A song on Ilayaraja!

June 2nd is Ilayaraja's birthday (though he celebrates it on June 3rd) and I happened to write a song on him on this occasion, thanks to Suresh Sistla. Suresh, being a great fan of Ilayaraja, planned to organize a celebration to honor Ilayaraja. We were casually chatting about the event when the idea occurred to us that we should compose a song as a tribute to the musical genius. Since we did not have time, we decided to reuse a beautiful melody composed earlier by Suresh Sistla  for the movie "The Girl Upstairs". Writing a song on someone like Ilayaraja is no easy task and after some struggle I could write a decent lyric (or so I think!) in the time constraints we had. Frankly speaking, I was not very satisfied with my lyric but after listening to the recorded version, wonderfully sung by Sushma Suresh, I could say with confidence that this is definitely a very good song. Many thanks to Suresh and Sushma for uplifting the lyric with their musical talent. Here I present the lyric with a rough English translation for the benefit of the non-Telugu Ilayaraja fans.

ఈ ఇలపై మా కొరకై ఎలపాటై రవళించావో!
ee ilapai maa korakai elapaaTai ravaLiMchaavO!

You came down to earth for us, as a reverberating gentle song

సరిగమలకు శ్రుతిలయలకు మునుపెరుగని సొగసిచ్చావో!
sarigamalaku Srutilayalaku munuperugani sogasichchaavO!

You rendered unseen beauty to the seven musical notes, to the musical progressions and rythms

నీ గీతమె ఓ యోగము, స్వరజ్ఞానివి నీవేలే
nee geetame O yOgamu, svaraj~naanivi neevaelae

Your song is a spiritual experience and you, a true musical genius

సంగీతమె నీ రాజ్యము, రసరాజువి నువ్వేలే
saMgeetame nee raajyamu, rasaraajuvi nuvvaelae

Music is but your kingdom, you being the king of aesthetic taste in music

మా ప్రాణము మా మౌనము నీ పాటల పరమైపోయె
 maa praaNamu maa maunamu nee paaTala paramaipOye

Our life and our silence got dedicated to your songs!

మా ఎదలయలో ఇళయరాజాయే!
maa edalayalO iLayaraajaayae!

Our hearts beat for you and you alone

నీ మధురిమలో మంత్రించావే!
nee madhurimalO maMtriMchaavae!

We remain spellbound by the sweetness of your songs

Suresh created a very nice video featuring this song. You can also listen to the song and download the mp3 here.  Hope you will like this song. Your feedback is very much appreciated.

Comments

SURESH SISTLA said…
hats off to lyricist phani.. it was mainly his idea of having a song written instead of a kavitha /poem that i initially requested. once he gave me the lyrics , i thought it has to be recorded so it will remain for ever in a format that everyone can enjoy . . i am proud to say we produced the first telugu song ever written for raja sir , recorded and released to public.
June 2, 2014 at 12:54 AM
Guns said…
Lyrics chala adbhutam ga rasav phani.. music kooda bagundi..
June 2, 2014 at 6:09 AM
Phanindra said…
@Sistla Suresh: Glad with the final output. This is indeed one song where lyrics, music and singing gel together and create a good feel.
June 2, 2014 at 11:02 AM
Phanindra said…
@Guns: Thanks! Glad that you liked the song and the lyrics.
June 2, 2014 at 11:03 AM
Sri said…
superb song..... phani

June 2, 2014 at 9:54 PM
Phanindra said…
@Sri: Thanks pinni!
June 2, 2014 at 9:58 PM
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