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Lyrics & meaning

Kadavule Song Lyrics – Red Sandal Wood

From Red Sandal Wood · 2023

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

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Kadavule.. kadavule..
Unakkume kannillai
Pasiyile madigirom
Vaazhave vazhi illai
Kai kodukkadha
Or paavi neethane
Kaal adhai vaarum
Dhrogi neethane
Naadana naadu
Naai pola vazhvu
Yean endru ketka
Aalillaiye ..
Vazhvangu vaazha
Ennadha naangal
Vaayara vunna
Sorillaiye
Or vazhi theriyaamale
Kaattodu theeyagirom
Kaatrile or pidi sambalai
Naangal palagirom
Kan moodinaalum
Man moodinaalum
Oor povadheno kanaamale
Mandradum naangal
Thindadinaalum
Maratha vazhvo kannirile
Vedhanai vilagamale
Veenagum ore koottame
Naalellam sudum needhiyal
Vazhvil porattame
Hooo oo hoo ooo
Oh God... Oh God...
Even you have no eyes.
We are dying of hunger,
With no way left to survive.
Never lending a helping hand,
Aren't you a sinner yourself?
Tripping our feet and pulling us down,
Aren't you a traitor yourself?
In such a vast country,
We live the lives of stray dogs.
To question why this happens,
There is no one around...
To live grand and noble lives,
We never even wished,
Yet to eat our fill,
There is not even a bowl of rice.
Without knowing any way out,
We burn away like a forest fire.
Like a handful of ashes in the wind,
We are scattering and fading away.
Whether our eyes close in death,
Or the earth covers our bodies,
Why does our village vanish without a trace?
Even as we plead and beg,
And struggle through our misery,
Does our life remain forever drowned in tears?
With our agony never leaving us,
We are just a people wasting away.
Burnt every day by this harsh justice,
Life is nothing but a struggle.
Hoo oo... Hoo oo...
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male
Male

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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