watched rangeela ln… one of the best AR rahman albums ive heard
just listening to this now what a banger. love that guitar tone and vocal tone on the first track, the range of the composer is nuts
watched Jeans the other night. i can’t tell whether there is irony in the supposedly pro-American tune ‘Columbus Columbus’ but it’s very catchy.
the translation is kind of like “columbus columbus, it’s vacation time, find me an island to party on”
edit: in the context of the movie it’s like “hell yeah we get to go to america and partyyyy with girlsss, get away from all this drudgery, militarism, caste politics and [insert complaints about life in india here]”
i think there are some complaints about working in IT? see how he blows up the computer with dynamite at the end? lmao. extremely NRI, H1B visa-coded song
that whistled melody is so catchy too when it comes in. and the very monkey-island xylophone thing happening, he really went off. rahman’s compositions always have so many beat switches and instruments dropping in and out, it really influenced my idea of musical development
dunno why but i woke up with Varayo Thozhi stuck in my head
kal ho naa ho is honestly a very bad and boring movie but this song is good
Pachai Nirame (‘O the Color Green’) is so lyrically beautiful in tamil and it’s a crime that there’s not a good up-to-date english translation on youtube. this is the most accurate / least cringey i could find. i tried my hand at my own translation as well. i really have to get around to watching Alaipayuthey
(hd audio)
Oh my companion! oh my friend!
Love has, love has, love has a color in it …
Oh my companion, oh my friend,
My love, my love, you too have color to you …
O the color green, the color green,
O green which sparks my desire,
The smile of the grass, too, is green;
It will give me the permission [I seek].
O green, o the color green,
The green of the newness of the leaf;
Your nerves, too, are green,
And will give me the permission [I seek].
The beak of a parrot, seen through a branch,
The betel-tinged tongue of a teenage girl,
A brand-brand-new blood-hued rose,
The newborn child’s earth-untouched feet…
All reds are your anger,
All reds are your anger.
Evening-sky-spreading yellow,
Yellow which blossomed in the tinder of fire!
Yellow that sparkles a gold earring,
Yellow that bathed in the goldenrain flower,
Yellow, yellow, yellow …
The emerald-yellow of the evening moon;
All these live in your breast.
The color of the waveless deep,
The color of a cloudless sky,
The color that lives in the peacock’s throat,
The color that bloomed inside the water-lily,
The color poured into the violet flower
All together sparkle in your eyes,
All together sparkle in your eyes …
O color of the night, color of the night,
O color of the whole stormy season,
O color seen in a crow’s wing,
O color of the eye-black that writes womanhood,
O color of the cuckoo that sings in the morning,
All mixed together, o color of your hair.
O the color white, O color white …
O color of the rain-sprouting leucas aspera …
O white, O white,
O color of half the eye,
O color of the rain-sprouting leucas flower,
O the color of your heart.
O the color of your heart, o the color of your heart …