A NOTE ON THE CYPRIOT SONG “TA RIALIA”

by Pavlos Andronikos

In Pavan K. Varma’s Becoming Indian: The Unfinished Revolution of Culture and Identity (Penguin Books India, 2010) it is claimed that the Bollywood composer R. D. Burman copied Demis Roussos’ song “Say You Love Me”.

Even R. D. Burman’s hugely popular number ‘Mehbooba Mehbooba’ from Sholay is an almost complete copy of ‘Say You Love Me’ by the Greek singer Demis Roussos. [p. 160]

Varma does not seem to be aware that Demis Roussos’ song was an English version of a Greek Cypriot song “Ta Rialia”,[1] which had been created and recorded by the well-known singer Michalis Violaris, and had become very popular in Cyprus and Greece.

According to Violaris, “Ta Rialia” was an adaptation of a song which he found in the book  Κυπριακή λαϊκή μούσα (“The Cypriot Folk Muse”, Nicosia, 1951). [2]

“Το τραγούδι αυτό πριν από πολλά χρόνια, το βρήκα πράγματι στο βιβλίο του Θ. Καλλίνικου, και μου άρεσε… Άρχισα να το δουλεύω το 1970, και σιγά σιγά διασκευάζοντάς το, του έδωσα τη μορφή που έχει στον δίσκο...” [3]

(Translation: “I actually found this song many years ago in Th. Kallinikos' book and I liked it… I started working on it in 1970, and, gradually adapting it, I gave it the form it has on the album…”)

But “Φωνή Αυκορίτισσα” (Melody from Avgorou), the song which inspired “Ta Rialia”, is quite different from Violaris’ song, except for the closing section of the former, which is more or less the same as the chorus of “Ta Rialia”. (The closing section is sung only once in the Kallinikos recording, and is called in Greek commentaries an “epode”.)

Despite the significant differences between Violaris’ song and the traditional song recorded by Kallinikos, Violaris modestly describes “Ta Rialia”, on the LP record Τι Λωζάνη - Τι Κοζάνη, as a “Δημοτικό Κυπριακό, διασκευή Βιολάρης” ("Cypriot folk song, adapted by Violaris").

It seems then that Rahul Dev Burman was within his rights in recording an Indian cover of the Greek Cypriot song “Ta Rialia” without permission, and was probably not breaking any copyright laws since the song is credited as traditional by both Michalis Violaris and Demis Roussos. However, the fact that the music of “Mehbooba Mehbooba” is attributed solely to Burman as if it were his own original composition is, to put it mildly, rather unethical.[4]

In my opinion, Michalis Violaris was too modest in describing “Ta Rialia” as a folk song adapted by himself. I think it is more accurate to think of it as a new creation by Violaris which builds on received folk materials, i.e., a new song created by Violaris in the folk idiom. He should have claimed it as his own composition.

Notes

[1] The Roussos song is credited as “traditional” on the LP record My Only Fascination.
[2] For a recording by Kallinikos see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_myNEyhDBPs.
[3] Michalis Violaris 18 Feb. 2017, quoted at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_myNEyhDBPs.
[4] See https://www.discogs.com/Rahul-Dev-Burman-R-D-Burman-The-Singer/release/14513022.