- Lyricist
- Yugabharathi
- Singer
- Vijay Prakash
- Music director
- Sam C. S
- Movie name
- Red Sandal Wood
- Movie release year
- 2023
- Lyrics added on
- 22 Jul 2023
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This poignant lamentation from the movie 'Red Sandal Wood' captures the desperate plight and suffering of marginalized social groups struggling for basic survival. Expressed as a direct, accusatory prayer to an unfeeling deity, the lyrics convey extreme poverty, hunger, social neglect, and systemic oppression faced by daily workers who feel abandoned by society and law alike. The song uses stark imagery of ashes, wild forest fires, and endless tears to underscore the tragic vulnerability of laborers whose existence is treated as expendable. Despite their constant pleas and hard work, oppressive justice continuously burns them, rendering their existence an enduring battle for basic dignity.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Apostrophe (Direct Address)
“Kadavule.. kadavule.. / Unakkume kannillai”
Addressing an absent or divine entity directly ('Kadavule') with direct accusations of neglect.
Simile (Uvamai)
“Naai pola vazhvu”
Comparing the miserable quality of their existence directly to that of a dog using 'pola'.
Rhyme / Parallelism (Edhugai)
“Kan moodinaalum / Man moodinaalum”
Matching second-letter consonantal rhyme across structural lines (Kan / Man).
Metaphor (Urvagam)
“Kaattodu theeyagirom / Kaatrile or pidi sambalai”
Comparing human life and suffering directly to forest fires and ashes blowing in the wind.
Did you know?
Trivia
'Red Sandal Wood' (2023), directed by Giri Lathan, centers on the real-life struggles and socio-economic plight of young Tamil daily-wage laborers caught in illegal red sandalwood smuggling networks along the Andhra-Tamil Nadu border. Lyricist Yugabharathi and composer Sam C. S. crafted this track as an emotional anthem of resistance and sorrow.
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