Skip to content
Isaimozhi
Lyrics & meaning

Mazhai Megam Moodum

From Sakkarai Panthal · 1988

Lyricist
Gangai Amaran
Singer
Asha Bhosle
Music director
Ilayaraja
Details
Sakkarai Panthal1988

Lyrics & meaning

Tanglish lyrics English translation
Female
Aa…..aaa….aa….aa…..Vocalization
Aa…..aaa….aa….aa…..Vocalization
Female
Mazhai megam moodum neramWhen the dark rain clouds cover the sky
Ival nenjil nooru paaramHer heart carries a burden of a hundred weights
Alai pola varum pogumComing and going like ocean waves
Adhil vaadum ival theamIn which her sweet self wilts away
Female
Mazhai megam moodum neramWhen the dark rain clouds cover the sky
Ival nenjil nooru paaramHer heart carries a burden of a hundred weights
Female
Koodu thediya paingiliA green parrot searching for a nest
Kaana yaengum nimmathiLonging to find peace of mind
Koodu thediya paingiliA green parrot searching for a nest
Kaana yaengum nimmathiLonging to find peace of mind
Female
Kanneeril kalangum…mm…Troubled and drowning in tears... mm...
Ennaalum mayangum….mm….Feeling faint and distressed every day... mm...
Kanneeril kalangum…mm…Troubled and drowning in tears... mm...
Ennaalum mayangum….mm….Feeling faint and distressed every day... mm...
Female
Swaram thedum oru veenaiA veena searching for its musical note
Sugam thedum oru paavaiA young maiden searching for joy
Adhu saerum kaalam eppothuWhen is the time they will finally unite?
Female
Mazhai megam moodum neramWhen the dark rain clouds cover the sky
Ival nenjil nooru paaramHer heart carries a burden of a hundred weights
Female
Aa…..aaa….aa….aa…..Vocalization
Aa…..aaa….aa….aa…..Vocalization
Female
Paadi paarththathu poonguyilThe sweet cuckoo bird tried singing
Paranthu thavikkum oru mayilA peacock flies about in anxious suffering
Paadi paarththathu poonguyilThe sweet cuckoo bird tried singing
Paranthu thavikkum oru mayilA peacock flies about in anxious suffering
Female
Anbennum sugamaeThe joy known as love
Illaatha manamaeA heart that lacks it
Anbennum sugamaeThe joy known as love
Illaatha manamaeA heart that lacks it
Female
Dhinam pasamthanai thedumSearching for affection every single day
Kanam paarvai alai modhumHer anxious glance surges like restless waves every moment
Nilai maarum kaalam eppothuWhen will the time come for this condition to change?
Female
Mazhai megam moodum neramWhen the dark rain clouds cover the sky
Ival nenjil nooru paaramHer heart carries a burden of a hundred weights
Alai pola varum pogumComing and going like ocean waves
Adhil vaadum ival theamIn which her sweet self wilts away
Female
Mazhai megam moodum neramWhen the dark rain clouds cover the sky
Ival nenjil nooru paaram….Her heart carries a burden of a hundred weights...

Beyond the translation

Song interpretation

The song 'Mazhai Megam Moodum Neram' expresses a woman's profound grief, loneliness, and emotional yearning. Overcast rain clouds serve as a metaphor for the heavy sorrow clouding her heart. The lyricist Gangai Amaran paints her emotional distress using vivid imagery of nature—a bird searching for a home, a veena longing for music, and a restless peacock yearning for comfort.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Simile (Upamai)

Alai pola varum pogum

Compares the rising and falling of emotional distress to ocean waves.

Metaphor (Uruvagam)

Swaram thedum oru veenai / Sugam thedum oru paavai

Compares the maiden searching for joy to an unstrung/unplayed Veena looking for its melodic note.

Alliteration (Monai)

Mazhai megam moodum neram

Repetition of the initial 'm' sound in 'Mazhai', 'megam', and 'moodum'.

Did you know?

Trivia

Written by Gangai Amaran for the 1988 film 'Sakkarai Panthal', this song uses traditional Tamil poetic tropes connecting nature's cloudy skies to a heroine's inner sorrow and emotional turmoil.

Keep listening

More from Sakkarai Panthal