The Sound of Silence Before Sunrise #acnotes
A full moon night, two individuals and a night of silence that speaks volumes if you listen, mindfully.
Disclaimer: I’m taking a wild guess, I apologize before hand if anything is wrongly interpreted or assumed. I’m open to corrections and discussions. Feel free to comment or message.
“With "Untitled" (Perfect Lovers) González-Torres wanted the audience to infer their own meaning.”
-Source: Wikipedia
So, that’s exactly what I am going to do now. For me, this artwork represents the two protagonists of the song I’ve chosen for #acnotes. Unlike, most of my previous posts where I focus on the music, this is one of the rare exceptions where the visuals and the music are so integral to each other that I will be writing about both. More importantly, for those who wish to watch a timeless masterpiece by K. Vishwanath-garu - I would recommend Sagara Sangamam (Telugu). But before that I wish to share the original intent of the artist behind the ‘Perfect Lovers’.
The Perfect Lovers artwork was conceived by Gonzalez-Torress when his partner, Ross Laycock, was ill, and it embodies the tension that comes from two people living side-by-side as life moves forward to its ultimate destination. González-Torres once commented: “Time is something that scares me . . . or used to. This piece I made with the two clocks was the scariest thing I have ever done. I wanted to face it. I wanted those two clocks right in front of me, ticking.” While the clocks are placed one next to the other and the time was set the same during the installation, at some point one of the two is bound to stop before the other. Spoiler Alert: This is more or less the plot of the movie and how it ends.
Without any more digression, we shall dive right into the song.
A full moon night, two individuals, one is accompanying the other home after their best friends’ wedding. In fact, the song begins on a radio which the female lead gifts to the bridegroom just before her first night. The male lead ushers his friend to the room. And together, both the lead actors/friends of the groom and the bride leave. Along with these two, the song follows them in the background. Can it get any more romantic or less memorable? Well, that’s what the song is: Mounamelanoyi, E Marupuraani Reyi - translation: why this silence in between on such a memorable night?
Listen carefully to the audio version (above-shared) and it begins like Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata to set the mood - just that the tempo seems to be a bit fast. The spark is from Beethoven perhaps, but it’s Maestro and his genius all the way. Of course, Veturi-garu chimes in with his brilliant lyrics. At the start, there’s a bit of plucking of the guitar strings, santoor ( a version of hammered dulcimer), and keys. Then you hear the female vocals, in a hushed tone, calling out to the male. There’s no lip sync. It’s a background song in its purest form.
On a slightly different tangent, it’s K. Vishwanath-garu’s masterstroke where he gives complete agency and autonomy to his female characters like in most of his movies. Unlike other situations in movies of that time, here the female character takes the lead. Only at 1:45 sec you get to hear the male voice. However, in plain sight this may seem like a duet. Listen closely and you might notice it’s their individual voices. There is a certain level of ambiguity to Veturi-garu’s lyrics, so this is purely my interpretation and may not necessarily be the true intent of its original creators.
Now, just imagine, there are two voices. One - the female vocals (Janaki-garu) is the conscience or inner voice of the female lead. Two - it’s the male vocals (SPB-garu), which could be the inner voice of the male. This is the obvious explanation. But I think from the lyrics and the way this segment is filmed, I have a slightly different theory. Bear with me for a while, let me try and present my case.
Note: Skip to 00:10 Sec to begin the song.
The way it’s pictured and composed, I think it’s mostly the female lead’s imagination/thoughts of what the male lead could tell her. If you notice, after 1:24 sec in the song, it’s just the female lead. And her thinking back and forth about that night. So, it could be the female lead who is battling her conscience. The reason being: she’s already married however she has been separated from her husband and living alone. So, maybe, it’s her second chance at life or if the previous marriage was an arranged one, this is her first shot at love. Whoa! Now I think, I got to listen to this song again while re-reading this note.
There’s some tension between both and at the same time a staggering silence. Nope, it’s not a one night stand. One is accompanying the other till her doorstep since it’s late at night. And the movie was shot in the early 80’s. However, there’s this one scene in the song which may have been the most subtle yet poetic representation of consent. A scene where they reach her house and the male lead is trying to open the gate the other way, so it gets stuck. At this time, she helps him out in showing him the right way. So, there’s a subtle hint at - it’s not a forced entry but she is willingly welcoming him into her space. The music at this segment is also noteworthy with the flute narrating the scene so eloquently.
Beyond this, I don’t wish to spoil the experience. At leisure, find a cozy place to recline, find this song, play it on your earphones or a decent set of speakers and indulge in the sound of silence in between the two. Preferably, at night.
And before I close and let you enjoy this song, if I had the chance and knew how to edit - I would use this song in the background with Julie Delpy playing Celine from Before Sunrise in the foreground. While Jesse and Celine, did talk the night away, there were moments of silence in between them. Perhaps, this song could fit this situation best (according to me), where Celine is reminiscing that unforgettable night before sunrise.
Now to circle it back to the “Perfect Lovers” artwork, maybe love is all about timing. At times, both are in sync. Sometimes, one is ahead, while the other is trying to catch up and vice versa. For once, you and song could be in perfect sync. For the next 4:19 sec you could stroll together, while Maestro fills the silence with his music.
#acnotes