- Lyricist
- Shanmugaseelan
- Singer
- G. Krishna
- Music director
- G. E. Raja
- Movie name
- Kalyana Kanavugal
- Movie release year
- 1984
- Lyrics added on
- 2 Jun 2021
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This poignant song expresses the painful realistic plight of a rural individual who migrates to the city with dreams of making a respectable living. Despite acquiring formal education and degrees, the protagonist finds that bookish knowledge offers no practical solution for survival in a ruthless urban landscape. Forced into grueling manual labor, carrying sacks and wandering back alleys, the individual faces physical exhaustion, emotional disillusionment, and complete social isolation. Ultimately, the song reflects on the contrast between societal worship of idols/scientists and the lack of true human wisdom or empathy. Expressing deep despair, the speaker questions the inscrutable fate mapped out by the Creator while using music as the sole medium to soothe an aching soul.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Anaaprasa / Monai (Initial Alliteration)
“Paththoora / Pattanaththa / Pattu / Paattu”
Repetition of the initial 'P' sound across opening lines creates a rhythmic, melancholic cadence.
Iyaibu (End Rhyme)
“Pattanaththa thedi vanthaen / Paattu paadi aatha vanthaen”
Repeated line endings with 'vanthaen' emphasize the continuous, tiring journey of the protagonist.
Antithesis / Contrast
“Yaettu vazhi padichchathellaam / Kaattu vazhi ponathadaa”
Contrasts formal bookish education ('Yaettu vazhi') with wild, useless paths ('Kaattu vazhi').
Did you know?
Trivia
This song from 'Kalyana Kanavugal' (1984) is a rare folk-philosophical track penned by Shanmugaseelan that realistically captures the agrarian-to-urban migration crisis prevalent in 1980s Tamil Nadu, focusing on educated unemployment.
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