Ilaiyaraaja Quotes
Singer, Composer, Musician, Screenwriter
My music is religion, and my religion is music. They are one.
People forget themselves in my music. It's amazing.
Music is not a subject to be discussed. It has to be experienced.
To me, music is more like a spiritual seeking that takes one to unknown levels.
Music is the only medium by which everyone is connected in the world.
Music has the power to divert the violent minds.
For me, my music is part of me, and which is why it seems second nature, and my compositions are instinctive.
In whosever presence you find peace of mind, devoid of fear, only that person can be your guru.
Traditional musical forms like 'Parai Isai' and 'Villupattu' are unique, and they need to be protected and nurtured.
Music is nothing but sound, and there is no place for value judgement among various sounds.
Genuine music, to me, is the one which has no purpose. It should be as natural and as purposeless as the flow of the river.
My practice is to take a sheet, write the song number in the left side, name of the production, and time of recording. Only when I have to fill the name of the singer do we look out to see who is free. When the singers we want aren't there, I end up singing it! That's how I became a singer.
A director should concentrate on his storyline and his characters.
Isn't composing music akin to film direction?
Composing is an emotional thing.
Do you know it took me 27 years to understand the C major chord on the piano?
One could work on a lot of albums such as 'Thiruvasagam in Symphony,' but with issues such as illegal downloading from the Internet and piracy, it is difficult.
Questioning the origin of music is like asking why the breeze is soothing, why you shiver in exhilaration when the spray from the waterfall hits you.
To me, music is that which connects human hearts. It is something that takes you to unknown levels.
Branding music as 'for the youth' is only an escapist tendency. Preference in music is only about restrictions of the mind.
Music and religion keep me young.
The challenge for a good musician is to bring out compositions that seem fresh to the listener, even if the listener has heard the song or the composition before.
Government should take necessary steps to add music into school syllabus and impart knowledge to the students.
Can someone do music for 24 hours at a stretch and never get tired? It's me. Because I don't 'work'. I enjoy what am doing. It's not like a regular job.
I always felt music to be universal and undifferentiated - Western classical, folk, Carnatic or Hindustani and so on.
Western, jazz, folk, or tribal music, whatever the form, they all have the same sapta swaras as the basis.
For musical compositions to reach a high level and to derive from spontaneity, of course, one has to do the necessary steps to learn the rules and regulations of composing high quality music.
When you see the ocean and the infinite, it empties your mind.
Good music is made with the help of many musicians who express their joy in the swaras.
I don't believe in making two songs similar. Every composition must have its own unique character.
The dictionary contains thousands of words on Tamil music. I am not familiar with most of the words, but it shows the rich past of Tamil music.
Music happens. It cannot be made.
The performance of a music director should be judged in a holistic manner, which includes songs as well as background score.
Till 2010, there was one national award for Best Music Direction. I have received it thrice - for 'Sagara Sangamam,' 'Sindhu Bhairavi,' and 'Rudraveena.'
No saint in the world lived like the great saint Ramana Maharishi. They say Jesus Christ was resurrected and rose again from the dead. But there's no proof of it. Ramana Maharishi is the only Mahan who has resurrected in life, and that, too, at the age of 16.
I had difficulty in grasping how music was made for films. It was a huge learning curve and the toughest phase of my life.
Art is a unifying language for all of us from across the world, and it transcends boundaries.
My commercial viability, coupled with my reputation, gives me enough freedom to assert my right as a composer.
Only I hold the right to all my songs.
I truly believe that music or art, in general, is the only thing that can unify a world that is plagued by war and violence, and I believe that it should be taken to more people.
I come from a small village and have had no formal training in music or any classes from the masters of Indian classical music.
In my early years, I would be in the studio till 11 P.M. Come home, have bath and dinner, and write music till 2 A.M. I would wake up by 4, sit down to do my music, and be at the studio at sharp 7 A.M.
Many great composers have died in poverty. I have not faced hardships, like having to struggle for food, thanks to reasonable producers.
Ideally, the music composed these days should sound much better because of the technology, right? But that's not the fact. The sounds that you hear out of technological recording are programmed sounds coming out of a computer.
Right from the 17th century, composers who have taken up music as their means of livelihood went through a hard time financially. They were paid only for commissioned works and public performances. And, when their music became famous, orchestras in other cities and countries would pay a small amount to copy the music.
There is no guru like our own mistakes.
Many ask me why I work with debutants, but I always tell them that there's space for every one in the industry, and if my music helps him, then I'm glad to be of some help. I will never say no to deserving newcomers.
Music has done much more for me than I have for music.
Anyone who holds a pen these days thinks he or she is a poet.
Taking legal action against pirates is a headache for artists like me.
Sometimes, entire songs are ready in just about five minutes.
When directors tell me they want a song like one, I tell them no song should be like another. I don't listen to directors.
You may go to the temple for mental peace. But you may be distracted there and forget the purpose of your visit. But this does not happen when you hear good music.
Mere recording of an event will not make it a historical document. It will become obsolete with time. Only those that emotionally connect with the audience will stand the test of time.
My music is for the world. Let them enjoy it.
In music, there is no country; there is no time.
Music reigns supreme. It does not need a visual prop. While listening to a number, do you enjoy the tune, or do you enjoy it because you imagine someone singing it? In fact, quite a few hits of mine are from films that no one has heard about. The songs still rule, though.
A mother cooking exclusively for her child might be preparing just rice and buttermilk, but it will be immensely tasty. Fast food, on the other hand, may be very tasty, but it has not been prepared exclusively for you, you see.
When you listen to a song, it should make you sit up and wonder, 'Hey, what is this!' or give you an inexplicable feeling of joy or relate beautifully to the music in you.
Everyone's music is made of their own life experiences.
I think of the Tamil poet Subrahmanya Bharati every day, and he is an inspiration in my musical creations.
A good mind should tell the difference between noise and music.
Music is a continuous process. You evolve with every song.
Any form of classical music is made for youth.
Some people love money, and some people love other things. I love music, and we are all lovers.
In India, most people are not aware or are unconcerned about copyright laws. This has proved disastrous for the music fraternity.
I would like to inform the public that I have entered into a licensing agreement with Agi Music for manufacturing and distributing my songs in any format and have also granted the license to distribute my songs on digital and new media formats, including mobile ringtones, caller tunes, and online downloads.
My parents were simpletons. Everyday living was a big thing in that small village where I was born. They had no clue about music.
Life is not what you expect: it is made up of the most unexpected twists and turns.
The Gen X thinks history is a waste of time. This is instant world where only readymade things are valued.
You can realise God as you progress in music; nothing in between.
Western classical music is participative. Look at the number of people who are involved in a symphony.
I consider all women as mother. I compose poems for any female considering her as mother.
Thyagaraja was not a professional musician. He did not sing for situations. He was music himself.
My perception is that there is no distinction in music as many people perceive. The difference lies in the way you hear the music.
Your understanding of music depends on your capacity to perceive it.
Music is as vast as the sky, the oceans, the universe.
Music should come from the heart. It should happen. That should be automatic, and if you labour on creating music, it will not have soul.