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Isaimozhi
Sumai Thangi album cover
Lyrics & meaning

En Annai Seidha Paavam

From Sumai Thangi · 1962

Lyricist
Kannadasan
Singer
S. Janaki
Music director
Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy
Movie name
Sumai Thangi
Movie release year
1962
Lyrics added on
8 May 2018

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Aaaaa….aaa….aaa….aaa
Aaaaa….aaaa….aaaa…..
En annai seidha paavam
Naan mannil vandhadhu
En azhagu seidha paavam
Nee ennai kandathu
En annai seidha paavam
Naan mannil vandhadhu
En azhagu seidha paavam
Nee ennai kandathu
En annai seidha paavam
Namm kangal seidha paavam
Naam kaadhal kondathu
Ithil kadavul seitha
Parigaaram pirivu enbathu
Pirivu enbathu
En annai seidha paavam
Naan mannil vandhadhu
En azhagu seidha paavam
Nee ennai kandathu
Iravenavum pagalenavum
Irandu veiththaanae
Andha iraivan avan manadhai mattum
Ondru veiththaanae
Oru manadhil oru vilakai
Yetri vaiththaanae
Adhil ozhi irukka vazhiyai mattum
Moodi vitaanae moodi vitaanae
En annai seidha paavam
Uravinaraam paravaigalai
Nee valarthaayae
Adhil oru paravai naanum endrae
Ninaithirunthenae
Siriya koondu enakku mattum
Thirakka villayae
Adhu thirantha podhu en siragu
Parakkavillayae
En annai seidha paavam
Naan mannil vandhadhu
En azhagu seidha paavam
Nee ennai kandathu
En annai seidha paavam
Aaaah... aa... aa... aa...
Aaaah... aaa... aaa...
Because of the sin my mother committed,
I was born onto this earth.
Because of the sin of my beauty,
you laid eyes on me.
Because of the sin my mother committed,
I was born onto this earth.
Because of the sin of my beauty,
you laid eyes on me.
Because of the sin my mother committed...
Because of the sin our eyes committed,
we fell in love.
And the only remedy God offered
was separation.
Nothing but separation.
Because of the sin my mother committed,
I was born onto this earth.
Because of the sin of my beauty,
you laid eyes on me.
As night and day,
He created two.
Yet that God gave each person
only a single heart.
He lit a lamp
inside that one heart,
but while the light burned within, the way out
He closed, He completely closed.
Because of the sin my mother committed...
You sheltered the birds of your family,
and raised them with care.
Believing that I too was one of those birds,
I lived with hope.
Yet this little cage, for me alone,
never opened.
And when it finally opened,
my wings could not fly.
Because of the sin my mother committed,
I was born onto this earth.
Because of the sin of my beauty,
you laid eyes on me.
Because of the sin my mother committed...
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

This poignant song expresses profound grief and tragic resignation regarding unfulfilled love and existential sorrow. The protagonist laments her existence, tracing her sorrow back to her birth, her beauty, and the fateful moment her lover saw her. She feels that love was a trap engineered by destiny, where God lit a lamp of hope inside her heart only to seal off its radiance. In the final stanza, she uses the metaphor of birds in a cage: while others were nurtured and freed, her cage opened too late—when her wings were already broken and unable to fly.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Anaphora / Repetition (Iratturudhal)

“En annai seidha paavam”

The refrain 'En annai seidha paavam' recurs throughout the song, emphasizing destiny and tragic causation as the central motif.

Metaphor (Uruvagamm)

“Uravinaraam paravaigalai”

Relatives are poetically compared to birds ('Uravinaraam paravaigalai') raised together, and hope is compared to a lamp lit inside a heart ('Oru manadhil oru vilakai').

Irony / Antithesis

“Iravenavum pagalenavum / Irandu veiththaanae”

Contrast between God creating options like night and day, yet restricting the heart to one immovable feeling.

Edhugai (Second-letter rhyme)

“Iravenavum pagalenavum / Irandu veiththaanae”

Rhyming of the second consonant sound 'ra' across adjacent lines ('Iravenavum' and 'Irandu').

Did you know?

Trivia

Sumai Thangi (1962) was directed by C. V. Sridhar and features legendary music composed by the duo Viswanathan–Ramamoorthy, with lyricist Kannadasan weaving deep philosophical melancholy into the narrative. This song, sung by S. Janaki, is widely considered one of the most emotionally heartbreaking compositions in classic Tamil cinema.

Keep listening

Songs with a similar feeling

Enna Pada Sad1985
Aan PaavamGriefSeparation
Irandu Manam Vendum1972
Vasantha MaligaiGriefMelancholic
Ninakka Vaithai Pesa1969
Thanga MalarGriefSeparation
Mana Nattiya Medaiyil1960
Meenda SorgamGriefMelancholic
Vaanuyarntha Solaiyile1985
Idhaya KovilGriefMelancholic
Vaanam Kizhiyuthu2025
MaamanGriefSeparation

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