2006 in review: Songs I liked: 30 – 21

Traditionally – tradition being defined as anything carried into the second year – I have substituted for lack of topics at the end of the year by publishing movie and song lists. Some pressing work however has kept me away for a while, but here go the lists.

I have not much to offer in terms of detailed reviews, for I am a music lover than a critic. The criterion for rating is simple – the more number of times I listened to a song, the higher it is rated.

30. Ragasiyamaanadhu Kaadhal (Kodambakkam; Sirpi; Harish, Harini): A simple melody extolling the virtues of love (“kaadhalum kadavulai pola, adhai unarndhida vendum mella”). Safe on the ear, okayish picturisation.

29. Daai (Pattiyal; Yuvan Shankar Raja; Vijay Yesudoss): A superb opening song. The Udhayam theatre crowd resonated with the Daai so much that someone watching a Tamil movie for the first time would have felt intimidated. That’s sufficient; who cares about lyrics?

28. Vallavaa (Vallavan; Yuvan Shankar Raja; Sunitha Sarathy): As soon as the soundtrack for this movie was released, the following was published in the Hindu Metro Plus: “Thanks to all loose boys and loose girls for making Loosu Penne the song of the year.” I wondered about the choice of words – loose girls? If some of our feminist maariaatha-s had come across this, they would have filed a defamation suit. My crib though is not so much about the pathetic ad. It is about that pathetic song. And the audacity to self-proclaim (when credit is not due), that has become Simbu’s bane. This song offers the few redeeming minutes of a must-be-forgotten soundtrack.

27. Vaala Meenukkum (Chithiram Pesudhadi; Babu; ‘Gana’ Ulaganathan): I’m neither a fish-eater, nor a stickler for gana songs, but this one was pretty good, that is, if you choose to ignore the yellow shirt and the index finger dance. The singer’s ease with the song is reflected in the many variations he attempts. The “thalaivaru… thimingilam thaanungo” part was really funny.

26. Dailamo Dailamo (Dishyum; Vijay Antony; Sangeetha Rajeshwaran, Vijay Antony): Each song in Dishyum is worth a mention, and though the female lead in this song was (intentionally?) pathetic, and the lyrics penned to fill airtime, the song as a whole is ok. Sample this: “America nee aanal, Afghanistan naan aanal… ayyayyo vaaya konjam moodu… DMK nee aanal, ADMK naan aanal… kottaiyila namma veetta podu“

25. Iraivanai Unargira Tharunam (Veyyil; G.V. Prakash; Prasanthini): The short song of the year. The placement of this song is excellent – as Pasupathi finds comfort in Shreya Reddy’s company. “Indha uravin peyarinai yaar solvadhu? Tholaindhadhai vidhi vandhu inaikkindradhu… Mugavari maariya kaditham ondru, marupadi inge varugindradhu…” Super! Yaaruppa andha kavingar? The humming that follows is excellent.

24. Kummi Adi (Jillunu Oru Kaadhal; A.R. Rahman; Naresh, Siva Chidambaram, Swarnalatha): Typical Mani Ratnam – Rahman style village wedding song. The lyrics were good, but the song seemed pretty long. Also why does everyone say “kummi aaaaadi”?

23. Thayyatha Thayyatha (Thiruttu Payale; Bharadwaj; Amalraj, Reshmi, Sadhana Sargam): A friend tells me that all songs composed in this raaga (don’t remember the name, Charukesi, perhaps) have a haunting effect on the listener. That observation is perfect with regard to this song. I didn’t know for a long time that the word “payya” means “slowly”. Another melody for your playlist.

22. Karka Karka (Vettayadu Vilayadu; Harris Jeyaraj; Devan, Andrea, Nakul, Tippu): What a title song! The song scores on a lot of counts, especially percussion, and this should help you tide over the self-inflicted inferiority complex about the lyrics. My friends attempted to decode the opening, and failed miserably – “Raghavan, stay in the crisis… Tata the communist!” Another attempt – “… chop off the curry leaves!”

21. Sudum Nilavu (Thambi; Vidyasagar; Harini, Unnikrishnan): Make way for another slow melody. Though Unni’s voice doesn’t suit Madhavan, the song comes through rather well. The “kaadhaliththu paar” refrain could have been fine-tuned.

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