Sealing Equality Through Inspiration

Art is a flow of creativity from one mind to another. Sensibility and craft in right proportions create an object of art. A true object of art – if it manages to become so – becomes inspiring. As it becomes popular, it reaches far and wide. 

Some genius mind picks up the object, gets inspired and creates another phenomenal object – partially aligned and partially unaligned with the original. Today, in this edition, we shall look at a song created in the early sixties. We shall try to appreciate the beauty of the original composition and then move over to another song created in the late sixties. The second one is inspired by the first. We shall appreciate the qualities of both, and try to understand what inspiration means – especially in the field of creative art.


Original composition:
                                     
Elvis Presley was a household name in many parts of the world at the time when the song Marguerita came out. It was the early sixties. The song was included in an album by the name Fun in Acapulco. There was movie too by the same name. A collaboration between Elvis, Don Robertson and Joseph J.Lilley, the song is a sweet romantic one with major importance given to the vocals. Drums, Trumpets and Guitars are the main instruments. Mandolin and Piano are also there.

The orchestration is good, but Elvis' vocal performance is outstanding. In his trademark style Elvis gives every single verse a pulsating feel. The design of the tune is simple, with some sharp rise and fall in between. The challenging parts of the song are the ones where Elvis must utter the word Marguerita. He must do it with a touch of romance – and he does it with perfection.  Then of course there is the part where he says "Marguerita….. is her name...." – it has the power to sweep the heart of any listener and make him a fan of Elvis Presely.

                                                 Elvis Presely's Marguerita


Inspired composition :

During a long period of time, especially in the sixties, Indian movies made in Bollywood saw a near-total dominance of the composer duo Shankar Jaikishan. Shankar Jaikishan were the highest paid professionals in their field, they were the most sought-after musicians and the most bankable of them all. They did many films together. Most of their films were successful and their popularity reached sky-high. In the year 1968 (a few years after the Marguerita saga), there came a movie by the name Jhuk Gaya Aasman. That movie had a title song and that song shared some similarities with Marguerita.

The starting lines bear pretty much the same tune. "Who lets my heart beat like thunder? / Who makes my temperature rise?" is a direct mapping over to "Kaun hai jo sapno mein aaya / Kaun hai jo dil mein samaaya". The second couplet is also similarly mapped. But then, the inspired song takes a different turn even though the Trumpet, the Piano and the orchestration keep sounding similar. The "Marguerita….." call is however replaced by "O Priya….." call. While the original drifts and swings into some deviant territories in terms of tune, the adapted Hindi version finds a set pattern of its own. Also, the rest of the couplets, stanzas and lines bear a different tune altogether. The vocal of legendary singer Mohammad Rafi never tries to imitate Elvis. Rafi brings romanticism in his own way and he does it with great ease. His call is as clear and distinct as that of Elvis'.

                                                    Kaun Hai Jo Sapno Mein Aaya


To some listeners, this might sound like a copied product. In fact, in many places, I get to see people describing it as a mere copy of the original. But I would beg to differ here. The starting lines are just the base for Shankar Jaikishan. A composing team that had often produced theatrical melody got naturally attracted and inspired by the original melody. The original tune was like their kind of music. But then, to take the base and formulate a new structure for the other stanzas is like creating a new song out of the original. Or, one could say, it means creating a sequel to the original.


Coming back to where I started, imagination is free. The flight of imagination is freer. With imagination starts artistry. Inspiration follows artistry and results in another piece of artistry. Equality is thus achieved! However, the actors involved must be of the same caliber. Inspiration can easily tilt towards imitation. Preventing this tilt is ensured through skill, honesty and expertise. If mediocrity overpowers this process of getting inspired then Elvis loses out to Shankar Jaikishan and vice versa.

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