Namaste!
The yearly half-marathon by Blogchatter is back. I tend to stick to poems because they are easier to write. This time, I wanted to try something different. Though the event doesn’t require a theme, there’s no reason I shouldn’t have one.
Telugu Songs Lyrics
Telugu music has been a part of my life since I was a baby. While I enjoyed the music first and then the lyrics, in the last few years I actually focused on what makes Telugu melodies so memorable. It’s not just the tune, though we have had some marvelous music directors. It’s how the lyrics weave the tune. The lyricists played with words, meter, and rhyme scheme. Then the singers give the words a new life by adding the required emotions, stress, and intonation.
With this, I present my theme for the half-marathon: exploring a few of my favorite Telugu songs for their lyrical smarts.
And guess what? I actually planned this as a Medium series (Learning to Love my Language) three years ago, before life did what it often did, and I let it go. Maybe I can revive it on the website.
(I’ll paste the same introduction for all seven posts.)
Today’s Song: Alalu Kalalu
- Movie: Seethakoka Chilaka (1981)
- Director: P. Bharathiraja
- Music Director: Ilaiyaraaja
- Lyricist: Veturi Sundararama Murthy
- Singers: Vani Jairam and Ilaiyaraaja
The movie was simultaneously remade in Tamil as Alaigal Oivathillai. I never got to watch it fully, somehow, but then it was made looong before I was born, and I wasn’t particularly interested.
This is an inter-religious young adult love story set in the early 1980s in a village. The hero’s (Hindu) mother teaches music to the heroine (Christian), and this song comes when she realizes her love for him. They use his mother’s Harmonium (musical instrument) to share messages. With classical music playing an important role, the song, its lyrics, and the visuals align music with young love and the gushing waves of the sea.
- Alalu Kalalu Yegasi Yegasi Alasi Solasi Poye – Waves and dreams rose and rose to tire and feel sleepy
- Pagaloo Reyee Orisee Merise Sandhyaa Raagamlo – morning and night shone and shimmered in the song of the dusk (Sandhya raagam is the tune of the dusk; in classical music, each time of the day has corresponding raagas)
- Praanam Praanam Kalisee Virise Jeevana Raagamlo – soul and soul meet and bloom in life’s song (referring to the young couple meeting)
- Alalu Kalalu Yegasi Yegasi Alasi Solasi Poye – refrain
- Nee Chirunavvula Sirimuvvala Savvadi Vinte – listening to your laughter that sounds like tinkling bells
- Aa Sandadi Vini Dendamu Kitikeelu Terachukonte – doors and windows open to that sound (of your laughter)
- Nee Pilupu Mane Kululake Kaliki Vennela Chilike – the moonlight churns and sprinkles because of your charming calls
- Nee Jadalo Gulaabi Kani Mallelerrabadi Alige – the night jasmine pouts and turns scarlet to compete with the rose in your braid
- Nuvvu Pattucheera Kadite O Puttadi Bommaa – if you wear a pattu (silk) saree, my golden doll
- Aa Kattubadiki Tarinchenu Pattu Purugu Janmaa – the lives of the silkworms have attained fulfillment (because you enhance the beauty of the saree)
- Naa Puttadi Bomma – my golden doll
The lyrics combine alliteration, rhyme, and repetition to create a memorable song about love.
Alalu and Kalalu rhyme (waves and dreams are also used as metaphors for each other).
The role of dusk in blending morning and night is used to compare how two people from different faiths come together, hoping to build a life together as one. The use of pranam twice refers to each of their souls, while ensuring the lyrics fit the meter and rhyme.
My favorite part is the reference to the saree and silkworms. She is such a beauty that the silkworms reached their zenith, sacrificing their cocoons for the saree she flaunts. Isn’t the imagination here terrific?
Puttadi bomma and bangaru bomma are commonly used terms for girls in Andhra Pradesh. Possibly comes from the use of turmeric in skincare that gives you a soft yellow glow, resembling gold. It also means that she is as precious as gold.
