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Isaimozhi
Japan album cover
Lyrics & meaning

Sottangalla

From Japan · 2023

Lyricist
Arunraja Kamaraj
Singer
Sean Roldan
Music director
G. V. Prakash Kumar
Movie name
Japan
Movie release year
2023
Lyrics added on
19 Sept 2023

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Sottangalla solatura parva
Ammi vechu araikuthamma
Thattan pola methakura manasu
Kuttikaranam adikuthamma
Cholakattu yana pola
Nenjukulla payuriye
Seeni mela eeya neeyum
Echi vaika meyuriyeee
Pokka neeyum
Nellaa thoothuriyee yee yee
Kalli pala
Thena maathuriyee yee yee
Vekka vanthaa neethan eeram
Veyilukku neeraaharam
Kummiruttil kodi koil
Deepam neethanee
Alli thinga neethan saadham
Angayamman saami padham
Kappi kallu dhagam theekkum
Megam neethanee…
Sutta mannu on kai alla
Sokka thangam aaneenee
Kittipulla neeyum thatta
Aeroplane ahh pooneenee
Alli unna naa edukka
Athanaiyum on vaasam
Kakkathula aahaasam
Ottu thinna ooram aadu
Othaasaikku yethu eedu
Thottu enna neeyum thookka
Kalam maaraatho
Sontham unna sertha veedu
Sulli vacha maina koodu
Alli alli ootum thaaya
Kaadhal yenthathoo
Mocha kotta pallu paatha
Velli vairam venaamee
Echi vachu neeyum thantha
Vellam agum ellaamee…
Sippi muthu nee sirikka
Natchathiram kaiveesum
Mothathula paal vaasam
Sottangalla solatura parva
Ammi vechu araikuthamma
Thattan pola methakura manasu
Kuttikaranam adikuthamma
Cholakattu yana pola
Nenjukulla payuriye
Seeni mela eeya neeyum
Echi vaika meyuriyee
Pokka neeyum
Nellaa thoothuriyee yee yee
Kalli pala
Thena maathuriyee yee yee…
Your glance spins around like tossing pebbles,
and grinds me down on a grinding stone.
My heart that drifts lightly like a dragonfly
is now doing somersaults!
Like an elephant in a cornfield,
you charge right into my heart!
Like a fly buzzing over sugar,
you linger around to leave your sweet taste... yeah...
You winnow the empty husk,
and turn it into golden grain... yeah... yeah...
The bitter cactus milk,
you turn it into sweet honey... yeah... yeah...
When the stifling heat hits, you are the cool moisture,
in the scorching sun, you are refreshing rice water.
In pitch darkness, across countless temples,
you are the sacred glowing lamp.
You are the meal of rice scooped up in handfuls,
you are the holy feet of Goddess Angayee,
Quenching the thirst of the parched gravel,
you are the soothing rain cloud.
I was just burnt clay, but gathered in your hands,
I turned into pure gold.
When you struck me like a tip-cat stick,
I took off flying like an aeroplane!
When I gather you into my arms,
everything smells purely of you,
and the whole sky feels tucked under my arm.
Like a lone goat grazing along the fence,
what can ever match your helping hand?
If you reach out and lift me up,
won't my fortune change forever?
A home that has taken you in as family
is a myna bird's nest built twig by twig.
Feeding with loving handfuls,
won't this love embrace me like a mother?
Seeing your bean-seed white teeth,
who needs silver or diamonds?
If you taste it and share it with me,
everything turns as sweet as jaggery...
When you, an oyster pearl, smile,
the stars wave their hands.
Your kiss carries the sweet scent of milk.
Your glance spins around like tossing pebbles,
and grinds me down on a grinding stone.
My heart that drifts lightly like a dragonfly
is now doing somersaults!
Like an elephant in a cornfield,
you charge right into my heart!
Like a fly buzzing over sugar,
you linger around to leave your sweet taste... yeah...
You winnow the empty husk,
and turn it into golden grain... yeah... yeah...
The bitter cactus milk,
you turn it into sweet honey... yeah... yeah...
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Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

This soulful folk track expresses innocent, deep affection and gratitude towards a loved one or maternal figure who brings joy, light, and transformation into the protagonist's life. Using rich rural imagery from Tamil folklore and daily rustic life—such as grinding stones, dragonflies, maize fields, cactus fruit turning to honey, and field beans—the song describes how the loved one elevates mundane, hard life into golden sweetness. The narrator feels like a clay figure transformed into gold by their presence.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Simile (Upamai)

Thattan pola methakura manasu

Compares the floating, joyous mind to a floating dragonfly ('Thattan pola methakura manasu').

Metaphor (Uruvagam)

Megam neethanee…

Directly identifies the beloved person as a comforting rain cloud that quenches all thirst ('Megam neethanee').

Hyperbole (Uyarvu Navortchi)

Kakkathula aahaasam

Exaggerates the feeling of joy, claiming that holding the beloved makes the vast sky feel small enough to fit under one's armpit.

Assonance / Rhyme (Edugai)

Sutta mannu on kai alla / Sokka thangam aaneenee

Matching second letters in consecutive lines ('Sutta' and 'Sokka') creating a rhythmic folk cadence.

Did you know?

Trivia

Composed by G. V. Prakash Kumar for the 2023 film 'Japan' starring Karthi, this song features vocals by singer-composer Sean Roldan. Lyricist Arunraja Kamaraj extensively incorporated traditional Tamil rural metaphors, folk games (like Kittipulla), and agrarian life terms (like Neeraaharam and Thoothuriyee) to give the track an authentic regional feel.

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