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IsaimozhiLyrics · Translation · Meaning

Lyrics & meaning

Magane Ila Magane

From Magane Magane · 1982

Lyricist: Panchu Arunachalam
Singer: P. Susheela
Music director: Ilayaraja
Movie name: Magane Magane
Movie release year: 1982
Lyrics added on: 21 Apr 2020

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics

↻ English translation

Maganae ila maganae

Naan azhudhaen unnai enni

Kannukkul kenaru vetti

Athanaiyum uppu thanni

Maganae ila maganae

Naan azhudhaen unnai yenni

Kannukkul kenaru vetti

Athanaiyum uppu thanni

En kadhaiya kettaalae

Pacha maram pookkaadhae

En kadhaiya kettaalae

Pacha maram pookkaadhae

Kannagi patta thunbam

Naan pattadhil paadhi thunbam

Kannagi patta thunbam

Naan pattadhil paadhi thunbam

Maganae ila maganae

Naan azhudhaen unnai yenni

Kannukkul kenaru vetti

Athanaiyum uppu thanni

{Vedhachu vecha nelleduthu

Samachu thinnaachu

Yema dharuman yaettilae

En kanakku ennaachu} (2)

Kattiyulla kandhalukku

Naan irukken kaavalukku

Kattiyulla kandhalukku

Naan irukken kaavalukku

Buthanum thappu sithanum thappu

Vaazhkkaiyilae

Maganae ila maganae

Naan azhudhaen unnai yenni

Kannukkul kenaru vetti

Athanaiyum uppu thanni

{Karuvil vandha bandham ellaam

Kanakku chollavilla

Iduppu vittu pona pinnae

Enakku chondham illa} (2)

Nenjukkulla thee mootti ullangaiyil soraakki

Nenjukkulla thee mootti ullangaiyil soraakki

Erakki vechen magana mattum kaanavilla

Maganae ila maganae

Naan azhudhaen unnai yenni

Kannukkul kenaru vetti

Athanaiyum uppu thanni

En kadhaiya kettaalae

Pacha maram pookkaadhae

Kannagi patta thunbam

Naan pattadhil paadhi thunbam

Kannagi patta thunbam

Naan pattadhil paadhi thunbam

My son, my young son,

I wept thinking of you,

Digging a well inside my eyes,

And it is all salty water.

My son, my young son,

I wept thinking of you,

Digging a well inside my eyes,

And it is all salty water.

If anyone hears my story,

Even a green tree would not bloom.

If anyone hears my story,

Even a green tree would not bloom.

The suffering Kannagi (legendary tragic heroine) endured

Is only half of what I went through.

The suffering Kannagi (legendary tragic heroine) endured

Is only half of what I went through.

My son, my young son,

I wept thinking of you,

Digging a well inside my eyes,

And it is all salty water.

The grain saved for sowing was taken,

Cooked and eaten away;

In the ledger of Yama (god of death),

What has become of my account?

For the torn rags I wear,

I alone stand guard.

For the torn rags I wear,

I alone stand guard.

The Buddha was wrong, the sages were wrong,

About this life.

My son, my young son,

I wept thinking of you,

Digging a well inside my eyes,

And it is all salty water.

The bond that formed in the womb

Left no account to show;

Once he left my hip,

He was no longer mine.

Kindling a fire in my chest and cooking rice on my palm,

Kindling a fire in my chest and cooking rice on my palm,

I took it off the fire, but my son was nowhere to be seen.

My son, my young son,

I wept thinking of you,

Digging a well inside my eyes,

And it is all salty water.

If anyone hears my story,

Even a green tree would not bloom.

The suffering Kannagi (legendary tragic heroine) endured

Is only half of what I went through.

The suffering Kannagi (legendary tragic heroine) endured

Is only half of what I went through.

Female

Female

Female

Female

Female

Female

Female

Female

Female

Female

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

Magane Magane is a heart-wrenching maternal lament expressing deep pain, abandonment, and grief over a missing or ungrateful son. The mother describes her endless weeping through vivid folk metaphors, comparing her tears to a well dug inside her eyes. She feels her tragic life story is so painful that even a living green tree would stop blooming if it heard her sorrow, and asserts that her suffering exceeds even that of the legendary Tamil epic heroine, Kannagi. She ponders the cruelty of fate, questioning Lord Yama's ledger of life and reflecting on how a mother devotes her heart, soul, and body to nurture a child, only for the child to become distant once grown. The song heavily draws upon traditional Tamil Oppari (lament) tropes to depict the timeless heartbreak of a devoted mother left alone in her old age.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Metaphor

“Kannukkul kenaru vetti / Athanaiyum uppu thanni”

Compares continuous weeping to digging a well inside the eyes that yields salty water.

Hyperbole

“En kadhaiya kettaalae / Pacha maram pookkaadhae”

Exaggerates grief by stating that even a vibrant green tree would lose its ability to bloom upon hearing her tragedy.

Allusion

“Kannagi patta thunbam / Naan pattadhil paadhi thunbam”

Refers to Kannagi, the heroine of the Tamil epic Silappatikaram known for supreme tragedy, claiming her own pain is twice as severe.

Visceral Imagery

“Nenjukkulla thee mootti ullangaiyil soraakki”

Uses dramatic imagery of lighting a fire in the chest and cooking rice on the palm to illustrate extreme sacrifice and emotional agony.

Did you know?

Trivia

Written by renowned lyricist Panchu Arunachalam, this song adopts the structure and emotional tone of 'Oppari'—the traditional Tamil folk genre of mourning and grief. It effectively conveys the grief of maternal abandonment, a common thematic element in Tamil socio-drama films of the 1980s.

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