan Desu' and belongs to a genre called 'Disco Polo'. Many singers all over the world have sung 'If I Could' but I have included only those which are in languages other than English and those which are different in the arrangement & composition.

Here is the instrumental playlist.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

We now turn our attention towards film soundtracks and songs having the version by Simon and Garfunkel or inspired by this song.
First in this list is the film called "The Voyage of The Yes" (1973).

The next song is from the Hindi film Jaanam, 'Teri Chahat Ke Siwa'.

Another song from the Hindi movie Virasat, "Taarein Hain Baaarati". The prelude of the song is definitely inspired by 'El Condor' while the rest of the song has a different tune altogether. Both the Hindi songs are composed by Anu Malik.

There must be many more versions of El Condor prevalent in the world which I am unaware of and therefore I don't claim this list to be an exhaustive one. Having said that lets us now integrate some science into arts as we try and calculate the Music Impact Factor (MIF) of the original Zarzuela composition by Daniel Alomia Robles; to be precise the Forward Music Impact Factor (FMIF) . Readers please refer back to the initial part of this post for details regarding the calculation of the IF.

Robles's original Zarzuela composition inspired the original Quechua version thus getting a score of 1, the Quechua song inspired the composition by Urubamba - again scoring 1. Paul Simon put his English lyrics into the composition of Urubamba making it a worldwide hit thus earning another 1 point. The success of "If I Could" by Simon and Garfunkel led to a deluge of direct lifts and the French, Spanish, Italian and Hebrew songs came into being giving a score of 4 (1x4). The remixed versions by DJ Sami, Leontiev and Mano Erina earn a score of 0.75 each thus totaling 2.25. The soundtrack from the movie 'The Voyage of the Yes' qualifies for a score of 1. Anu Malik's composition from the Hindi movie 'Jaanam' gives a score of 0.5 (inspiration only) and that from the movie 'Virasat' gives a score o 0.5 (some notes common - prelude only). Rajesh Roshan's composition in the movie 'Kites' gives a score of 0.25 as I think it is just a coincidence. Thus the total combining all the scores in 11.50. Therefore the FMIF for the original Zarzuela composition by Daniel Alomia Robles till 2009 is 11.50. This calculation of MIF is just a proposal by me to scientifically document the impact of a particular composition or song on the world music scenario.

Keep visiting my blog and keep listening to music as music has so much to offer.

Rebetika & Indian film music - Part III

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Mon, 13 Dec 2010 17:37:00 +0000

In this post I continue from where I left you in the last post. During the 1950s and 1960s more than a 100 Indian films were imported into Greece and the music of these films cast an everlasting impression on poor and middle class Greeks. Songs from films like Aan, Mother India, Naagin, Lajwanti, Ujaala, Aurat etc. were adopted with Byzantine overtones and became instant hits in Greece. Quite a number of Greek singers specialized in singing Indoprepi songs, namely Stelios Kazantzidis, Manolis Aggelopoulos, Petros Anagnostakis, Vagelis Perpeniadis, Voula Palla, Marinella, Poly Panou etc. to name a few. The tunes of Naushad and Shankar Jaikishan were the ones which were mostly adopted by the Greek music directors.

1a. Ulfat Ka Saaz Chhedo - Aurat (1953), Shankar Jaikishan / Lata Mangeshkar

1b. Afti I Nyxta Menei (1959)

This original song was sung by Stelios Kazantzidis and incidentally there was a film with the same name but the title track of the same name has a different tune and was composed by Stamatis Kraounakis.

2a. Sab Kuch Seekha Humne - Anari (1955), Shankar Jaikishan / Mukesh

2b. Gyrise Konta Mou (1962)
Two renditions; one from 1960s and the other as late as 2009. The first one is actually a portmanteau of the same song by two singers - V. Perpiniadis and A. Eteleseis. The second is recorded at Tassos Bougas's performance in Chicago.

3a. Yamma Yamma, Yamma - China Town (1962), Ravi / Asha Bhonsle

3b. Mou Lene Na Min Klaio (1963)

4a. Duniya Walon Se Dur, Ujaala (1959), Shankar Jaikishan / Mukesh; Lata Mangeshkar

4b. Oso Aksizeis Esy (1963). Two versions; the first one in from 1960s and the second one is a remixed version from 2009.

5a. Unchi Unchi Duniya Ki Deewarein - Naagin (1954), Hemant Kumar / Lata Mangeshkar

5b.Osi glyka exoune ta xeili

6a. Gao Taraane Man Ke - Aan (1952), Naushad / Shamshad Begum; Lata Mangeshkar; Mohd. Rafi & Chorus

6b. To Pikrameno Gramma (1960) - Two versions; old & the original song by Manolis Agglepoulos and a new one respectively.

7a. Tere Bina Aag Ye Chandni - Awaara (1951), Shankar Jaikishan / Lata Mangeshkar; Manna De

7b. Ston Ourano Kai Sti Gi (1960)

8a. Ghar Aaya Mera Pardesi - Awaara (1951), Shankar Jaikishan / Lata Mangeshkar

8b. Eisai I Zoi Mou (1959)

9a. Aa Jao Tarapte Hain Armaaan - Awaara (1951), Shankar Jaikishan / Lata Mangeshkar

This was one of the most popular Indoprepi songs and gave rise to many versions. Some of them are listed below.

9b. Irtha Pali Konta Sou (1959) - Marinella

Three renditions of Mantoupala (1959) one after another - Stelios Kazantizidis

10a. Saathi Haath Badhana - Naya Daur (1957), O P Nayyar / Mohd. Rafi, Asha Bhonsle

10b. Gyrise Pali Konta Mou (1962)

11a. Tumhare Hain Tumse Daya Maangte Hain - Boot Polish (1954), Shankar Jaikishan / Mohd. Rafi; Asha Bhonsle

11b. Makari Na Matho Pos Exeis Ploutisei (1962)

12a. Chanda Dhale Pankha Jhale - Pyaar Ki Pyaas (1961), Vasant Desai / Geeta Dutt

Incidentally the same song has also been sung by Lata Mangeshkar in the same film.

12b. Agapi Toso Omorfi (1964)

13a. Jo Tum Toh Royo Piya - Jhanak Jhanak Payal Baaje (1955), Vasant Desai / Lata Mangeshkar

13b. Agapi Muglekeaw

14a. Yeh Zindagi Ke Mele - Mela (1948), Naushad / Mohd. Rafi

14b. Paidi Mou Gurna Piso (1963)

15a. Aye Chaand Kal Jo Aana - Devta (1956), C. Ramchandra / Lata Mangeshkar

15b. Prin Mou Fygeis Glykia Mou (1956)

After this era of the heydays of Hindi film music in mainland Greece, there was a gradual decline in this trend due to Greece growing economically, modern western lifestyle and preferences including films and many other factors which are beyond the scope of discussion o this blog. Lately, beginning this century, there has been a revival of interest in Bollywood movies and Hindi film songs. Hindi film songs are being increasingly translated and dubbed in Greek. I leave you with one such song from the movie "Chalte Chalte" (the new one with Shahrukh Khan).

Keep visiting and keep posting your suggestions.

Rebetika & Indian film music - Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Sat, 11 Dec 2010 06:46:00 +0000

In my last post I gave a brief description about the origin of Rebetika, where and how it thrived and lastly the arrival of Laika and Indoprepi.
I shall be dedicating this post in bringing forward the inspired Greek Indoprepi songs. The Greek music company MBI published two CDs with 30 such Indoprepi songs in 1995 under the names "The Homecoming of Mantoupala" and "The Song of Nargis". Needless to state that Madhubala and Nargis were the two most famous actresses of Hindi cinema in 1950s and 1960s in Greece because the films they acted in and the songs they sang appealed to the Greek psyche, specially the poor and the downtrodden ones. The CDs were published with the original Hindi tracks and did not provide with the inspired Greek songs due to the widespread popularity of the Greek renditions. The Greek songs are difficult to pick from a wide collection of Rebetika, Laika and Indoprepi songs present on the internet. I could, ultimately, collect almost all of them based on the original Hindi numbers that were published, but there are many more Greek songs which have a very familiar tune with a feeling of Dejavu but I am unable to pinpoint them. I have tried to provide you with the original video of the Hindi film song wherever available followed by the audio of the Greek version. I don't have any intention of violating copyright laws by providing the videos in my blog. As you will notice that the Greek songs are almost always the simpler version of the original Hindi ones with a heavy influence of the Bouzouki, the most favored instrument of the Rebetika songs. Some of the songs are a direct lift as far as the tune is concerned and some have only a few notes in common.

1a. Dunia Mein Hum Aaye Hain- Mother India (1957), Naushad / Lata Mangeshkar

1b. Kardia Mou Kaimeni (1960). Two versions, the first one is the original and the second one is a recent recording thus reiterating the fact that the song is still popular in Greece.
This is the earlier version

And this is the new version

2a. Mujhe Kisise Pyar Ho Gaya - Barsaat (1949), Shankar Jaikishan / Lata Mangeshkar

2b. Ti Sou Ftaio Kai Me Tyrannas (1964)

3a. Awaara Hoon , Awaara (1951), Shankar Jaikishan / Mukesh

3b. Avara Mu - Original in Turkish, translated into Greek

4a. O Mere Lal Aaja - Mother India (1957), Naushad / Lata Mangeshkar

4b. Farmaki Kai Maxairi (1960)

5a. Kaun Kahe Unse Jake Ai Huzoor - Paapi (1953), S Mohinder / Lata Mangeshkar

5b. San pouli kynigimeno trigyrno (1967)

6a. Yeh Hawa Yeh Nadi Ka Kinara - Ghar Sansar (1958), Ravi / Asha Bhonsle, Manna De

6b. Perpato kai sfyrizo thlimmena (1963)

7a. Pyaar Hua Ikraar Hua - Shri 420 (1955), Shankar Jaikishan / Manna De, Lata Mangeshkar

7b. Kappio Treno (1960)

8a. Mera Joota Hai Japani - Shri 420 (1955), Shankar Jaikishan / Mukesh

8b. An Ton Agapas Paidi Mou (1964)

9a. Gham Ka Fasana Kisko Sunayen - Mela (1948), Naushad / Shamshad Begum

9b. Glukia Mou Agapi (1965)

10a. Mera Dil Ye Pukare Aaja - Naagin (1954), Hemant Kumar / Lata Mangeshkar

10b. Stis agapis mou to disko (1960)

11a. Man Dole Mera Tan Dole - Naagin (1954), Hemant Kumar / Lata Mangeshkar

11b. Poios Sou 'Pe Den S' Agapo (1962)

12a. Umangon Ko Sakhi Pee Ki Nagariya - Amar (1955), Naushad / Lata Mangeshkar

12b. Naifoula Se Stolizoune (1967)

13a. Chhor Babul Ka Ghar - Babul (1950), Naushad / Shamshad Begum.

13b. Unfortunately I could not find the corresponding Greek song. I shall definitely upload it whenever I am able to find the same. Meanwhile listen to another version of this song by Talat Mahmood and Mohd.Rafi.

14a. Ga Mere Man Ga - Lajwanti (1958), S D Burman / Asha Bhonsle

14b. Den Anthizoun Louloudia (1962)

15a. Jhoomta Mausam Mast Mahina - Ujaala (1959), Shankar Jaikishan / Manna De; Lata Mangeshkar

15b. Ligo Ligo Tha Me Synitheseis (1963)

15c. Incidentally there is another one in Serbian with the same tune known as Ostas Ovde.

More songs coming up in the next post. Till then take care.

Rebetika & Indian film music - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Thu, 02 Dec 2010 10:45:00 +0000

Rebetiko (plural Rebetika) and occasionally transliterated as Rembetiko is a form of Greek music which came into existence in the post World War II Greece. It is the other name of Greek Blues music. It was a movement which has lately seen a revival. BBC made a documentary on Rebetika which was narrated by Anthony Quinn. The full documentary has been divided into ten smaller parts for easier viewing. Before I carry on with the topic of the role of Indian (Hindi) film music in the movement let us watch this documentary. It traces the entire history of Rebetika, but sadly does not mention a bit about the Indian influence. It is true that the Indian influence was not there to start with, it only became evident in the late 1950s, 1960s and early 1970s. Aptly enough Rebetika was sub-categorized into Laiko, Indoiftika or Indoprepi and the Greek songs with Indian influence were grouped into this new category. This documentary will allow me to speak less because it has every details about Rebetika. I have made a playlist of all the ten parts. Here are they one after another.

But how does Hindi film music fit into this? How does Greek Blues relate to Naushad? To understand this we have to travel back in time, back to the 2nd and 3rd decade the 20th century in relation to modern Greek history. The place is Thessaloniki, the capital city of Macedonia and the period is World War I (1914-19), which brought to Thessaloniki the multinational Army of the Orient, in which the British participated. With this army came a lot of Indians serving the army as soldiers and as auxiliary staff (havildar, naik, lance naik, sepoy, rifleman and driver, dhobi, bhisti, jamadar, laskar). Carried away by the force of the Allies to stop the Germans and Bulgarians, about 520 mainly poor and illiterate Indians ended their lives in Thessaloniki. One wonders if they knew in which part of the world they were when they died. And it is doubtful that many knew why they or their regiments were fighting and for which ideals they died. It is possible that this is period when the first seeds of Indian (Hindi) music were sown in the soil of modern day Greece. A detail description about the Indian cemetery can be found here.
The actual crop was sown much later, in the 1950s to be precise. Rebetika, the popular music of the Greek working class, the downtrodden and the underworld was already into existence. Dr. Helen Abadzi has been a forerunner in researching on this topic and I quote from her writings below. "The economic condition of Greece was bleak in the early 1950s. Since its liberation from Turkey in 1827, the country had been a poor agricultural nation with high levels of illiteracy, limited life expectancy, and a low status for women. World War II and a subsequent civil war with communist insurgents had destroyed the countryside and killed many inhabitants. An atmosphere of depression and mourning prevailed as people tried to rebuild their lives. One
survival tactic was migration to larger cities (such as Athens) and emigration to countries like Germany, which needed cheap labor. Uneducated orphans and people caring for widowed relatives were forced to leave their homes and become bricklayers or housemaids, living in unhealthy and oppressive circumstances. It was in that climate of desperation that Hindi movies made an indelible impression".
"The years 1945-65 were a golden period in Indian cinema. Though made with limited means, many of the films produced then became timeless masterpieces. Most were dramatic love stories set in a background of tangled family relations, poverty, exploitation, and misery. In a format that became characteristic of Hindi cinema, many songs and dances were included. Frequently during the movies, actors sang, pondering on problems and situations like a protagonist and a responding chorus in a Greek drama.. Many of the songs, composed by the greatest Indian musicians for the films, have become timeless tunes that every Indian knows.
The plots of the movies resonated with the wounded Greek psyche. Suffering women, street children who had to drop out of school, jealous sisters-in-law, vengeful mothers-in-law, interdependencies, betrayals, and frequent unhappy ends resonated with the difficult choices of poorly educated Greek people subsisting in large cities. In particular, the characters appealed to poor women. The maidservants and factory workers saw themselves depicted on the movie screen, hoping for deliverance. Maybe the rich young man would marry the poor beautiful girl who worked at his house. Maybe lost relatives would appear to take care of the abandoned street child who sang so beautifully".

Suffering in the movies was combined with spectacle. There were scenes of palaces, beautiful houses, jungles, elephants, spectacular countrysides, and medieval-period costumes. Though often depicted as poor and unhappy, the Indian actresses were gracefully modest, with bright clothes and much jewelry. They enabled the audiences to see people like themselves improving their conditions, but also to be transported to a reverie far from reality. Thus, India managed to package and export its main problem, poverty, with its main attraction, exoticism. And Greece at that time was a willing buyer. At least 111 movies are known to have been imported in 1954-1968. They were most popular in 1958-1962, when at least one out of the 35 movie theaters of Thessaloniki played one or two Hindi movies in per week. The films were always subtitled in Greek. Their one-word symbolic titles were changed to indicate tragedy: mothers losing children, social upheaval, and other emotional topics. Thus, “Ghar Sansaar” became “Tears of a Mother”. “Mother India” became “Land Drenched in Sweat”, and “Mela” became “Love Drenched in Tears”. The advertisements contained text that accentuated the dramatic aspects of the movies and declared that the newest import was better than other earlier arrivals. These movies were considered working-class fare. They had much less appeal for the middle class, which looked westward for entertainment, wanted more humor, and was not plagued by the social dilemmas of the poor and the limited solutions available to the heroines. Nevertheless, the Hindi masterpieces were seen by many and it seemed then Hindi movies are there to stay in Greece.
In the next part I shall be dealing with these movies and how these popular Hindi tunes were integrated into Greek popular music.

The untold truth of Indian advertisement jingles - Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 04:32:00 +0000

Picking up the trail from my last post I continue further on the subject. Before coming onto Ilayaraja's compositions which have inspired Indian advertisements, I take this opportunity to thank Dr. Indranil Chatterjee for having pointed out two more 'inspired' Indian advertisements. To give a brief introduction of Indranil; he is presently based in Brisbane, works as the ICU chief in a hospital in Queensland, loves to read on a variety of subjects, plays the sitar to perfection, is a die hard fan of Kabir Suman, has a subtle sense of humor, loves heated debates on any subject, continues to be as moody as he was during our college days and last but not the least breathes; lives and dreams music. Thank you Indranil.
First this commercial of Old Spice aftershave lotion.

One of my all time favorite advertisements. Little did I know that the background score of this advertisement is inspired by portions from 'Carmina Burana O Fortuna' by Carl Orff. Listen to Carmina Burana now.

Now comes the second signature tune, the one from the Titan Quartz advertisements. This tune has portions from Mozart's Symphony 25. First have a look at two of the Titan Quartz advertisements and then listen to Mozart's Symphony 25.

In Mozart's Symphony 25 which follows you can make out Titan's signature tune at approximately 1.35 minutes into the musical piece, the first movement of the symphony in G Minor.

Moving onto Ilayaraja's compositions now.
Listen to this Liril Orange advertisement jingle aired in 1994. I am providing you with both the audio and the video version of the advertisement, unfortunately the video quality is poor but it is the audio which is more important here.

Now here is the video.

Now listen to the original composition by Ilayaraja from the film Geetanjali, Mani Ratnam's first film. This song is called 'Jallantha Kavvintha' and is rendered by S Chithra. The movie and the song dates back to 1989 and the advertisement came much later in 2004.

Now listen to this advertisement of Idea Cellular. There have been numerous advertisements of Idea Cellular with the same signature tune, I just chose one of them.

It happens to be lifted straight out of Ilayaraja's composition 'Naguva Nayana' from the Kannada movie 'Pallavi Anupallavi'. Here is that song.

For the next jingle we'll go the other way round. First we will listen to the original song and then the advertisement because then only you'll be able to appreciate the similarity as the song only plays in the background in the advertisement. The song is titled 'Idu Oru Pon Maalai' from the movie 'Nizhalgal'. The song first.

Now listen to the Kissan Jam advertisement carefully. You can spot the same tune playing in the background amidst all the different voices.

Next is LG Gold air conditioners, the advertisement first with a poor picture quality. Again listen carefully to the background score.

Here is the song from which the background score of the advertisement is inspired. It is called 'Uravenum Pudhiya Vaanil' from the Tamil movie 'Nenjathai Killathey'. Here is that song in video format.

There may be many more advertisements which have been inspired by Ilayaraja's compositions apart from those cited above. I would be grateful if any of the readers of this blog article point them out to me. I am also greatly indebted to Mr. Karthik Srinivasan whose website details everything in a systematic manner.
Leaving Ilayaraja we now move on to other jingles.
Listen to this song by Kishore Kumar from the Hindi film Dost (1974).

Now see this advertisement of Bajaj scooters. Direct lift, isn't it?

I will end today with an advertisement from USA, that of a probiotic health supplement known as Yoplus by Yoplait Inc. USA. See the advertisement and listen to the music playing in the background. You got it, lifted of R D Burman's score from 1942-A Love Story ( at 1.24 minutes and repeated thereafter many times). Both the videos are embedded here for you. The moral of the story is that it is not always Indian advertisements which do the copying; it may also be other way round.

Here is another example; this time from the French mineral water company Volvic. There are actually three advertisements in the series and all have the theme from the Hindi movie Bombay playing in the background. I have chosen only one of them. Listen to both the advertisement and theme from Bombay. Incidentally the same theme was used in the Nicholas Cage movie "Lord of War".

And here is the theme music from Bombay.

It is needless to say that there are many such instances of inspiration both forward and reverse; you just need the time to find them out.
Au revoir, but do keep writing in.
P.S. - Just found another very interesting commercial. This is one of the best commercials that has been ever produced for Nike, Nike Cricket to be precise. It captures the true spirit of Indian cricket. See the commercial first and pay attention to the song playing in the background. It is Konkani song sung by Ella Castellino, written by Angello Dias and (re)composed by Ram Sampat.
The lyrics are
Rav patrao rav (Wait, partner, wait)
Khedong maka di mhunta aao (First let me play)
Khedong maka di na zhalya (If you don’t play, I’ll keep chasing you all day)
Tuzho kortelem patlanv (Our game is like this only)

Khedoch amche oslen (Where we have no time to think)
Kednanch ravonk nosle (It is the game of cat and mouse)
Undir matracho khed yo kosle (That I have begun to love)
Maka bhogta oslen (And in the falling running breaking)
Arre maaroon, dhoroon, phodoon
Saiba noshib mozhe phoslen (My destiny is entwined)

Here is the advertisement first.

This song is inspired by another Konkani song from the 1970s, Bebdo, sung by Lorna and composed by Chris Perry.
Here is Bebdo.

Thanks for your patient reading. See you soon with something new.

The untold truth of Indian advertisement jingles - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Wed, 17 Nov 2010 10:57:00 +0000

Thirty seconds to one minute is the usual time that the advertisers get to convey a message to the customer on television and they want perfection in every department to create an advertisement with a long lasting impression. Musical score of any advertisement is equally important as the visual content. Today's post deals with the musical score of some famous Indian advertisements.
Let us start with two videos of Raymond suitings advertisement. First one is before the tag line "The Complete Man" was introduced and the second one is with the tag line.

Now after you have seen the videos, listen to the original scores one after another. The first advertisement has portions of the tune known as 'Spring' from Antonio Vivaldi's album "Four Seasons" and the second is from Robert Schumann's musical piece called 'Traumerei'. Listen to both of them

Do you remember the Pepsi advertisement "Oye Bubbly" with Shahrukh Khan. For those who are having a fading memory, here is that advertisement.

This jingle was inspired from Vishal Sekhar's composition "Oye Bubbly". Here is that composition with Kareena Kapoor, Amitabh Bachchan and Preity Zinta in the form of two videos in succession.

But the story does not end here. Vishal Sekhar got the idea of this song from track known as "Tokyo Street" by the group "Deep Forest". This track is a part of the Japanese edition of their 2002 album "Music Forever" featuring Japanese violinist Taro Hakase. Here is that original 2002 track.

Interesting, isn't it. Read on.
We all remember that famous jingle of Maggi Noodles, "Bus Do Minute, Maggi Maggi Maggi". Everybody of us can still hum it but unfortunately I could not get that original advertisement. That advertisement has been deleted from all sites due to unknown reasons. What I have managed is a much later version of that tune albeit in a different tempo, nonetheless it conveys the point here.

Now you must be eager to know the original song which inspired this jingle. This is known as "Put another nickel in -- Music Music Music" by Teresa Brewer. Listen to the song.

I will end the part one of this story with a famous jingle from Siyaram Suitings advertisement, "O Siyaram, coming home to Siyaram". The earlier versions of the advertisement used to have much lengthier version of this tune but mysteriously they have all gone missing from all the sites. Nonetheless this clip conveys the point I want to make here.

This particular jingle is inspired by a song "O Moyna" by a German band "Tri Atma". One of the founders of this band is an Indian (Bengali) and therefore the song has some Bengali verses in it and is named after the bird Myna (called Moena in Bengali). Here is that song.

In the second part of this topic I shall be telling you about the compositions of Ilayaraja who happens to be the most copied composer in the Indian advertisement jingles.
Please send in your comments and suggestions as they are my inspiration.

Leotard

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Sun, 14 Nov 2010 05:41:00 +0000

This post is a mixture of funda and music. We all know what a leotard is. Leotard is the skin tight dress that trapeze performers and ballet artists wear during their performance. It was devised by Jules Leotard and he used to wear it during performances for unimpeded movement.
Jules Leotard was born in Toulouse, France in 1872. His father was a gymnastics teacher and so it is not too difficult to see why the young Jules showed an interest in gymnastics and, in particular, acrobatics.
Although Jules showed great promise as an acrobat, he followed a more traditional path of education towards a professional career in law. However by the time Jules had reached the age of eighteen years, his interest in acrobatics had extended to experimenting with trapeze bars, ropes and rings.
Fuelled by a real passion for acrobatics, Leotard enlisted into the Cirque Napoleon, and made his debut public performance on the trapeze in November 1859. Leotard became an overnight success largely due to the fact that he performed a number of unique acrobatic tricks; he was the first performer to perform a mid-air somersault and also the first to leap from one trapeze bar to another.
Audiences flocked to see this innovative performer's twelve minute act, which involved Leotard jumping between three trapezes before he finally somersaulted to his safety mat below as a grand finale. Incidentally, Leotard's safety mat was not that safe; in reality it was little more than a few covered mattresses!
Jules Leotard's act was deemed so radical and progressive that his co-artistes sponsored both a commemorative medallion and a banquet in his honour.
In 1861 Leotard took his trapeze act from the circus into the music hall, debuting it at the Alhambra Theatre in London. He became a major star attracting thousands of people (who dined while he performed above their heads) and so became extremely well paid (Leotard earned approximately £5000 per week in today's terms).
Aside from his innovative act, Leotard's name has been immortalized by two other factors; a famous song and an item of clothing.
In 1867 George Leybourne penned the lyrics to the song "The Daring Young Man on the Flying Trapeze" about Leotard, which became quite the popular hit of its day. Leotard's more famous legacy though is the gymnastic or dance leotard.
Here is the song.

The same song was used in a 1934 movie named It Happened One Night. Here is the song from the movie.

The lyrics of the song are as follows:

Once I was happy but now I'm forlorn
Like an old coat that is tattered and torn;
Left on this world to fret and to mourn,
Betrayed by a maid in her teens.
The girl that I loved she was handsome;
I tried all I knew her to please
But I could not please her one quarter so well
As the man upon the trapeze.

cho:
He'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,
That daring young man on the flying trapeze.
His movements were graceful, all girls he could please
And my love he purloined away.

This young man by name was Signor Bona Slang,
Tall, big and handsome, as well made as Chang.
Where'er he appeared the hall loudly rang
With ovation from all people there.
He'd smile from the bar on the people below
And one night he smiled on my love.
She wink'd back at him and she shouted "Bravo,"
As he hung by his nose up above.

Her father and mother were both on my side
And very hard tried to make her my bride;
Her father he sighed, and her mother she cried,
To see her throw herself away.
'Twas all no avail, she went there every night,
And would throw him bouquets on the stage,
Which caused him to meet her; how he ran me down,
To tell you would take a whole page.

One night I as usual went to her dear home,
Found there her father and mother alone.
I asked for my love, and soon they made known,
To my horror that she'd run away.
She'd packed up her box and eloped in the night
With him, with the greatest of ease;
From two stories high he had lowered her down
To the ground on his flying trapeze@e.

Some months after this I went to the Hall;
Was greatly surprised to see on the wall
A bill in red letters, which did my heart gall,
That she was appearing with him.
He'd taught her gymnastics and dressed her in tights,
To help him live at his ease,
And made her assume a masculine name,
And now she goes on the trapeze.

last cho: She'd fly through the air with the greatest of ease,

You'd think her the man young man on the flying trapeze.
Her movements were graceful, all girls she could please,
And that was the end of my love.

Leotard's skin-tight body wear, which he called a maillot, was designed for a two-fold purpose. Firstly it was to ensure that it allowed him unimpeded movement to assist him in carrying out his acrobatic performances. Secondly, in accordance with his showman's wont, it was designed to show off his muscular physique.
Leotard's maillot became highly popular in the circus as other performers emulated Léotard. The virtues of the garment became accepted by others in the performing arts world to the point where its usage also became popular in Parisian ballet studios.
Jules Leotard passed away in Spain in 1870. The cause of his death was likely typhoid or cholera. He was 28 years of age. The word leotard, used to describe what Jules Leotard called a maillot, did not come into use until around 1886, some 16 years after his death. Today the French word maillot means a jersey or swimsuit: it may have tickled Leotard to know that his maillot is no longer a term used in acrobatics.

MJ - The King of Pop

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Mon, 11 Oct 2010 22:34:00 +0000

This ain't a biography of Michael Jackson.

Let us first hear him singing "Wanna be startin' somethin'". I have also included the lyrics for those who want to sing along.

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

I took my baby to the doctor

With a fever, but nothing he found

By the time this hit the street

They said she had a breakdown

Someone's always tryin' to start my baby cryin'

Talkin', squealin', lyin'

Sayin' you just wanna be startin' somethin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

You love to pretend that you're good

When you're always up to no good

You really can't make him hate her

So your tongue became a razor

Someone's always tryin' to keep my baby cryin'

Treacherous, cunnin', declinin'

You got my baby cryin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

You're a vegetable, you're a vegetable

Still they hate you, you're a vegetable

You're just a buffet, you're a vegetable

They eat off of you, you're a vegetable

Billie Jean is always talkin'

When nobody else is talkin'

Tellin' lies and rubbin' shoulders

So they called her mouth a motor

Someone's always tryin' to start my baby cryin'

Talkin', squealin', spyin'

Sayin' you just wanna be startin' somethin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

You're a vegetable, you're a vegetable

Still they hate you, you're a vegetable

You're just a buffet, you're a vegetable

They eat off of you, you're a vegetable

If you can't feed your baby (yeah, yeah)

Then don't have a baby (yeah, yeah)

And don't think maybe (yeah, yeah)

If you can't feed your baby (yeah, yeah)

You'll be always tryin'

To stop that child from cryin'

Hustlin', stealin', lyin'

Now baby's slowly dyin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

I said you wanna be startin' somethin'

You got to be startin' somethin'

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

It's too high to get over (yeah, yeah)

Too low to get under (yeah, yeah)

You're stuck in the middle (yeah, yeah)

And the pain is thunder (yeah, yeah)

Lift your head up high

And scream out to the world

I know I am someone

And let the truth unfurl

No one can hurt you now

Because you know what's true

Yes, I believe in me

So you believe in you

Help me sing it, ma ma se,

Ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa

Ma ma se, ma ma sa,

Ma ma coo sa

Now that you know the lyrics, the whole song makes sense to you. Please concentrate on the last four lines -

Help me sing it, ma ma se,

Ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa

Ma ma se, ma ma sa,

Ma ma coo sa

Does it appeal to you. Take a look at the following song

In 1972, Manu Dibango had recorded a hit song called “Soul Makossa” which was nominated for the Grammy awards. Soul Makossa, which was the B side of Mouvement Ewondo, a single composed for the 1972 African Nations Cup in Cameroon, was named after the makossa, a Cameroonian dance, but he stretched the word out, played with it: “Ma-mako, ma-ma-ssa, mako-makossa.

A decade later, it so happened that Dibango was in Paris, listening to the radio at his apartment, when he heard something familiar: those same syllables, more or less, in a very different context. The DJ was playing “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’,” the unconventional first song from “Thriller.” It is more than six minutes long, and although the music is exuberant throughout, the lyrics aren’t as silly as they first sound: paranoia (“Still they hate you, you’re a vegetable/You’re just a buffet, you’re a vegetable”) gives way to exhortation (“If you can’t feed your baby, then don’t have a baby”) and, eventually, inspiration (“I believe in me/So you believe in you”). The galloping rhythm sounds a bit like “Soul Makossa,” and near the end Jackson acknowledges the debt by singing words that many listeners mistook for nonsense: “Ma ma se, ma ma sa, ma ma coo sa.” Soon, Dibango’s phone started ringing. Friends and relatives were calling to offer their congratulations: Michael Jackson was singing his song! But Dibango’s pride turned to puzzlement when he bought the album, only to find that the song was credited to Michael Jackson and no one else.

When contacted Jackson first argued that the refrain consisted of a string of meaningless words spouted in the heat of the moment. Then later, he insisted that they were words in Swahili. Eventually he conceded that he had indeed borrowed the lines from Manu’s Soul Makossa and reached an out of court settlement.

Manu Dibango again sued Jackson in 2007 after the pop star gave permission to Rihanna to use the famous chorus as a hook for her song "Don’t Stop The Music" without contacting Manu.

Here is the song from Rihanna.

Finally I am including a tribute to MJ by Sonu Niigaam.

Please send in your comments.

The Musical Truth of FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Sun, 10 Oct 2010 10:24:00 +0000

You might be thinking that I am obsessed with theme songs from FIFA World Cups after you see two consecutive posts on the same subject. Actually while I was doing my research for my last post I came across some interesting facts about theme song of FIFA World Cup 2014 Brazil. I then decided to put them forward to you and it finally has resulted in this blog post.

If you perform a YouTube search with the key words "FIFA 2014 Official Theme Song", you will have about 46 hits with all different songs. I found that suspicious but nonetheless decided to continue my investigation. Some of the songs are, no doubt, very melodious and I am including some of them below.

Confused? So was I.
Which one of these is the official theme song then? I decided to check the relevant page on the FIFA site. I could not find any article or video in the FIFA site mentioning any particular song as the "Official Theme Song for FIFA Brazil 2014". I stumbled upon a page mentioning the songs in the recent past.
More confused I decided to Google "Which is the theme song for FIFA World Cup in Brazil 2014". I got 30,400 results in 0.14 seconds similar to the YouTube search. I decided to concentrate on the first two or three entries considering the 180 odd factors that Google employs to list and omit entries during a search (in fact SEO sites are going berserk to find out all of those and haven't been able to till date).I have already included the videos of these songs in this post.
The first entry in the Google search is the song urging us to "Save Galvao Birds". I did not know what Galvao birds were till I decided to Google again and picked up a YouTube video which summarizes everything. Here is the 4.10 minute long video followed by another short one which tell you everything you wanted to know.

This is what Paulo Coelho tweeted for the campaign and this is the relevant page from Wikipedia.

Now lemme share with you some other non musical aspects of FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014, something on logos.

The logo is called "Inspiration", and was created by Brazilian agency "Africa". The design stems from an iconic photograph of three victorious hands together raising the world's most famous trophy. As well as depicting the humanitarian notion of hands interlinking, the portrayal of the hands is also symbolic of the yellow and green of Brazil warmly welcoming the world to their country.
Let us turn our attention to the other aspect of the logo now. A highly analytical and detailed critique of the newly announced logo for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil tells us that it represents a facepalm. A facepalm is a popular online expression referring to the physical gesture known more widely as "smiting one's brow" or "smiting one's forehead;" that is, striking one's own face in a display of exasperation. In Internet discussions, the term is used as an expression of embarrassment, frustration, disbelief, disgust or general woe. There are two ways in which it is used:
Physical gesture
To bring the palm of the hand to the face
To bring the face down to a cupped hand or hands.
Written use
Primarily used in text communication on the Internet, often as *facepalm*, m-( (or similar) or an ASCII picture showing facepalm when it is generally used to show embarrassment or disbelief, but is also used in personal communication.
One of the earliest examples of its online use is by linking to a well-known photograph of Jim Horne, a model, whose use of the brow-smite typified the "disgust" aspect and became an internet meme. Using Facebook or instant messaging, the act of facepalming can be shown with the // emoticon.

I thought it appropriate to write this short note on the FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014 logo and facepalm here because I was awestruck and stared in disbelief when I deciphered the truth about official theme song of FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014.

Enough of internet memes, pranks and dissemination of knowledge. Lemme now treat you with a playlist of the songs from the previous FIFA World cups. The tradition of an official song dates back to the 1966 FIFA World Cup™ in England with a song for the first Official Mascot, “World Cup Willie”, who was a lion. Ever since, the official music programme and the Official Mascot have become a more and more significant component of the event, providing an excellent opportunity for more than just football fans to identify with the world’s biggest single-sport event.Official songs at recent FIFA World Cup™ competitions have included Un’estate italiana by Edoardo Bennato and Gianna Nannini in 1990, Gloryland by Daryl Hall with Sounds of Blackness in 1994, and La Copa de la Vida by Ricky Martin in 1998. In 2002, the official song was Boom by Anastacia, while Vangelis’ vocal official anthem featured typical Korean and Japanese sonic elements. In 2006, The Time of Our Lives by the Il Divo quartet was a resounding success. In my playlist I have two additional tracks - first one is the song from FIFA World Cup Chile 1962 and the second one is the official anthem (not the official song) from FIFA Korea-Japan 2002.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Sit back and enjoy and keep on writing to me.

The Musical Truth of FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Sat, 09 Oct 2010 22:01:00 +0000

The FIFA World Cup Soccer 2010 was held in South Africa with Spain winning the trophy by defeating Holland in the final. Throughout the tournament the official song “Waka Waka” by Shakira and the official Coca Cola theme song “Wavin’ Flag” by K’Naan have been reverberating in our TV sets. The popularity of these two songs worldwide made me investigate into the roots of these songs and I have been thinking of writing about these in my blog but was not able to due to time constraints. My internet buddy Arkadev Ghoshal who is the author of the blog site “Quizzing Realms” recently posted a “question” on his site and while answering that question I made up my mind not to delay my blog post any more. As I write down my research and my thoughts on these two songs, I am reminded of Jayasish (aka Jasha); junior to me by 3 years from my alma mater R G Kar Medical College, Kolkata. He was there in Johannesburg to witness the final and we all were thrilled to watch the photographs and the videos that he posted on Facebook.

Before delving deep into Waka Waka, let us hear the official version of the song as an YouTube video.

At the time of writing this blog at 17.35 hours, Indo China Time (ICT) of the 9th Day of October 2010, this video has been viewed 206,598,748 times in the official Vevo channel of Shakira. It has become the number 3 all time most viewed music video and number 4 all time most viewed video.
As Cindy Casares wrote in her blog on the 12th of April 2010, “We've been kind of obsessed with Shakira's new song for the 2010 World Cup ever since the clips were first leaked. “Waka Waka (This Time for Africa)”, (originally called “Zangalewa” or "Tsamina Mina" on the internet), has this fantastic African chorus, and it turns out that's because it's sampled from a Cameroonian song first recorded in 1986, called "Zangaléwa," that was hugely popular in Shakira's native Colombia, (not to mention all over Africa). The part of the original song that Shakira samples most closely is the chorus which doesn't begin until seven and a half minutes into the original song”.
The same feelings were expressed by Robert Mackay writing in his column in The New York Times of 24th May 2010. As he wrote, controversy was building up around the origin of the song much before the scheduled start of the World Cup matches. The organizing committee had to issue a clarification that this world cup anthem was collaboration between the Latin star, Shakira and the South African band, Freshlyground. Mackay went on to write, “For her part, Shakira Mebarak Ripoll has not invoked her credentials as a representative of the global meeting pot — a Latina of Lebanese ancestry, she sings in both Spanish and English — but instead stressed the global nature of her effort to try to teach the world to dance the Waka Waka. She has a YouTube channel that encourages fans from every part of the planet to submit clips of themselves dancing to the song. Her official Web site points to video of recent “Waka Waka flash mobs” in Colombia and Venezuela and kids at a school she founded in her hometown performing their version. What has gotten less attention is the fact that the song’s central “Waka Waka” riff has impeccable African roots”.
Tsamina or Zangaléwa is a 1986 hit song, originally sung by a Cameroonian Makossa group called Golden Sounds who were beloved throughout the continent for the dances and costumes. The song was such a hit for Golden Sounds that they eventually changed their name to Zangaléwa, too.
Here is the song, Zangaléwa, by Golden Sounds.

Zangaléwa (Audio only)

The original song is quite long and the portion which has inspired the World Cup anthem does not appear before 7.26 minutes. That is quite a long wait. I thought it best to upload the audio as I am not very happy with video quality of the YouTube video. However, for those of you who are interested in watching the video, you can find it here.

The best treatise on this subject can be found in Dibussi Tande’s blog and I have borrowed quite substantially from his writings.
In 1985 the Golden Sounds, a group composed primarily of members from Cameroon’s Presidential Guards released an album whose title track Zangalewa was based on a parade song which was popular with the rank and file of the Cameroonian army and whose origins could be traced back Cameroonian riflemen who took part in the Second World War. Zangalewa became an international hit which transformed Emile Kojidie, Victor Dooh Belley and group leader Ze Bella into celebrities (to the dismay of the army brass who subsequently created the conditions that led to the disbanding of the group a few years later – but that is another story). The group also included a few members who were not in the military such as Annie Anzouer who with Ze Bella performed some of the group’s most popular tunes such as Maladie difficile à soigner
and Un bébé, and who later went on to have the most successful solo career among all Golden Sounds members.
Fast forward to 2010. Ze Bella who had retired from the Presidential Guards in 2002 was enjoying a quiet retirement in his village when he got a call from an acquaintance in France informing him that Shakira had just released a version of Zangalewa. This information was soon confirmed by Emile Kojidy another Golden Sounds alum now living in the United States. They were both right.
A few days earlier, the Internet had been inundated with buzz about the new song by Columbian pop star Shakira titled “Zaminamina” which was rumoured to be the official anthem for the FIFA 2010 World Cup. To many listeners, the song was eerily familiar and many bloggers and journalist sought to find out the origins of the song.
To Cameroonians and many African, the origin of the song was no mystery as they instantly recognized it as a remix of “Zangalewa”. Thus began a frenzied online campaign to alert the world that this was not a Shakira original but a remix. The task was made all the more easier thanks to videos of the Golden Sounds performing Zangalewa that were available on the web. The campaign picked up steam as the international media began taking an interest in the story. [See for example, this report on the French cable news channel France24 titled "Shakira Used Cameroonian pop song for World Cup anthem… without asking".
In an interview with Cameroon Tribune, which ran a special report on the controversy, Ze Bella, the leader of the defunct group declared that while they were proud that a “world music icon” had remixed their song as the World Cup anthem, they nonetheless expected to be properly credited and adequately compensated. He however lamented that there was little they could do if Shakira or Sony refused to pay up:
Nous sommes vraiment impuissants pour aller aujourd’hui aux Etats-Unis revendiquer nos droits. Il y a au moins une trentaine de groupes de par le monde qui ont repris les Zangalewa. / We are really powerless to travel to the United States to assert our rights.

On May 11 2010, some members of Zangalewa held a press conference in Douala, Cameroon, to inform the media that negotiations were well underway with Sony and Shakira who had agreed to an out of court settlement and that Sony mauling over the possibility of including the single on Shakira’s next album scheduled to be released at the end of the year. Didier Edo, the group’s manager conceded that it had not been easy to negotiate with Shakira’s manager, Sony Music, and all other interested parties.There are at least 30 groups that have remade Zangalewa and below is a YouTube playlist of 11 songs

The majority of these songs are from different African countries and they have been posted by YouTube users much before the World Cup song by Shakira was even conceived. All these support the fact that Shakira and Sony Music were inspired by the original number by Golden Sounds which the Columbian artist and the corporate house, initially, declined to accept.

Let us now turn our attention to the second song, called the "Official Theme" of World Cup 2010. The ambiguity lies in naming the song as the official theme, confusing people all over the world about its place in the World Cup history. This immensely popular song called "Wavin' Flag" by the Somalia born Canadian artist K'Naan has never been the official song designated by FIFA. In reality this song was chosen as Coca-Cola's promotional anthem for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. Here is the song

	K'naan - Wavin' Flag .mp3

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

If you search the history of this song it is evident that this particular song was recorded by K'Naan in 2008 for his album "Troubadour". It was chosen as the "Coca Cola" anthem or the World Cup 2010 and officially recorded as "Wavin'Flag" in the album "The Celebration Mix". Here is the original cover version of the song from the album "Troubadour"

The remix of "Wavin' Flag" was part of Coca-Cola's global integrated marketing campaign "inspired by the joyous dance celebrations familiar to Africa." Coca-Cola integrated its jingle, well known from previous Coca-Cola commercials, into the mix, generating a direct association between the remixed song and the brand.
A music video was shot for "Wavin' Flag (The Celebration Mix)", which includes a guest appearance by Damian Marley (son of Bob Marley). It is interesting that this video was recorded in Estadio Centenario in Montevideo, the site of the first 1930 FIFA World Cup Final.
Once the Celebration Mix was released, "Wavin' Flag" ascended to the summit of the national charts in Germany, Switzerland and Austria as well as number two in the United Kingdom, Canada, Italy and Ireland.

Here is the video from "The Celebration Mix" from K'Naan's official channel on YouTube. He is candid in admitting by adding a note "ATTENTION : This is NOT the official video or song of the 2010 FIFA World Cup". I appreciate his honesty.

There have been many official and unofficial bilingual versions released till date due to the immense popularity of the song. Here is an integrated version.

For those interested in more details the playlist follows

The songs in order of appearance are – Arabic (Nancy Ajram), Portuguese/Brazilian (Skank), Chinese (旗开得胜 – Chi-Khai-Do-Sho; Hit the ground running by Jackie Cheung & Jane Zhang), French (Fefe), Greek (Professional Sinnerz and Komis X), Indonesian (Ipang), Japanese (Ai), Nigerian (Banky W and M.I.), Russian (St1m), Spanish (David Bisbal), Thai (Tattoo Colour), Caribbean (Machel Montano), Haiti (Mikaben), Hungarian (Nálunk van a labda by archors & sports reporters of Hungarian Television – MTV), Indian ( Jasim), Somali (Gulled Ahmed), Italian (Mr. Blaza and MagicEmy), Mongolian (P.Bayartsengel, D.Anu, E.Solongo and E.Soyombo), Srilankan/Sinhala (Ekama Irak Yata" by K'naan, remixed by Pradeep), Vietnamese (Phuong Vy).

An international remix of "Wavin' Flag" features French music producer David Guetta and American rapper/producer and Black Eyed Peas frontman will.i.am and has been made for an international release outside of Canada. A big part of the will.i.am solo parts were newly written for the international version, and even for the K'naan part, some of the lyrics were amended.

In early 2010, the song was remade by a supergroup of Canadian artists, credited as Young Artists for Haiti, as a charity single to benefit relief efforts following the 2010 Haiti earthquake.
The charity single was spearheaded by producer Bob Ezrin and was reworked to include specific lyrics for Haiti (including a rap solo by Drake) and was released on March 12, 2010 with proceeds going to Free the Children, War Child Canada and World Vision Canada.
Participating soloists included (in order of appearance) K'naan, Nelly Furtado, Sam Roberts, Avril Lavigne, Pierre Bouvier, Tyler Connolly, Kardinal Offishall, Jully Black, Lights, Deryck Whibley, Serena Ryder, Jacob Hoggard, Emily Haines, Hawksley Workman, Drake, Chin Injeti, Ima, Pierre Lapointe, Elisapie Isaac, Esthero, Corb Lund, Fefe Dobson, Nikki Yanofsky, Matt Mays, Justin Nozuka and Justin Bieber.
Performing the chorus (including the soloists) were Arkells, Lamar Ashe, Broken Social Scene, Torquil Campbell, Canadian Tenors, Aion Clarke, City and Colour, Tom Cochrane, Jim Cuddy, Jim Creeggan, Kathleen Edwards, Dave Faber, Jessie Farrell, Colin James, Pat Kordyback, Brandon Lehti, Colin MacDonald, Jay Malinowski, Stacey McKitrick, Suzie McNeil, Stephan Moccio, Kevin Parent, Josh Ramsay, Red 1, Hayley Sales, James Shaw and Shiloh.
I am reminded of "USA for Africa".

It has been a long discussion on the songs associated with FIFA World Cup South Africa 2010 that have made history. Please post your comments as they serve as inspiration for me. My next post will be on "The Musical Truth of FIFA World Cup Brazil 2014".

The making of "Kyun Hai Deewane Tu Akela" - Bees Saal Pehle (1972)

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 04:34:00 +0000

My love for investigative journalism in music has always been there. Browsing the internet one fine morning I came along a little bit of information, "Kyun Hai Deewane Tu Akela" from the long forgotten film "Bees Saal Pehle" released in 1972 was inspired by a song popularized by Mary Hopkin in the late 1960s named "Those Were The Days". The song from the Hindi movie was composed by Hemant Kumar (Hemanta Mukherjee), for whom I have a great respect as a singer as well as a composer. Considering this at the back of my mind, I decided to give it a go and try and find out the source.

Music is universal, music is omnipresent. Good music from all over the world should be appreciated and when you try and appreciate melodious music, you unconsciously begin to hum that tune in the midst of your work. It keeps you going, giving you the energy to work; at least I believe in this. Even though we live in an era of communication and getting information on any subject is so easy when you have the clue, how many of us really know about the different folk and traditional tunes that are prevalent in the world. Not many of us, I believe; but it is not that difficult to hear these pieces of music in today's world. Even then we are largely ignorant about these.

Copying music has two dimensions - to lift the original tune as it is and to get inspiration from that excellent piece of music and try to include that in your own composition. While the former should be discouraged because it is blatant plagiarism; just like copying from your friend in the examination due to the fact that you were not prepared enough to take that examination. I see no harm in the second act because that is how you learn; you become enlightened and thus the music which emanated from one corner of the world percolates and penetrates to all the remote corners of the world. After all as Maria said in The Sound of Music, you can create any music by mere permutation and combination of Do-Re-Mi-Fa-So-La-Ti-Do. I am of the opinion that when you want to use a particular piece of music as it is in your composition you must have the permission to reproduce it from the right owner. I know that it seldom happens but that is the way it should be; at least there is no harm in acknowledging the fact that you as the composer are well aware of.

Now let us come to the point. Kyun Hai Deewane Tu Akela was put to tune by Hemant Kumar and he made his daughter Ranu Mukherjee sing it. Ranu did a beautiful job in singing the song and I have managed to get a copy of the song for your listening pleasure. It was difficult to get and the recording is not that good, but you can still feel the melody. Here is the song.

After hearing this song I turned my attention to the song by Mary Hopkin which had reportedly influenced Hemant Kumar, "Those Were The Days". Here is the song and you yourself see the similarity between these two.

Welsh singer Mary Hopkin, no doubt, popularized the song in 1968; but she was not the first person to record it. A group called The Limeliters recorded it first in 1962 after the English verses were written by Gene Raskin. Raskin is now regarded as the writer of the English version but he never composed the music. Here is the version of the same song by The Limeliters.

After hearing both the English versions we can very well spot out the difference in the style of singing though the tune remains the same. Mary's version is softer than that sung by The Limeliters. There is a story of how Mary got to sing the song. Gene Raskin was a frequent visitor of the White Horse Tavern (mentioned in the song) in New York's Greenwich Village the 1960s and the song lamented the passing of the golden folk days of Dylan, Paxton, Ochs, and The Clancy Brothers & Tommy Makem. Paul McCartney of The Beatles once heard Gene and his wife Francesca sing this song in a London club called the "Blue Lamp" in the mid 1960s. After discovering Mary Hopkin, Paul suggested this song to her and the rest is history. The song was produced by Paul McCartney under the newly created label by The Beatles called Apple. McCartney also produced the Spanish, German, Italian and French version of the song and Mary sang all of those. But it was not her but a French pop star named Dalida who popularized the song in these countries. Here is a playlist of the song in these languages, the tune remaining the same.

Music Playlist at MixPod.com

Over the years this song has been translated in many languages all over the world and the tune utilized in those songs.

Now the question that automatically comes to mind is whether Gene Raskin composed the tune of the song himself or whether he was, in his turn, inspired by some other song. Indeed he was inspired by a Russian folk song called "Dorogoi Dlinnoyu" ("By the Long Road"), composed by Boris Fomin (1900–1948) with words by the poet Konstantin Podrevskii. It deals with reminiscence upon youth and romantic idealism. The Georgian Tamara Tsereteli (1900–1968) in 1925 and Alexander Vertinsky in 1926 made what were probably the earliest recordings of the song. This is the version by Tsereteli which I have also uploaded in YouTube.

Since this was the first recording of the song you can very well see the Russian touch to the song. A year later Alexander Vertinsky recorded the same in a slightly different manner and he was the one who popularized it among the masses. Below is the version sung by Vertinsky.

After this period the song has been sung by many Russian artists, each with their different style of singing and over the years the tune has transformed into Raskin's version of the English song. Below is a video to see how the tune has evolved within Russia itself.

So this is the story of the evolution of the song "Kyun Hai Deewane Tu Akela" from the 1972 Hindi movie "Bees Saal Pehle". Hemant Kumar, no doubt, copied the tune from the most popular version of the song those days by Mary Hopkin; but if I may add at this point that even Gene Raskin copied it from the Russian folk song set to tune by Boris Fomin. He is who deserves the credit and not Raskin as is popularly believed.

Please send in your comments because that is what keeps me going.

The Influence of Western Melodies in Rabindranath's Compositions - Part IV

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 15:12:00 +0000

Go Where Glory Waits Thee

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

Lyrics of Go Where Glory Waits Thee - Thomas Moore
Go where glory waits thee,
But while fame elates thee,
Oh! still remember me.
When the praise thou meetest
To thine ear is sweetest,
Oh! then remember me.
Other arms may press thee,
Dearer friends caress thee,
All the joys that bless thee,
Sweeter far may be;
But when friends are nearest,
And when joys are dearest,
Oh! then remember me!

When, at eve, thou rovest
By the star thou lovest,
Oh! then remember me.
Think, when home returning,
Bright we've seen it burning,
Oh! thus remember me.
Oft as summer closes,
When thine eye reposes
On its lingering roses,
Once so loved by thee,
Think of her who wove them,
Her who made thee love them,
Oh! then remember me.

When, around thee dying,
Autumn leaves are lying,
Oh! then remember me.
And, at night, when gazing
On the gay hearth blazing,
Oh! still remember me.
Then should music, stealing
All the soul of feeling,
To thy heart appealing,
Draw one tear from thee;
Then let memory bring thee
Strains I used to sing thee, --
Oh! then remember me.

The Vicar of Bray.
This has been discussed in detail in a previous post. You will find a melodious rendition of the song here

Nancy Lee

Here is the song by Peter Dawson

A beutiful rendition of the song played on organ can be found here

Lyrics of Nancy Lee

The music to Nancy Lee was written by Michael Maybrick, who published under the name Stephen Adams. He was born in Liverpool in 1844. He completed his music studies there and moved to Leipzig and Milan to study further. He became a well known baritone singer. His first appearance was in the New Philharmonic Concerts in London in 1870. His tunes were popular in both England and America.
Nancy Lee was one of Maybrick's first compositions. It was so popular that within two years over one hundred thousand copies had been sold.

The words was written by Frederick E. Weatherly (1848-1929). Weatherly was born in Somersetshire in 1848 and graduated from Oxford in 1871. He practiced law thereafter, but also wrote more that fifty children's books and wrote several tunes with Maybrick.

Of all the wives as e'er you know,
Yeo ho! lads, ho! Yeo ho! Yeo ho!
There's none like Nancy Lee, I trow,
Yeo ho! Yeo ho! Yeo ho!
See there she stands and waves her hands
Upon the quay, and every day
When I'm away she'll watch for me,
And whisper low when tempests blow,
For Jack at sea,
Yeo ho! lads, ho! Yeo ho!

Chorus
The sailor's wife the sailor's star shall be,
Yeo ho! We go across the sea;
The sailor's wife the sailor's star shall be,
The sailor's wife his star shall be!

The harbor's past, the breezes blow,
Yeo ho! lads, ho! Yeo ho! Yeo ho!
'Tis long ere we come back, I know,
Yeo ho! Yeo ho! Yeo ho!
But true and bright from morn till night
My home will be, and all so neat,
And snug and sweet, for Jack at sea;
And Nancy's face to bless the place,
And welcome me;
Yeo ho! lads, ho! Yeo ho!

Chorus

The bosun pipes the watch below,
Yeo ho! lads, ho! Yeo ho! Yeo ho!
Then here's a health afore we go,
Yeo ho! Yeo ho! Yeo ho!
A long, long life to my sweet wife,
And mates at sea, and keep our bones
From Davy Jones, where-e'er we be,
And may you meet a mate as sweet
As Nancy Lee.
Yeo ho! lads, ho! Yeo ho!

Chorus

The British Grenadiers

This has been discussed in detail in a previous post. You can find below a performance by Texas Saxophone Quartet

The British Grenadiers – Texas Saxophone Quartet

MP3 search on MP3hunting

Ye Banks and Braes

You can find an orchestral rendition here

After the musical rendition here is the song being sung

Lyrics of Ye Banks and Braes

Ye banks and braes o' bonnie Doon,
How can ye bloom sae fresh and fair?
How can ye chant, ye little birds,
And I sae weary, fu' o' care!
Thou'll break my heart, thou warbling bird,
That wantons thro' the flowering thorn!
Thou minds me o' departed joys,
Departed, never to return.
Aft hae I rov'd by bonnie Doon
To see the rose and woodbine twine;
And ilka bird sang o' its luve,
And fondly sae did I o' mine;
Wi' lightsome heart I pu'd a rose,
Fu' sweet upon its thorny tree!
And my fause luver stole my rose -
But, ah! he left the thorn wi' me.

Meaning of unusual words:
braes=hillsides
ilka=every

Robin Adair

Here are three musical renditions of this beautiful song, two of the records are quite old

Robin Adair 1

Robin Adair 2

Robin Adair 3

And now you can find the actual song

Lyrics of Robin Adair

by Lady Caroline Keppel

What`s this dull town to me
Robin`s not near
What was`t I wish`d to see
What wish`d to hear
Where all the joy and mirth
Made this town heaven on earth
Oh, they`re all fled with thee
Robin Adair
What made th` assembly shine
Robin Adair
What made the ball sae fine
Robin was there
What when the play was o`er
What made my heart so sore
Oh, it was parting with
Robin Adair
But now thou`rt cold to me
Robin Adair
But now thou`rt cold to me
Robin Adair
Yet he I loved so well
Still in my heart shall dwell
Oh, I can ne`er forget
Robin Adair

The Influence of Western Melodies in Rabindranath's Compositions - Part III

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Tue, 17 Aug 2010 05:31:00 +0000

Western music and melodies which inspired Rabindranath Tagore

We have been discussing the influence of western music on the compositions of Rabindranath Tagore. It was there because he had not only listened to these melodies during his childhood days, but also studied various forms of European music during his visits to England and the continent. In his own words, “At seventeen, when I first came to Europe, I came to know it intimately, but even before that time I had heard European music in our household. I had heard the music of Chopin and others at an early age. As a young boy, I heard European music being played on the piano; much of it I found attractive, but I could not enter fully into the spirit of the thing. I first heard European songs when I was 17 years old during my first visit to London. The artiste was Madame Nilsson, who had a great reputation in those days”.
From his letters of those days, it is known that he had often danced ‘Gallop’ and ‘Lancers’ in association with instruments like piano, violin etc during evening parties and fancy balls. In his autography (Jeevansmriti) he has written, “When I was in Brighton, I once went to hear the song of a famous singer in the institution for music there. I am failing to recollect her name. She might be either Madame Nilsson or Madame Albany. I have never heard such wonderful power of voice”.
In his autobiography he further writes that during his stay in London at Mrs. Scott’s residence, he had practiced Irish Meldiz and learnt some of them. His practice bore fruits and he could gather appreciation for his high pitched singing (Tarsaptak or Tenor) of the popular English numbers those days.
Many people think that these Bengali songs were oriented on the original western melodies only as a mark of influence. But Rabindra thinkers and researchers have a different opinion. Due to paucity of songs in this category and the fact that Gurudev did not compose such songs after he was past his 20s, it can be concluded that he, in the meanwhile, found out songs and music which inspired him throughout his life. Moreover, as the breakaway songs were born out of exact imitations from the point of view of tunes, there was no enthusiasm left in Tagore's mind to compose songs this way any further. The real influence of European music is, therefore, found elsewhere. This influence can be seen from the time of composition of these musical dance dramas till the last days of his life and have been expressed in different dimensions of Rabindrasangeet, thus giving rise to a coordinated trend.
Below is a list of English and European songs and melodies that Rabindranath learnt well during his stay in England.

1. Won't you tell me Mollie Darling
2. Silver Threads Among The Gold (Darling I am growing old)
3. Good Bye, Sweetheart, Good Bye
4. Then you will remember me
5. In the gloaming
6. Sleep on Beloved Good Night, Good Night
7. Go where glory waits thee
8. The Vicar of Bray
9. Of all the wives as e'er (Nancy Lee)
10. The British Grenadiers
11. Ye Banks and Braes
12. Robin Adair
13. If
14. Drink to me with only thine eyes
15. Ave Maria
16. Serenade
17. Messe Solennelle
18. Faust
19. Funeral March
20. Galops
21. Parsifal

These are the songs and compositions with which Rabindranath was well versed with and used to sing and play effortlessly.

Below are some short compositions by Charles Gounod on piano, organ and other instruments and it is possible that Rabindranath derived inspiration from these musical pieces

Molly Darling - Will Oakland Original

You can hear the song here

This is the newer version of the same song by Hank Snow. See how that it has evolved over time. You can find it here

Lyrics of Molly Darling

Won't you tell me Molly darling
that you love none else but me
For I love you Molly darling
you are all the world to me
Oh tell me darling that you love me
put your little hand in mine
Take my heart sweet Molly darling
say that you'll give me thine
Stars are smiling Molly darling
through a mystique veil of night
They seem laughing Molly darling
while they seem to hide their light
Oh no one listens but the flowers
while they hang their heads in shame
They are modest Molly darling
When they hear me call your name
Molly there is sweetest dearest
look up darling tell me this
Do you love me Molly darling
let your answer be a kiss

Silver Threads Among The Gold - Will Oakland (Darling I am growing Old)

You can find the song here

Lyrics of Siver Threads Among the Gold (Darling I am Growing Old)

Darling, I am growing old,
Silver threads among the gold,
Shine upon my brow today,
Life is fading fast away;
But, my darling, you will be, will be,
Always young and fair to me,
Yes, my darling, you will be,
Always young and fair to me.
Darling, I am growing, growing old,
Silver threads among the gold,
Shine upon my brow today,
Life is fading fast away.

Good Bye Sweetheart Good Bye

Then You Will Remember Me

In the Gloaming

Lyrics of In The Gloaming

In the gloaming, oh my darling,
when the lights are soft and low
and the quiet shadows falling
softly come and softly go..

When the trees are sobbing faintly
with a gentle unknown woe,
will you think of me and love me,
as you did once long ago..?

In the gloaming, oh my darling,
think not bitterly of me.
Though I passed away in silence
left you lonely, set you free..

For my heart was tossed with longing,
what had been could never be.
It was best to leave you, thus, dear,
best for you and best for me..

In the gloaming, oh my darling,
when the lights are soft and low,
will you think of me and love me,
as you did once long ago..?

Sleep on Beloved

Lyrics of Sleep On Beloved

Sleep on beloved sleep and take thy rest
Lay down thy head upon thy Saviour's breast
We love thee well but Jesus loves thee best
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight

Until our shadows from this earth are cast
Until He gathers in His sheaves at last
Until the twilight gloom is over past
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight

Until made beautiful by love divine
Thou in the likeness of thy Lord shalt shine
And He will bring that golden crown of thine
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight

Until we meet again before the throne
Clothed in the spotless robes He gives His own
Until we know as we have known
Goodnight, goodnight, goodnight

Continued......

The Influence of Western Melodies in Rabindranath's Compositions - Part II

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 07:39:00 +0000

In Kaalmrigaya, the another song named " Tui Aay Re Kaache Aay" is based on an age old British tune - "The British Grenadiers". When you hear both the songs one after other, you can make out the similarity very clearly. Here Tagore has created an appropriate depiction of children playing in the garden with his wonderful lyrics blending with the tempo of the original tune of "The British Grenadiers".

The British Grenadiers is a marching song for the grenadier units of the British military, the tune of which dates from the seventeenth century. It is the Regimental Quick March of the Grenadier Guards, the Honourable Artillery Company and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. It is also an authorised march of The Royal Gibraltar Regiment, The Royal Regiment of Canadian Artillery, The Canadian Grenadier Guards, The Royal Regiment of Canada, The Princess Louise Fusiliers, and The 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles.

A song entitled "The New Bath" found in Playford's dance books from the 1600s is thought to be the origin. However, it is also suggested that it was derived from the Dutch march "De Jonge Prins van Friesland" ("The Young Prince of Friesland", referring to Prince Johan Willem Friso); the first notes of this tune are similar.
Here is the original Dutch marching band.

The march was introduced to Britain during the reign of the Dutch Stadholder-King William III. Today it is played as the Royal Inspection March in the Dutch army and as a march to the crown prince.
The first known association of the tune with the regiment is in 1706 as 'The Grenadier's March', and the first version printed with lyrics from around 1750. It was a popular tune throughout the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, and remains so until this day
In the UK, it is played at Trooping the Colour. Additionally, the first eight measures are played during the ceremony when the Escort for the Colour marches into position on Horse Guards Parade.

Lyrics
The following text is the most well-known version of the song. The text arguably dates back to the War of Spanish Succession (1702-1713), since it refers to the grenadiers throwing grenades (a practice that proved to be too dangerous and was dropped soon after,) and the men wearing "caps and pouches" (i.e. the typical grenadier caps, worn by these elite troops, and probably the small cartridge boxes worn in front, known as a 'belly box') and "louped clothes", then preserved only for the grenadiers.

Some talk of Alexander, and some of Hercules
Of Hector and Lysander, and such great names as these.
But of all the world's great heroes, there's none that can compare.
With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, to the British Grenadiers.
Those heroes of antiquity ne'er saw a cannon ball,
Or knew the force of powder to slay their foes withal.
But our brave boys do know it, and banish all their fears,
Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers.
Whenever we are commanded to storm the palisades,
Our leaders march with fusees, and we with hand grenades.
We throw them from the glacis, about the enemies’* ears.
Sing tow, row, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.
And when the siege is over, we to the town repair.
The townsmen cry, “Hurrah, boys, here comes a Grenadier!
Here come the Grenadiers, my boys, who know no doubts or fears!
Then sing tow, row, row, row, row, row, the British Grenadiers.
Then let us fill a bumper, and drink a health to those
Who carry caps and pouches, and wear the loupèd clothes.
May they and their commanders live happy all their years.
With a tow, row, row, row, row, row, for the British Grenadiers.

*sometimes sung "about the Frenchmen's ears"

The British Grenadiers - Walter Nelson

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

The British Grenadiers - The Fast Marching Band

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

The British Grenadiers - Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

The British Grenadiers and Tui Aay Re Kaache Aay - Aantorjatik Rabindranath

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

The influence of western melodies in Rabindranath's compositions - Part I

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 00:59:00 +0000

As I have discussed in my previous post that many of Rabindranath Tagore's compositions were influenced by melodies and popular tunes from European nations as also from different parts of India.
I will try to provide an in depth analysis of these to the best of my ability. I will supplement the discussions with audio files wherever necessary.
During the years 1880-1882, Rabindranath wrote two dance dramas - Balmiki Protibha and Kaalmrigaya in that sequence. In these two works the influence of western popular and folk music is very much evident. Let us take up Kaalmrigaya (The Fatal Hunt) first. In Kaalmrigaya six songs have a very obvious western influence and these are
1. Phoole phoole dhole dhole (Drowsing on every flower)
2. Sokoli Phuralo (everything is over)
3. Mana na manili (Ye did not obey forbiddance)
4. O dekhbi re bhai (O brother you will see)
5. Enechi mora enechi mora (Brought we have, we have brought)
6. Tui ay re kaache aay (O bhai dekhe ja), (Come ye nearer come) (O brother come and see)

Let us take up "O Dekhbi Re Bhai" first. This song's tune is an adaptation from "The Vicar of Bray".

The Vicar of Bray is a satirical description of an individual fundamentally changing his principles to remain in ecclesiastical office as external requirements change around him. The religious upheavals in England from 1533 to 1559 and from 1633 to 1715 made it almost impossible for any individual to comply with the successive religious requirements of the state.
A satirical 18th century song, "The Vicar of Bray", recounts the career of a vicar of Bray, Berkshire, towards the end of this period and his contortions of principle in order to retain his ecclesiastic office despite the changes through the course of several monarchs from Charles II to George I.

In the song, "The Vicar of Bray", the eponymous vicar was the clergyman of the parish of Bray-on-Thames, Berkshire. The most familiar version of the lyrics recount his adaptability (some would say amorality) over half a century, from the reigns of Charles II to George I. Over this period, he embraced whichever form of liturgy, Protestant or Catholic , was favoured by the monarch of the day in order to retain his position as vicar of Bray.
The earliest version of the song's lyrics may have been written by "an officer in Colonel Fuller's regiment," according to one source. They exist in various forms. However, the story of the vicar's cheerful reversals of principle remains the same in all circumstances.

The Vicar of Bray - Lyrics
In good King Charles's golden days,
When loyalty had no harm in't,
A zealous High Churchman I was,
And so I gained preferment.
To teach my flock I never missed:
Kings were by God appointed;
And they are damned who dare resist
Or touch the Lord's anointed.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

When Royal James obtained the Throne,
And Popery grew in fashion,
The Penal Law I hooted down,
And read the Declaration;
The Church of Rome I found would fit
Full well my constitution;
And I had been a Jesuit
But for the Revolution.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

When William, our deliverer, came
To heal the nation's grievance,
Then I turned cat-in-pan again,
And swore to him allegiance
Old principles I did revoke,
Set conscience at a distance,
Passive obedience was a joke,
A jest was non-resistance.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

When glorious Anne became our Queen,
The Church of England's glory,
Another face of things was seen,
And I became a Tory.
Occasional Conformist Face!
I damned such moderation;
And thought the Church in danger was
By such prevarication.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

When George in pudding-time came o'er
And moderate men looked big, sir,
My principles I changed once more,
And so became a Whig, sir;
And thus preferment I procured
From our Faith's great Defender;
And almost every day abjured
The Pope and the Pretender.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

The illustrious House of Hanover,
And Protestant Succession,
By these I lustily will swear
While they can keep possession
For in my faith and loyalty
I never once will falter,
But George my King shall ever be,
Except the times do alter.

And this is law I will maintain
Until my dying day, sir,
That whatsoever King shall reign,
I'll be Vicar of Bray, sir.

I am going to assume that some readers are not well versed in this period of English history, and will thus provide a little historic background in hopes of enhancing the fun of reading this wonderful poem.
The Charles to which the opening passage refers is Charles II, who assumed the English throne at the age of 30 in 1660, after having spent his youth in exile during the rule of the Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell, who had had his father Charles I beheaded in 1649. Charles II was an avid supporter of the Church of England until a few days before his death, when he confessed to a priest and took his first and only Catholic communion.
Upon Charles' death in 1685, his brother James II assumed the throne. James was 53 at the time. He was a Catholic, having converted in 1668, to the great distress of his brother the King. His first wife, a protestant, bore him two daughters, Mary and Anne. Upon her death, he married an ardent Catholic, Mary of Modena. James' Catholicism was a constant source of trouble in Protestant England, but Mary of Modena appeared to be incapable of giving birth to a live child, so the English assumed that the throne would pass to James' Protestant daughter, Mary.
Just before James' death, however, Mary of Modena ostensibly gave birth to a young male, James Francis Edward Stuart, who later became known as the "Old Pretender." I say ostensibly because rumors abounded that some other woman's baby had been smuggled into the birthing chamber in order that a Catholic would inherit the throne. This is known as the "warming pan" legend. This birth threw the English Court and the nation into turmoil. Amid the fray, the Bishop of London and six prominent nobles secretly invited William of Orange ("William, our deliverer" in the poem) and his wife, James' Protestant daughter Mary, to come to England and take the throne by force, which they did, after James basically abandoned the fight and was allowed to go into exile in France.
William was a Presbyterian. He was adamantly anti-Catholic, which pleased the Anglicans, but he was not one of them, which weakened their enthusiasm a bit. Mary died childless of smallpox in 1694. William governed for eight more years, but was unpopular throughout this time.
When he died in 1702, Mary's sister Anne took the throne. She was an ardent Anglican. Indeed, she is known today as one of the most English of all the English monarchs. She died childless in 1714, and the English sent to Germany for the 54-year-old Elector of Hanover, who reluctantly moved to England and became King George I. His claim to the throne was that he was the great grandson of James I, who had assumed the English throne one hundred and eleven years earlier, in 1603 upon the death of Queen Elizabeth I.
George was unpopular. He spoke no English and cared little for the English people. As King, his natural affinity was with the Tories, but he distrusted the Tory leadership, knowing that many of them had secretly supported the Jacobite uprising in 1715, one year after he became King. The object of this uprising was to place James Stuart on the throne. It was led by the Old Pretender's son Charles Edward Stuart, the "Young Pretender." So George became tight with the Whigs, who were led by the deeply corrupt, but politically astute Prime Minister Robert Walpole. With that introduction, please enjoy this great old classic.

This is the same song sung by an Indian artist, Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta followed by a depiction of how that tune was used by Tagore in his composition "O Dekhbi Re Bhai" from Kaalmrigaya. The first song is from Swagatalakshmi's album "Swadesh Bidesh" and the second one is from an album called "Antorjatik Rabindranath".

Swagatalakshmi Dasgupta (Swadesh Bidesh) - The Vicar of Bray

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

Antorjatik Rabindranath - The Vicar of Bray and O Dekhbi Re Bhai

Get this widget

Track details

eSnips Social DNA

My next post will be on another song from "Kaalmrigaya" - Tui Aay Re Kaache Aay.

Rabindranath Tagore and his compositions

noreply@blogger.com (Partha -The Oncologist with a Heart) — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 09:22:00 +0000

Rabindranath Tagore has been, remains and will continue to be a towering personality in the Bengali literature and culture. It is impossible to comprehend Rabindranath completely both as a person and pertaining to his works. His presence in every field of fine arts; be it literature, music or paintings and sketches; to name a few remains undisputable. Rabindranath Tagore is an all pervading presence in Bengali life and culture.
Rabindra Sangeet or the songs of Rabindranath aptly add a new dimension to the world of Bengali music. His songs breathe a whiff of fresh air in our worn-out, exhausted lives and imbibe us with new spirit and energy to get rejuvenated. The songs of Rabindranath are the purest manifestations of ethereal life and all that man thinks, dreams, craves and strives for. Rabindra Sangeet can undoubtedly be regarded as the voice of mankind, such is the vastness of the compositions.

Ironically, these divine songs of Tagore were initially not given due respect and recognition in our society. His songs were not regarded as refined by the connoisseurs of music who were mostly fond of Indian classical music. In the musical conferences of the elites no other Bengali songs except Nidhubabu's 'Tappa Songs' , could gain much ground. On some stray occasions, the songs of Rajnikanta or Dwijendralal could be heard but Rabindra Sangeet was not considered eligible enough to match the status of the 'refined' songs which suited the ears of the classes. Rabindra Sangeet could only be heard during the prayers and social functions of the Brahmo Samaj. The sole breeding ground of Rabindra Sangeet was the institution in Santiniketan, the hermitage of the poet.
If we try to ascertain the reason of ascertain the reason of neglecting Tagore's songs, we'll see that the Bengalis were so obsessed with the divine poems of Rabindranath that they found it difficult to judge his versataility when it came to music. It took a long time for the average Bengali to realize and evaluate the incredible talent of Rabindranath as a lyricist and music composer.

Rabindranath, himself, was well-aware of this fact. He had a deep sense of infliction for this neglect of his songs. He was heard to tell his close associates in a pensive mood that the Bengalis failed to make a proper estimation of his quintessential songs due to ignorance. But the saint poet was also optimistic that a day would come when the Bengalis would not be able to do away with Rabindra Sangeet as he had sincerely blended in his songs all those essential elements that make the Bengalis stand out as a distinctive race. His songs represent the dreams and desires, hopes and aspirations, joys and woes, success and failure, ecstasies and frustrations and all the emotions, sentiments and feelings of Bengali life. That he was absolutely right was proved in the impending times. Today, Rabindra Sangeet is serving as the lifeline in the cultural life of Bengal. In this context, it becomes necessary for us to talk about the origin of Rabindra Sangeet and its prevailing background. Rabindranath Tagore arrived in Bengali life at crucial time when the age old scanario of art and culture was undergoing a radical change.
The Evolution of Rabindranath
In the Thakur Bari (House of Thakurs or Tagores) at Jorasanko in Kolkata, an earnest endeavour was made for the resuscitation of original Indian music and Bengali songs in particular. However, the musical ambience in the 'Thakurbari' was different from that of Saurindra Mohan Thakur. The latter had simply concentrated on the preservation of the traditional music whereas Maharshi Debendranath and Jyotirindranath Thakur of Jorasanko not only took care in preserving the existing schools of Indian music but were also prolific in enriching the world of Indian music with new and innovative creations. Rabindranath was an ideal successor of his father Debendranath. He had an intrinsic proclivity for music and through his divine songs took Indian music to dizzying heights and gave it a new identity.

It deserves mention in this regard that Saurindra Mohan Thakur had particularly patronized the growth of Indian classical (Dhrupadi) music. In those days, the elites, especially the kings and landlords were so fond of classical music that they sincerely cultivated and promoted it. The Nawab of Ayodhya who was exiled in Metiabruz, Kolkata also played a significant role in promoting Indian classical music. In fact, refined classical music with aristocratic fervour along with western education had cast a profound impact on the then Bengali society which had virtually severed all its affinity with the world of Bengali songs.
Even the more popular Bengali songs like Kirtan, Shyama Sangeet, Baul songs etc. had taken the back seat. Except a few religious songs, there was hardly any other variety of Bengali song which was admired by the elites and the middle class people.

During this crucial juncture when Bengali song was going through the worst phase of its existence, Pt. Ishwar Gupta wrote a few invaluable treatises on the concerned subject in the 'Sangeet Prabhakar' which hogged the attention of the educated and refined classes. It was the first deliberate attempt to make the learned upper classes aware of the rich heritage of Bengali songs. The musical genius of Rabindranath was in fact spruced up and perfected by three streams of music namely
1. Refined Indian classical music
2. Different gharana or schools of music existing in different regions of India and
3. Western music.

Rabindranath made an extensive research on Indian music. He collected exquisite specimens of music from different Indian states and made a divine amalgamation with them using his gifted innovative talent. For instance, the divine song 'Anandaloke Mangaloke' composed by Tagore was in fact taken from the tune of a popular song in Mysore. Again some of his songs are indebted to Sikh Bhajans. Initially, Rabindranath's songs were immensely influenced by Indian classical music. Most of his Brahmo Sangeet (songs devoted to Brahmo) is indebted to Hindusthani 'gharana' of songs.

Rabindranath was very fond of ballads, Nidhubabau's Tappa songs, songs of the kathaks (Brahmins who recite or interpret legends or myths), raconteurs and the rustic songs of the talented local singers whose songs were imbibed with the essence of nature. Tagore's knowledge of Indian music was all the more enriched during his stay of Silaidaha when he came in class contact with Lalan Phakir, the legendary Baul singer of Bengal and Gagan Harkara. Tagore was fascinated to hear their melodious songs. He was deeply impressed to find the simplicity in language and style and the dulcet rustic music which make an ethereal combination to express the profound philosophies of life. The Baul philosophy, music and spontaneity of expression had influenced Tagore so deeply that he went as far as calling himself Rabindra Baul.

Another school of music which cast a profound impact on Rabindranath was Kirtan. This is the balladic style in which he wrote 'Bhanu Singher Padabali.' The impact of the Vaishnava Padavali was conspicuously felt here. Incidentally, Padavali is a wreath of stanzas or Vaishnava poems.

The first phase of Rabindra Sangeet
The first phase of Rabindra Sangeet can approximately be regarded from 1877 to 1900. During this phase, Tagore was more of a learner, collecting valuable materials from the vast sea of Indian music. So we find the Tagore songs of this period showing positive influence of Hindustani classical music, western music from all nook and corner of the world. With his tremendous innovative talent, Tagore tried to make a divine blending of all types of music which touched his heart. His songs, during this period, were also influenced by the songs of Jyotirindranath, Akshay Chowdhury and Nidhu babu. Not to mention, there were several other compositions which were exclusively his own and independent so far as style or content is concerned. But these songs were also influenced to some extent by contemporary music of those days. However, this phase was short-lived and soon Rabindranath's genius as an independent and spontaneous song composer was conspicuously felt.

During this advanced stage, Tagore's songs were immensely influenced by Brahmo Sangeet and religious songs based on Ragas. Now, he composed three spectacular lyrical plays viz., 'Balmiki Pratibha,' 'Kal Mrigaya' and 'Mayar Khela.' He also composed a few patriotic songs and love songs during this phase. Till then, he was not vehemently influenced by folk-songs or Baul songs. He was rather more deeply influenced by the classical music and the 'durbari gharana' as was practised in their household.

Since the very inception, Rabindranath tried to be meticulous in maintaining a parity or harmony between music and lyrics. Most of his songs during this phase were clearly influenced by classical songs. Most of his songs are marked for their 'Antara,' 'Sanchari,' 'Abhoy' etc. Another feature of his songs deserves mention in this regard. Many of his earlier songs which are based on Ragas and Raginis do not bear any resemblance with our known world of classical music. This was because of his innovative spirit which loved to experiment with various schools of music. He was undoubtedly influenced by north Indian classical music. But he was no less touched by the Vishnupur gharana of music.

Rabindranath had composed several songs based on some quintessential Ragas. Most of these songs were based on Bhairavi and Raga Behag. In the meantime, he had made remarkable progress as a music composer. Now he was showing clear signs of maturity as a lyricist and music composer. His remarkable improvement can be easily traced if we compare his earlier song 'Boli Amar Golapbala' with 'Tumi Rabe Nirabe' composed later in 1895. Both the songs were based on Raga Behag but the latter had far surpassed the former in qualitative excellence. Similarly, his earlier song 'Aaj Tomare Dekhte Elam,' based on Raga Bhairavi, is not at par with 'Keno Jamini Na Jete Jagale Na' composed later in 1897. Sometime during this period, he composed some exquisite songs e.g. 'Emon Dine Tare Bala Jai' (Raga Malhar), 'Tumi Sandhyar Megh Mala' (Raga Iman Kalyan) which prove the real genius of Rabindranath as a composer of divine music.

As mentioned earlier, Tagore was very much influenced by occidental songs as well as regional Indian music. With the cultural diversity of India, her music too has also assumed manifold colourful forms and patterns. Rabindranath had taken the best of whatever he heard and applied these in his songs. Some of the spectacular songs of Rabindranath which were directly influenced by the time of regional songs from several Indian provinces are given below:
Rabindranath's Song Derived from
1) Gaganer Thale Rabichandra Dweepak Jwale - Sikh Bhajan
2) Boro Aasha Kore - Kannada Song
3) Aaaji Subho Dine - Kannada Song
4) Sakatare Oi Kandiche - Kannada Song
5) Bendhecho Premer Pashe - An old Bengali Song
6) Nami Nami Bharati - Gujarati Bhajan
7) Jao Re Ananta Dhame - Gujarati Bhajan
8) Eki Andhakar Ey Bharatbhoomi - Gujarati Bhajan
9) Eki Labonye Purna Pran - A song from Mysore
10) Anandaloke Mangalaloke - A song from Mysore
During this period, Rabindranath had also adopted music from western songs and used them effectively in his songs. Some remarkable specimens are 'Katobar Bhebechinu,' 'Purano Sai Diner Katha' and a few other songs. Most of these songs were aptly used in his lyrical plays viz., 'Balmiki Pratibha,' 'Kalmrigaya' and 'Mayar Khela.'
Kirtan, Baul and folk music too have had profound impact on Rabindra Sangeet. Some outstanding specimens of such Tagore songs are as follows:
Rabindranath's Song Derived from
1) Gahan Kusum Kunja Majhe - Kirtan
2) Ami Jene Sene Tobu - Kirtan
3) Shyama Ebar Chere Cholechi - Ramprasad's song
4) Amar Mon Mane Na - Kirtan
5) Khyapa Tui Achis Apan - Baul song
6) Amare Ke Nibi Bhai - Baul song
7) Khanchar Pakhi Chilo - Kirtan
8) Baro Bedonar Mato - Kirtan
9) Tomar Gopan Kathati - Kirtan
10) Ohe Jeebanballav - Kirtan
11) Bhalobeshe Sakhi - Kirtan
12) Ami Nishidin Tomai - Kirtan
13) Amra Milechi Aaj Mayer Dake - Ramprasad's song
14) Olo Sai Olo Sai - Kirtan
15) Hridayer Ekul Okul - Baul
16) Oke Balo Sakhi Balo - Kirtan
17) Tobu Mone Rekho - Kirtan
In his outstanding lyrical play 'Balmiki Pratibha,' Tagore has freely adopted from western music and some Hindusthani songs. Besides, he was also influenced by the Vaishnava poets, Dasharathi Roy, Kalidas's 'Abhigyan Shakuntalam' etc. Such verses as 'Timir Digvari Ghor Jamini/Rim Jhim Ghana Ghanare Barashe' clearly show the impact of Vaishnava Padavali. Again, beautiful verses as 'Tarase Chamkiye Harini' remind us of the versatile Kalidas.

In another remarkable lyrical play 'Kalmrigaya,' Tagore adopted the tunes from some western songs. They are given below:
Original English song Rabindra Sangeet
1) The Vicar of Bray - O Dekhbi Re Bhai
2) The British Grenadiers - Tui Aire Kache Dhole
3) The banks and braes - Phoole Phoole Dhole Dhole
4) Go where glory waits thee - Mana Na Manili
5) Robin Adair - Sakali Phooralo
Several songs of 'Kalmrigaya are deeply indebted to Indian classical music. Some excellent Ragas and Raginis like Mishra Bhoopali, Mishra Khambaaj, Chhayanat, Gaud Malhar, Bahar, Desh have been adopted by Rabindranath in Kalmrigaya.

In 'Mayar Khela,' Tagore had shown his gifted prowess in making a perfect blending of exquisite songs with the theme of the play. This play has love as its leitmotiv and is full of romantic songs. But it deserves special mention here that the love depicted in 'Mayar Khela' is pure and divine. It is by no means base or carnalistic and is devoid of passion or desire. The music composed by Tagore is marvellous while the language employed is easy, lucid, graceful but poignant.

The second phase of Rabindra Sangeet

In this phase, Tagore's songs have been mostly adopted from some timeless books of poems and plays. Some of these books are 'Naibedya,' 'Sishu,' 'Kheya,' 'Geetanjali', 'Geetimalya' and 'Geetali.' Some of the outstanding plays are 'Sarodotsav,' 'Prayaschitta,' 'Raja,' 'Achalayatan,' 'Phalguni,' 'Arup Ratan' etc. Off course, there are some independent songs of Tagore as well. However, this period is popularly known as the era of 'Geetanjali-Geetali-Geetimalya' from the point of view of Tagore's music.

Rabindranath, by now, was more matured and more dextrous in creating music. Through ample experimentations and researches, he was trying to give birth to an independent, spontaneous and graceful form of music. Now he was also inclined towards folk songs which did not quite appeal to his ears in the earlier phase.

During the first moiety of this phase, Rabindranath had composed several songs by adopting music from some marvellous Hindusthani classical songs. He was very particular to see that the lyrics gelled well with the music and it is this harmony which has forever remained a major key to the success of his timeless songs. To reduce the poetic intensity of his songs, he has at times, modified certain Ragas and moulded them accordingly. He has even blended two or more Ragas as and when required intensifying the effect of his songs. A remarkable instance of such exquisite song is 'Ache Dukkha Ache Mrityu.' This song is a unique blending of four Ragas viz., Lalit, Bibhas, Jogiya and Ashabari.

All these four Ragas are exclusively meant to be sung at dawn. A unique blending of these Ragas emits a sense of love and languishment at the same time which leads to emancipation of spirit. More specimens of such exquisite songs based on classical music are found in the 'Geetanjali,' 'Geetimalya' and 'Geetali.' These songs are distinctly different from those of the earlier period. They are more soothing to the ears and have been simplified to a great extent. This time, Tagore deliberately tried to avoid intricate and screne talas (tala implies rhythmic pattern of Indian music) such as Chautal, Dhamod, Adachautal etc.

Gradually, Rabindranath came out of set patterns and conventional norms of classical music and tried to create something original and sui generis. During this phase, Tagore's songs were also emancipated from the strong influence of the Vishnupur gharana of music. He was no longer influenced by any other school of music.

It was this phase of Rabindranath's life when he composed 'Jana Gana Mana Adhinayak Jay Hey...' This ethereal composition was universally accepted as the national anthem of India. He wanted to be meticulous while composing the national anthem so that the tune could illuminate the hearts of all Indians with the spirit of nationalism, irrespective of caste, creed, community, sex or religion. He made a unique blending of those Ragas which are commonly sung and are most popular. Finally, Tagore rendered that brilliant literary touch to the song which has made it immortal. Similarly, the versatile poet has written several other patriotic songs which have a universal appeal in lucid Sanskrit language.
After the foundation of the Brahmo Samaj, music became an inextricable part of prayers and religious ceremonies. The creative genius in Rabindranath impelled him to try a hand in this sphere as well. It cannot be denied that in this form of music too; Rabindranath has composed some timeless marvellous songs and elevated the general standard of devotional music.

In 'The Geetanjali,' the poet's earnest desire to feel the omnipotent God in the core of his heart, has not been fulfilled. At times, he gets His divine glimpses but he is not satiated. In 'Geetimalya,' the poet gets his desired unison with the Almighty whereas 'Gitali' is a celebration of that divine unison, the ecstasy and enlightenment which has been derived through the divine unison an climaxed through several strife and struggles.

A glance at the following verses clearly indicates the various shades of the poet's mind at different stages.

(a) 'Aji Jharer Rate Tomar Abhisaar Paran Sakha Bandhu Hey Amar.' (Gitanjali)

(b) 'Ei Labhinu Sanga Taba Sundar Hey Sundar Punya Holo Anga Mama Dhanya Holo
Antaar.' (Geetimalya)

(c) 'Aguner Parashmani Chonao Praane Ey Jeeban Punya Karo Dahan Daane.' (Geetali)

The third phase of Rabindra Sangeet

The third phase of Rabindra Sangeet is a very matured and developed stage which can literally be called as Rabindranath's very own. Durig this phase, Tagore ensconced himself in the domain of songs as the maestro and came out of all conventional patterns or imfluence of any school of music. He was now at his creative best and showed brilliant sparks of originality and ingenuity. During this phase, Tagore had hardly adopted from any other songs or music of any gharana whatsoever. A salient feature of his music in this stage was a unique amalgamation of classical music with folk music. The latter was the sort of music which is essentially intertwined with the soil and soul of Bengal.

Consequently, Tagore's songs have gained in mass appeal due to their lilting melody and wonderful lyrics. His innovative music also brought a whiff of fresh air in the world of Bengali music. A remarkable instance of such ecstatic song is 'Mone Ki Dwidha Rekhe Gele Chole.' This song has been composed in Mishra Iman, a divine Raga and depicts the picture of a monsoon evening during torrential rainfall. In 'Sanchari,' 'Akashe Uriche Bakpati/Bedona Amar Tari Saathi' elevates the mind of the listener to a state of trance. Following the rhythm of the fluttering wings of the flying swans, this song based on Ragas, suddenly mingles with the tune of Kirtan or devotional song. Again, on several occasions, Tagore has blended some Ragas and Raginis with those songs based on folk music. Below is given a list of melodious songs which exemplify the pinnacle of such exquisite blending as mentioned earlier.
1) Anmona Anmona - Kirtan
2) Paush Toder Daak Diyeche - Folk Music
3) Diner Pare Din Je Gelo - Baul Music
4) Ore Gaihabasi Kholo Dwar - Folk Music
5) Jakhan Mallikabane - Kirtan
6) Amar Praner Majhe Sudha Ache - Kirtan
7) Ja Chilo Kalo Dhalo - Baul
8) Agun Amar Bhai - Baul
9) Ore Mon Jakhon Jagilona Re - Baul
10) pagla Hawar Badol Dine - Baul
11) Tomra Ja Balo Tai Bolo - Kirtan
12) Ami Kaan Pete Roi - Baul
13) Megher Kole Kole - Baul
14) Byartha Praner Abarjana - Baul
15) Rodan Bhara Ey Basanta - Kirtan
16) Aaji Ey Nirala Kunje - Kirtan
17) Purano Janiya Cheyona - Kirtan
18) Krishnakali Ami Tarei Boli Mishra - Kirtan
It deserves mention in this regard that most of those songs which had been composed by Tagore in the shadow of folk music, were used effectively in several plays.

So far as Baul songs are concerned, it can be said that the Baul philosophy and religion is different from others in essence. The Bauls try to realize God in themselves. They believe that the Almighty or the soul of souls in all pervading and dwells in every human heart. Their sole concern, therefore, is to know the Creator, Preserver and Destroyer of life on earth. This same philosophy has been reflected in Tagore's songs like 'Praner Manush Ache Prane,' 'Mon Jakhon Jagli Na Re' etc.

In the terminal phase of his life, Rabindranath created yet another spectacular form of music which has been termed as Rabindrik Kirtan or Rabindrik Baul by Santidev Ghosh, the notable exponent of Rabindra Sangeet. In these songs, Rabindranath had made a unique fusion of Kirtan and Baul music of East Bengal. Some ideal examples are as follows:

1) Ora Akarane Chanchal
2) Amar Kee Bedona Sey Ki Jano
3) Jete Jete Chaina Jete
4) Laho Laho Tule Laho

Tagore composed most of his lyrical plays and dance dramas either at the initial phase of his literary life or at the terminal phase. Hence, his songs reflect two different eras and the mood and tempo of these songs vary accordingly. Dramatization of songs or music has been best exemplified in 'Chandalika,' which is regarded by pundits as a masterpiece of the versatile genius. In order to intensify the dramatic effect sudden twists and turns in the play, Rabindranath has introduced subtle variety as and when required. He has also made necessary changes in music and rhythm at times.

Interestingly, Tagore has used the some Raga in this play in different ways to intensify the dramatic effect particularly when the sequence is tilting towards an anti-climax. This has added a new dimension to his play.

Last but not the least is certain poetic songs of Tagore which are exquisite in quality. Initially, they were composed as rich poetry. Later, music was rendered to them and converted into songs. Some remarkable specimens are 'Khanchar Pakhi Chhilo Sonar Khanchatite,' 'Jakhon Porbe Na Mor Payer Chinha' etc.
This was a brief treatise on Tagore’s works, mainly his literary works and songs. Needless to say such is the vastness of his creations that this seems just a drop in the ocean. I have taken valuable inputs from different sources, to present this.
In my next post I shall be presenting a treatise on Tagore’s songs influenced by western melodies. These are easily available, but my endeavour would be to present them in a friendly and scientific manner.