Thursday, January 6, 2011

Lyrics of Golconda High School - Sheer Poetry


It has been a while since I have heard lyrics which are like poetry. I loved Billy Joel’s songs or several of the old Hindi or Telugu songs because they say so much, so beautifully and are composed amazingly well. There is a purpose to the whole song and that is what elevates them to another level.

When I first heard the GHS songs I loved the way they sounded. As I heard the songs a few more times I heard the one odd phrase that made sense to me and I burst out with – 'Ah, that exemplifies the spirit of ‘The Men Within’. In fact the songs ‘Jaagore’ and ‘Adugesthey’ totally explain what the book is about. From these songs I can explain the spirit of the book – for days on end - so well are they written and so well have they captured the essence of wanting to take on something big, for a bigger cause than oneself.

Most times with experts, it depends on how well the brief is given. After that they can easily handle delivery and elevate the thought further. Much credit to director Mohana Krishna Indraganti for giving the brief of the songs well, so well that a highly talented poet and lyricist like Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry made some wonderfully poetic and inspiring lyrics for the songs. And the song ‘Yenativo’ written by another heavyweight writer and lyricist Ingraganti Srikanth Sarma garu, Mohana Krishna's accomplished father, are so full of delectable lines and beautifully chosen words.

I called Sagar this morning in all excitement and told him that I would like to translate the songs into English to put up on the blog. Sagar agreed and he came home and we tried our hand at two songs which I will post here. This is an amateurish attempt at getting at the essence of these songs which are far bigger and richer in meaning and composition. So please bear with me while I try for the first time to translate Telugu poetry to English (with Sagar's help of course).

Jaago re (Wake up)
- Original Lyrics in Telugu by Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry
 
Let’s look with fresh eyes at how a seed begins its journey
The first lessons in holding one’s head high
Now we’ve grown so tall that we can reach the clouds with our fingertips
There’s no more reason for us to lie in the mud, like infants
Let’s light a resplendent dream in our sleepy eyes
And, let us show the Sun the right path, our path

Jaago, jaago re, jaago, jaago, jaago re, jaago
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up

The raindrop does not hold itself back fearing for its safety as it leaps to the ground from the skies
And so it grows, drop to river, river to the flood, flood to a limitless ocean
Never doubt if you want to achieve, act before your thought even, the first step to success
 No task is impossible, and that is no secret
There will be challenges at every step, questions will be asked of you
This journey is not one that will end even before it starts
And victory is but but another name of being fully prepared for war

Jaago, jaago re, jaago, jaago, jaago re, jaago
Wake up, wake up, wake up, wake up


Adugesthey (Taking a step)
- Original Lyrics in Telugu by Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry

So close, just a step away
Is that galaxy of stars
Check out its luminescent glitter
Imagine it landing by your side
Imagine it lighting up your eyes
Maybe it is something that you might have passed by yesterday
Maybe it is something that you will discover tomorrow
Chase it, now, and find out

The heaviest burdens seem like nothing, if your mind is free from doubt
And in the biggest storms and whirlpools, your boat appears to dance, if you hold your nerve
Break on through joyfully, know that nothing can stop you
Don’t stop till the end, and meet tomorrow’s dream, right now

When you work relentlessly, brimming with enthusiasm
The most pleasurable thing is that deep fatigue
If you fight this war as you play a game
The wounds you carry are but commonplace stuff
Go seek your destination, it will not come to you
There’s a turn in every step, a dream in every moment
And there’s a call of victory everywhere, know that

Ah, wonderful stuff! Salutations Sirivennela Sitarama Sastry garu and Ingraganti Srikant Sarma garu. And Mohan of course, for flirting with such depth at such a young age. And the singers, Hemachandra, Anuradha Palakurthi, Sri Krishna and Gita Madhuri for singing these songs so well.  Now for the other songs.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

The translations do focus on the essence of the well-written lyrics. A good attempt for a first-timer, I'd say, even with the help of Sagar. :-)

NaChaKi (who's also a writer/lyricist) :-)

Harimohan said...

Yes, the essence was what i was trying to get across for those who may be interested. Thanks, Kiran for the encouraging words.

Dr. Sundar Raj Perumall MD said...

really inspiring i have started listening to the songs after reading this and really got inspired. i was actually searching on google sirivennala sita rama pastry inspirational songs and found this. i hope some one can compile all the inspirational songs written by him just a list , like pattudalato chest samarium from samba ram, enta varaku from gamyam, tina make from sri anjaneyam, siva poojaku from swarna kamalam etc all which give hope i myself know many of them but recently i am not following regularly thats how i missed these. thanks to you for translating and they are as beautiful as the original ones

Harimohan said...

Thanks Dr. Sundar Raj. Sirivennela Sita Rama Sastry garu is truly a brilliant song writer.