Vidai kodu engaL naade

Vidai kodu engaL naadae, kadal vaasal theLLikkum veedae
panai mara kaadae, paravaigaL koodae marumurai orumurai paarpomaa

This is the song I have been listening to since morning. Infinite loop.

Movie: Kannathil Muthamittaal
Music: God
Singers: MSV, Balram, Manicka Vinayagam, Febi, Rehana
Lyrics: Vairamuthu

The backdrop for the song is this: bunch of people forced to vacate their homes. In the context of the movie, it refers to the Tamils leaving the war-afflicted portions of Lanka. Vairamuthu’s lines are packed with so much emotion…it’s hard to not feel the sting of tears.

udatiL puNNagai pudhaithom, uyirai udambuKul pudhaithom
verum koodugal mattum oorvalam poogindrom OaOa
We buried our smiles within our lips; we buried our lives within our bodies,
We are just skeletons going on a procession

Another brilliant line is this:
KaNNir thiraiyil pirandha maNNai kadaisiyaga paarkindrom
Through a veil of tears, we see our land of birth one last time…

That’s the beauty of film music. It gives you a million situations to compose music on. Unlike an album, such situations help in brining out the best of the composer. It’s one thing to think about writing a song for “people leaving their homeland”, and another to write one about “the girl goes in search of her real mother, and her parents accompany her to Lanka, and there just as she nears the town, sees the whole bunch of people leaving their homes…including possibly her mother who had left her…”

Rahman brings out the best of each of the five singers. They convey the sadness, angst, and anger brilliantly. Just as you hear the mother’s melancholy, comes the clincher at the 5-minute mark. I have never been able to express my reaction to that particular piece with any conviction. Words do not fail me. Words just seem…impotent.

Go listen.