- Lyricist
- Vairamuthu
- Singer
- Ashok
- Music director
- Bala Bharathi
- Movie name
- Amaravathi
- Movie release year
- 1993
- Lyrics added on
- 30 Sept 2017
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
"Udal Enna Uyir Enna" from the 1993 film Amaravathi is a deeply philosophical meditation on human existence, suffering, impermanence, and social divisions. The lyrics question the true meaning of life, body, soul, and destiny, comparing human existence to fleeting fireworks in the sky. Just as rivers eventually run into the ocean and bodies turn to dust, life is transient, yet human beings remain trapped in endless strife over caste, horoscopes, and social standing. The lyricist Vairamuthu highlights how literature exalts love, yet society turns love into a painful curse through arbitrary artificial barriers. Nature and earth make no distinctions among humans; it is human ego and narrow perception that create suffering. Concluding with the ultimate truth that death is the only absolute reality, the song leaves us with a poignant self-reflection that the speaker is no enlightened Buddha to liberate the world from its deep sorrow.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Monai (Initial Rhyme / Alliteration)
“Udal enna uyir enna / Uravenna ulagenna”
Repetition of initial vowel sounds across words in adjacent phrases creates rhythmic balance.
Metaphor
“Indha vaazhkkai vaadikkai / Idhu vaana vedikkai”
Life is explicitly compared to a sky-firework display (vaana vedikkai), highlighting its brief, loud, and fleeting nature.
Parallelism & Antithesis
“Raajaakkal kadhaiyellaam raththaththin varalaaru / Rojaakkal kadhaiyellaam kanneerin varalaaru”
Contrasting kings (power/war) with roses (beauty/fragility), equating royalty to history written in blood and roses to history written in tears.
Allusion (Mythological / Historical)
“Naan ondrum Sidharththan alla…”
Direct reference to Siddhartha (Prince Gautama before becoming Buddha) who abandoned worldly life to seek answers to suffering, acknowledging the speaker's own human limitations.
Did you know?
Trivia
'Amaravathi' (1993) marked the debut of actor Ajith Kumar as a lead protagonist in Tamil cinema, directed by Selva. The music for the film was composed by Bala Bharathi, with lyrics penned by Vairamuthu. This reflective song was rendered by legendary singer S. P. Balasubrahmanyam (SPB) and serves as an influential narrative device underlying the emotional and social conflicts faced by the lead character.
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