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Lyric or tune which is important

Topic started by N.C. Ramakrishna (@ spider-ti053.proxy.aol.com) on Mon Sep 21 22:51:56 EDT 1998.
All times in EST +10:30 for IST.

I think we have discussed enough who is better MD or who is a great singer. But I think for a hit song lyric and tune are like really important.Do anybody have any info on when good lyric was flop (not recognised) because of bad tune or vice versa. Even we can further go ahead discussing incidents when song was flop because of singer even though both lyric and tune are good.

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Responses:

• From: Reva (@ 202.54.37.18) on: Mon Sep 21 23:27:01 EDT 1998
  
  NCR:
  
  Nice topic. Different people look for different
  things in a song. So tune or lyrics is a personal
  question. However, I feel that, for a vast majority of people,
  it is TUNE that is most important. A good tune
  easily impacts the mind; most often, it lingers
  in the mind and gives you great pleasure either
  when you hear it or sing it yourself. Lyrics are
  typically forgotten, although it is true that it
  adds value to the tune. A good tune without good
  lyrics can easily survive in people's minds, but
  the other way is not true. So my vote goes for
  TUNE.
  
  
• From: Shankar (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Tue Sep 22 00:45:52 EDT 1998
  
  Great topic,
  "silly lrics great songs" thread answers ur question ;-))
  
  
  
• From: Sriram Lakshman (@ sf-dnpqc-032.compuserve.net) on: Tue Sep 22 02:30:43 EDT 1998
  
  I agree with Reva. This is something dependent on the individual's taste. I have met people who ignore the tune , however great it maybe and vice versa. I personally am more tune oriented but certainly there is a great pleasure in listening to songs that have been composed for pre-written lyrics if the MD has a good taste in poetry and comes up with a melody flow that expresses the poetry well. Eg :- Naan anuppuvathu kaditham alla. In this song, the first line is a sort of a 'vaakkumoolam' and tune depicts just that. When TMS says 'uLLam' the tune takes a different course and there is a sense of seriousness. In the last line 'Un uLLmathai koLLai koLLa', the tune is on an ascent which expresses a sort of a proclamation made by the hero. This I know for sure was a song composed for pre-written lyrics because KVM always preferred to do so.
  
  
• From: balaji (@ schubert.crhc.uiuc.edu) on: Tue Sep 22 11:23:41 EDT 1998
  
  tune or lyrics?? for a song to be a hit, one of these two should be good. in "silly lyrics" thread, u will find that there are several hit songs which have silly lyrics. MDs like IR effectively shield us away from these lyrics. but lyrics are also equally important. there is no relationship between tune and lyrics. rather, there is a big relationship between mood and lyrics. when i say mood, it is like the context, the environment of the song. lyrics which fit into it perfectly are just great. nowadays, lyrics have been transformed into a series of similes and metaphors like "azhagu", "athisayam"etc.
  more on this later.
  
  
• From: Chaks (@ 208-245-224.ipt.aol.com) on: Tue Sep 22 22:56:52 EDT 1998
  
  I think tune and lyric are like two eyes. We can see with any one eye. But it wont be perfect unless we see with both eyes. Similarly song may be hit without good lyric but it is not perfect. Similarly tunes gives recognition to lyric. But what I feel is good lyric with a great meaning and a good situation in the movie will definitely inspire the MD for a good tune. I feel IR has always done justice in this. I have never seen IR missing the oppurtunity giving a good tune for a great lyric. There are lot of examples. Also ARR/Deva/Vidyasagar did that. But nowadays tunes are given to a lyricist to write a lyric which will kill the freedom of lyricist. What I feel is that good lyric will definetely lead to a good tune but not the other case. People may not remember the complete tune a song as well as complete lyric. But good words go into a mind an be there. Only the catchy tunes will be in minds.
  
  
  
• From: kuttu_master (@ 202.54.37.18) on: Wed Sep 23 23:18:24 EDT 1998
  
  Chaks:
  
  I have never seen IR missing the opportunity
  giving a good tune for a great lyric
  
  should be rewritten as...
  
  Whenever IR came up with a great tune, lyricists
  such as Vaali and VM never missed the opportunity
  to fill-in great lyrics.
  
  
• From: UV (@ webgate0.mot.com) on: Thu Sep 24 00:16:29 EDT 1998
  
  kuttu,
  kalakkittama!!!
  
  
• From: shianne dobson (@ proxy-554.public.rwc.webtv.net) on: Wed Jun 14 18:31:02 EDT 2000
  
  we are looking for song and lyrics done by Sir. Mack Ryder
  
  
• From: Carolyn Kelly (@ ) on: Sun Apr 22 18:42:25 EDT 2001
  
  How can I get the words to 98 Degrees song Sunshine?
  
  
• From: MS (@ 129.252.222.2) on: Sun Apr 22 21:41:01 EDT 2001
  
  Not in a tamil film music page kelly :-) Try :
  
  http://www.lyrics.com/
  
  
• From: Bharath (@ 192.25.158.12) on: Tue Apr 24 13:49:58 EDT 2001
  
  In TFM , music and tune is abt a million time more important than lyrics. except for the "chorus or the first few lines... few people pay attention to the entire lyrics...
  
  plus the tamil knowledge among people is rapidly detiriorating, even if one is able to sing an entire song he/she might not even know what the words mean. look at narumugaiye song. probably one of the toughest and greatest words written using very old tamil. but given the tune of the song it wud have been hit whatever the lyrics was. and none i spoke to understood the meanings of all words, including me.
  
  u need the tune to be appealing and the voice to be good for anyone to even start paying attention to the lyrics. the reverse is not true...
  
  nowadays any set of tamil words goes... u can have a person who is average lyricist and still give hit songs bcoz frankly people dont care.
  
  people like vairamuthu r just a bonus they get a 1 line mention in any review... they r not neccesary and sufficient condition for music album
  
  it high time vairamuthu gets to know abt it... he cant wag the dog
  
  bye
  bharath
  
  
• From: Common Friend (@ 203.197.141.183) on: Wed Apr 25 11:19:53 EDT 2001
  
  Longivity or immortality of a song solely depends on the lyrics.
  Pazhaiya paattu - old tamil songs are still sweet and existing because they had meaningful and poetic lyrics with simple tunes. In the long run lyrics is the big brother.
  
  
• From: Bharath (@ 192.25.158.12) on: Wed Apr 25 13:50:28 EDT 2001
  
  common frnd,
  
  name an old song with good lyric and average tune off-the-hand ?
  
  bye
  bharath
  
  
• From: Common Friend (@ 203.197.141.183) on: Wed Apr 25 13:59:01 EDT 2001
  
  I said simple tunes not average tunes. There is a big difference. Many old songs falls into this category. That is why many could sing and hum them. It's election time here. You can see lot of old MGR's songs being sung or played in various places. MGR's songs are still popular because of their meaning (karuththu) and not only because of tunes.
  
  
• From: hjikghuk (@ ) on: Thu May 31 17:45:37 EDT 2001
  
  ftiiugyuj
  
  
• From: sham (@ 202.188.216.141) on: Fri Jun 1 00:42:20 EDT 2001
  
  can you please get me the lyrics from kanodu kanbathelam (the song taj mahal)
  
  thank you
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 63.201.80.149) on: Tue Jun 5 15:57:47 EDT 2001
  
  Just the human voice and lyrics can create a song that remains memorable.
  eg: theertha karayinilae from Varumayin Niram Sigappu where the tune is very spare like SPB is reading a poem.
  
  Just music following a tune is just an instrumental like Sunil Ganguli's guitar rendition of movie songs inbetween All India Radio programs.
  
  Take old songs like:
  -siththiram paesudhadi
  -mayakkam enadhu thaayagam
  -oru koappayilae en kudiyiruppu
  
  or semi-old songs like:
  -siru ponmani asayum
  -thangach changili minnum paingili
  
  or new songs like:
  -thendralae thendralae mella nee veesu
  -nila kaaigirathu
  -nirpathuvae nadappadhuvae
  
  all the above songs have stellar lyrics that leap off and would carry the song even without their current spare arrangements. Without lyrics a song is just an instrumental, but without music, you can still have a song with voice and lyrics.
  
  I know I'm a minority with this opinion, but nevertheless, lyrics are more important for me in a song than the tune. But a good song becomes better when all the elements are there.
  
  
• From: comment (@ 12.5.10.153) on: Tue Jun 5 16:11:51 EDT 2001
  
  Main component of "music" is tune, simply if tune is not present it not music. Just lyrics would not do it. Without a tune lyric is just prose..
  
  however, if both of them are good, it is better for our ears. :)
  
  
  
  
• From: K (@ 194.133.20.18) on: Tue Jun 5 16:47:30 EDT 2001
  
  To me, Tune is the most important
  
  
• From: Udhaya (@ 63.201.80.149) on: Tue Jun 5 16:49:22 EDT 2001
  
  Without tune a lyric need not be just prose, it could be poetry. Look at it another way:
  If you take the lyrics for "Pon Maalaip Pozhuthu" or "Pani Vizhum Malar Vanam" and compose them in a very different tune, they will still be good songs.
  
  But if you put crap lyrics for both those songs and retain the original tune, what happens? Can you tell me there's no difference?
  
  
• From: doubter (@ 208.142.210.30) on: Tue Jun 5 18:51:22 EDT 2001
  
  My observations for important features of a song to be HIT:
  
  MSV-TKR: tune 40%, lyrics 30% and singers 30%
  IR : tune 30%, orchestration 30%, singers 30%, lyrics 10%
  ARR : rhythym 40%, sound 40%, tune 10%, lyrics 7%, singers 3%
  
  MSV-TKR, IR and ARR refers to the period when they were the most sought after. It also includes other musicians in that period.
  
  Any thoughts??
  
  

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