47. FAVOURITE MUSIC IN MOVIES !

47. FAVOURITE MUSIC IN MOVIES!

Photo of the stone at Delphi containing a Hymn to Apollo in Greek letters with the musical notation!

The average Indian has an ear for music- of whatever kind. Not only the educated and the 'cultured', with their cultivated tastes, but even the village rustics have had their favourite kinds of music. In my school days, I have heard farmers sing as they drew water from their wells to irrigate their fields, and cart men singing as they let their bullocks take the road. And  I have seen petty beedi and pan shopwallas listening to Carnatic music on AIR in the early 60s- this was in Trichy. Those days, every hotel/coffee club-as it was called- had a small radio blaring usually classical or light classical music, since the AIR was strict about broadcasting film music.

Dr. S. Ramanathan, one of our great musicians and musicologists and above all, teachers, used to demonstrate how integral was music to our living, no matter where and how we lived.

But if we keep  our eyes and minds open, we will understand that  people all over the world are passionate about music. The average westerner is even more interested in music than the average Indian, who is often a passive receptacle or consumer, just spending money on buying musical CDs or systems, and just so few actually learn any kind of music or its appreciation.. Not so in the West, where most school children do learn some kind of music or musical instrument. 

Musicians playing in a street, Prague.
By Keith Page (Musicians) CC BY-SA 2.0 creativecommons via Wikimedia commons.

After the movies rose as the most dominant art form in modern India, they integrated the musical strain of the Indians. Music became an inevitable ingredient- almost an invisible character in the movie.Music was mainly used to intensify the mood. In the beginning the music was mainly based on classical and folk forms and we had wonderful music directors. They were so hugely talented that they could bring out the beauty and essence of a raga in just about 3 minutes- which alone the 78rpm format permitted- while the trained classical singer would take hours to convey the same mood and message. In this, our filmi musicians were aided by great lyricists and very talented singers.

A revolution took place in the 50s. After Independence when most Englishmen left India, highly talented musicians mostly from Goa who were employed with the many clubs and bars in Bombay fell on hard times. They were so hugely talented in playing western instruments , in teaching and in writing and reading notations. They soon found their way to the Bombay film industry and our top ranking music directors eagerly absorbed them. It is not generally known or appreciated that all our top music directors of the 50s without exception had such musicians with them, who actually co-created  and embellished the songs. But they were not openly acknowledged, except as arrangers, and occasionally as assistants. . After the mid-60s, the quality of our film music declined so that today, it is just noise in the name of music, and nonsense in the name of lyrics. But the songs of over 50/60 years ago are still sung and hummed!

Chic Chocolate (Antonio Vaz ) was one of the most talented Goan musicians, Here he is seen at right with C.Ramchandra,with whom he worked for long, with Lata and Rafi.

Most of our cine goers may not be aware that the Hollywood movies also give a prominent place to music. There may not be songs- solos and duets like we have- but each movie contains an original theme music and background score, which are often outstanding.  Besides, there have been many movies which were purely musicals- The Sound of Music being one such example,well known in India.

While the average Hollywood movie does not  normally have formal songs as we have, when they have one, it is usually outstanding. It may not last more than 2/3 minutes, but it makes tremendous impact. The lyrics are also superb. I wish to point out a few of them.

                QUE SERA SERA

When I was just a little girl
I asked my mother
What will I be
Will I be pretty
Will I be rich
Here's what she said to me

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

When I grew up and fell in love
I asked my sweetheart
What lies ahead
Will we have rainbows
Day after day
Here's what my sweetheart said

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be

Now I have Children of my own
They ask their mother
What will I be
Will I be handsome
Will I be rich
I tell them tenderly

Que sera, sera
Whatever will be, will be
The future's not ours to see
Que sera, sera
What will be, will be
Que Sera, Sera

The song was written and composed by the team Ray Evans , lyricist and Jay Livingstone, composer. It was adapted into the 1956 Hitchcock movie The Man Who Knew Too Much. Later it was used in many other films. 

Livingstone and Evans accepting the Oscar Award in 1957 for this song! We must remember such great creative spirits! Such songs are not written every day!

This song expresses a universal human sentiment- the sense of mystery at the heart of the universe! Man can never know the future, no matter what stage of life he is in- childhood, youth or midlife. The Catholic clergy used to react strongly against this song, but obviously, the world is larger and wider (also wiser?) than the Church! The song is still popular all over the world.

  The situation of this song was later copied in Hindi and Tamil films  and  even the tune was adapted. A version of this song also appeared in a Tamil film. 

MY RIFLE, MY PONY AND ME

The sun is sinking in the west
The cattle go down to the stream
The redwing settles in the nest
It's time for a cowboy to dream

Purple light in the canyons
That's where I long to be
With my three good companions
Just my rifle, pony and me

Gonna hang (gonna hang) my sombrero (my sombrero)
On the limb (on the limb) of a tree (of a tree)
Coming home (coming home) sweetheart darling (sweetheart darling)
Just my rifle, pony and me
Just my rifle, my pony and me

(Whippoorwill in the willow
Sings a sweet melody
Riding to Amarillo)
Just my rifle, pony and me
No more cows (no more cows) to be roping (to be roping)
No more strays will I see
Round the bend (round the bend) she'll be waiting (she'll be waiting)
For my rifle, pony and me
For my rifle, my pony and me

This is from a classic Western movie, RIO BRAVO- 1959 which is considered  one of the top all time greats.

Walter Brennan, Dean Martin and Ricky Nelson singing this song!
From: http://Whisnews21.com. Copyright status not stated. Used here for purely educational purpose. The scene is unforgettable!

Unless one has some idea of this genre of movies and stories, it is difficult to appreciate the beauty of this song. Such stories capture a crucial period in the history of the US, lasting may be a 100 years up to the turn of 20th century. The effectiveness of law in the West depended on the character of the local authority and his ingenuity. Ranching was still a major occupation, and most youngsters worked as cow hands, with dreams of better times. But while they were at it, their best and inseparable companions were the rifle and the pony. This song captures such a mood brilliantly and movingly.How hard he works, and how much he yearns for home! Written by  Paul Francis Webster, it was  crooned by the inimitable Dean Martin, joined by that talented youngster Ricky Nelson.

It was set to music by the great composer, Dimitri Tiomkin. It has been ranked as one of the best ever songs about the West. 

Cowboy around 1888, Image by John C,H.Grabill.

Cynics may feel what have we got to do with American Western stories. But  look at the lyrics. The sun is setting in the west, and the cattle are moving to the stream, and the birds are settling in the nest. Now the setting sun and the returning cattle- do they not remind us of our own cow boy Krishna and his cows? Can not the river be Jumna? [There is of course one difference: the Americans reared the cows for their beef; for us cow is Mother.]  And here are some lines from a classic English poem:

Now fades the glimm'ring landscape on the sight,

         And all the air a solemn stillness holds,

Save where the beetle wheels his droning flight,

         And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds;

Save that from yonder ivy-mantled tow'r

         The moping owl does to the moon complain

Of such, as wand'ring near her secret bow'r,

         Molest her ancient solitary reign.

These are lines from Thomas Gray's Elegy, separated by thousands

of miles and  200 years. They capture the same theme in  different

cultural and economic settings. Here too the sun is setting, the cows are returning, but instead of the cowboy, we have the plowman, as weary! There is more to unite mankind, than all the differences the wily politicians and crooked economists can invent!

A WONDER  LIKE YOU!

We Indian cine goers are familiar with the love songs that feature in our movies. Rather too familiar! There is no  film in any Indian language without  love songs- solos and duets. Some are really very beautiful, especially the old ones,in the Hindi-Urdu diction. ( I find  the current Hindi and Tamil songs rather cheap and vulgar.) But most of them only talk about the physical beauty of the beloved, the face being compared to the moon, the hair to the cloud, etc. Here is a different sort of love song, where the beauty described is of Nature, and one is left to imagine the beauty of the beloved in comparison!

II've seen the snow-white mountains of Alaska
I've sailed along the rivers of Peru
I've seen the world and all its Seven Wonders
But I've never seen a wonder like you

I've stood upon the pyramids of Egypt
Far away across the ocean blue
I've seen the island beauties of Hawaii
But I've never seen a beauty like you

I've gazed at the White Cliffs Of Dover
There's not a place I didn't see
Now that my travels are over
I wish you had been there with me

I've seen the pretty dancing girls of Siam
The happy Polynesian people, too
But they're not as happy as I am
'cause they haven't got a wonder like you.

They haven't got a wonder like you
No, they haven't got a wonder like you
No, they haven't got a wonder like you

This song was written by Jerry Fuller and sung by Ricky Nelson and  released in 1961! But it did not figure in any movie! The power of suggestion here works wonders! 

2006 photo of Fuller. 

From:http://jerryfuller.com

Whether we like it or not, movies are here to stay. It is therefore necessary to make use of this medium to convey worthy messages to make humanity better. It can be a great place to showcase music. Instead of condemning it, we can make an art of it.

The instinct for music. song and dance is ingrained in humanity. it is one of the most civilising influences on man. We may safely assume that so long as humanity does not lose this instinct, it will retain its sanity too!

There is a saying in Sanskrit that a person who does not like music is an animal sans its horn and tail!