An interesting thread.. I have heard this complaint as well.. Most people are comfortable humming N-S or J-L songs, and no matter what you say, some of their songs are lyrically and musically sweet (you put it as cheesy) undoubtedly, and somehow has mass appeal. With Rahman, replaying his music in your head, and actually listening to it are two completely different issues. There is so much to the music, so much has been thought out. For every song, he seems to have found the best combination of chords to go along with the melodies. His interpretation of music is entirely different from other musicians, although the basics are the same. For example in the song Tere Bina, when Chinmayee goes "o o o o, tere bina" just listen to the chords.. there is a weird sinking feeling due to the chords.. You feel it again when she sings the words "Chaand bhi"..
A R works incredibly hard.. He may not sound as melodious sometimes because he is original and does not copy time-tested hits from other countries. Just my opinion.. --- In arrahmanfans@yahoogroups.com, "Ajit" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > > For now, I'm speaking about his Hindi output. When I listen to songs > like Ay Hairathe, Tere Bina, Lukka Chuppi, Tu Bin Bataye, Yeh Rishta, > Yeh Jo Desh, Saawariya, Pal Pal Bhari, Desh Ki Mitti, Naina Neer, Piya > Ho, etc. etc. etc., there is no doubt in my mind that no other musical > director in recent times has created as powerful and moving melodies > as our Boss. Nevermind the arrangements, rhythm, sound, for which our > Boss is already king and known for it. There is an evergreen stamp to > many of his recent melodies. However, I don't hear the media or the > general public raving about his sense of melody too often. And I > think it's ignorant to say that Rahman should be known for his > technical skills rather than his tune skills. Without a doubt, the > man is a master tunesmith. I just don't see how people don't realize > that when listening to the examples above. > > One reason why his melodies may not be as appreciated as they should > is based on a comment that my parents made recently after listening to > some of Rahman's songs. They like Rahman a lot and know how brilliant > he is, etc. However, they keep mentioning how the songs of today in > general compared to the evergreen years lack powerful yet simple > melodies and moving lyrics. When I point to Rahman's songs, they > agree that his songs are melodious, but the THEY ARE HARD TO SING. > For them, that is the sticking point, that Rahman's songs are often > too difficult to sing (unless one is a trained and talented singer) > and one cannot hum them as easily. Seems like an overly simplistic > point, but perhaps to the commaon man, it's true. While Rahman's > songs are beautiful, full of melody, the melodic contours are often > full of twists and turns and tinged with a classical bent, making them > difficult for the average person to just listen with ease and to hum > along. I think this makes a difference with popularity. Many of > Rahman's most commercially successful numbers were ones that were not > only catchy, but easy to hum along and sing with. > > Maybe this is the reason why Nadeem Shravan were called "the melody > kings" (don't make me laugh too hard). Although their melodies were > often stale and cheesy, their songs were easy to sing along with, > light and easy music for the common man to digest. Not that Rahman > has to ever stoop as low as NS, but perhaps there is a point here. > One of the reasons why the song "Tere Bina" is so popular is perhaps > that along with being beautiful and brilliant, the melody itself is > fairly simple enough to understand and remember easily, esp. the dham > dhara dham part. Same goes for Ru Ba Ru from RDB. > > Anyway, agree or disagree, I think this will be interesting to discuss. >
