- Lyricist
- Vairamuthu
- Singers
- S. P. Balasubrahmanyam, S. Janaki
- Music director
- Vijay Anand
- Movie name
- Naan Adimai Illai
- Movie release year
- 1986
- Lyrics added on
- 13 May 2019
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
The song 'Oru Jeevan Thaan' from Naan Adimai Illai (1986) is a soulful romantic duet that depicts an eternal, transcendent love between two souls. The lyrics utilize musical terminology—such as ragas (Sivaranjani, Neelambari), pitch (sruti), and rhythm (laya)—as extended metaphors to illustrate how seamlessly two lives and hearts blend together. The lovers express that their emotional attachment cannot be severed by distance, time, or even across multiple lifetimes.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Monai (Initial Rhyme / Alliteration)
“Paasangalum bandhangalum / Pirithaalum piriyaadhathu”
The repetition of the initial consonant sound 'P' ('Paasangalum', 'Pirithaalum') creates a melodic flow in the rhythm.
Ethugai (Second-letter Rhyme)
“Kaalangalum nerangalum / Kalaithaalum kalaiyaadhathu”
The second consonant 'la' in 'Kaalangalum' and 'Kalaithaalum' matches, fulfilling the classical Tamil Ethugai rule.
Metaphor
“Naan thaan aiyaa neelaambari”
The female speaker metaphorically equates herself to Raga Neelambari, a classical musical scale famous for soothing lullabies.
Nature Metaphor
“Kaaveri kadal sera / Anai thaandi varavillaiyoo”
The urge of the Cauvery river breaking past dams to meet the sea serves as a metaphor for love breaching all restrictions to achieve union.
Did you know?
Trivia
Naan Adimai Illai (1986) was directed by Dwarkish and stands out historically as Rajinikanth's landmark 100th film (across languages) as well as his final film pairing opposite Sridevi. Although the music context lists the composer as unknown, the soundtrack was composed by Vijay Anand, featuring iconic vocal renditions by S. P. Balasubrahmanyam and S. Janaki, with lyricist Vairamuthu penning the poetry.
Keep listening
Songs with a similar feeling
From the same album
More songs from Naan Adimai Illai
View albumSpot an issue?
Help us improve the lyrics or English translation.