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Isaimozhi
Ambikapathy album cover
Lyrics & meaning

Unnaal Unnaal

From Ambikapathy · 2013

Lyricist
Vairamuthu
Singers
Haricharan, Hariharan, Pooja AV
Music director
A. R. Rahman
Movie name
Ambikapathy
Movie release year
2013
Lyrics added on
21 Sept 2017

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Ooooh..
En vaanam vidivathu unnaalae
En vaasal thirapathu unnaalae
En veedhi niraivathu unnaalae
En nilavum veyilum
Mazhaiyum kulirum
Unnaal unnaal unnaal… peranbae
Unnaal unnaal unnaal… peranbae
Gangaiyil aadiya
Paravaigal ellam
Kanmani paasam pesum
Kaasiyil veesiya vaasanai ellam
Kaadhali un kuzhazh vaasam
En vaanathil ilaigindra
Neelam unnaal
En mounathil kulaigindra
Vaarthai unnaal
En mugathinil muzhaikindra
Mudiyum unnaal
Ennai uchathuku kondu sella
Mudiyum unnaal
Naan mudikindra edathilum
Thodakkam unnaal
Aaa..aaaa… aaa…aaa..aa..aa..
Nenjukullae kathi veesi
Pogiraai
Kanna …kanna kanna …peranbae
Thee polae en ingu santhithom thom
Solindri mounam kondom thunba kandom
Yen kaadhal sinthithom thom
Yen vandhaai neeyaaga
Panjodu theeyaaga
Unnaal
Naan paadum paadal unnaal
Adhil kaayum punnagai unnaal
En urimai kuralum unnaal
En uyirum unnaal
Kanmani kanmani kanmani
Kanmani kanmani kanmani ooo..
Kanmani kanmani kanmani kanmani
Kanmani kanmani kanmani kanmani
Nee amutha mazhaiyaa
Amila mazhaiyaa
Rendum ondraai vanthaaiyaaa….
Enathu vali ariya
Unathu idhayam kudu
Hey valarpirai azhaginai
Oru murai thoda vidu
En per sollum peranbae vaa..aa…
Ullanbu maraikka mudiyathu..
Un pondra pennal
Unpaarvai arul seiyya vendum..
Orae oru kannal
En kaadhal vendaam endru
Orr vaarthai sonnaal
Ezh vanna vaanavil kooda
Niram maarum thannaal
Unnaal unnal unnaal
En jenmam
Unnaal unnal unnaal
En jenmam
Gangaiyil aadiya
Paravaigal ellam
Kanmani paasam pesum
Kaasiyil veesiya vaasanai ellam
Kaadhali un kuzhazh vaasam
En vaanathil ilaigindra
Neelam unnaal
En mounathil kulaigindra
Vaarthai unnaal
En mugathinil muzhaikindra
Mudiyum unnaal
Ennai uchathuku kondu sella
Mudiyum unnaal
Naan mudikindra edathilum
Thodakkam unnaal
Kanmani kanmani kanmani
Kanmani kanmani kanmani ooo..
Kanmani kanmani kanmani kanmani
Kanmani kanmani kanmani kanmani
Naan thanimaiyil
Siripadhu unnaal
Sila samayam azhuvadhu unnaal
Naan pandhiyil amarvadhu unnaal
Siru patini kolvathum unnaal
En chanthiran varuvathum unnaal
En jananamum maranamum unnaal
En uyir en vasam
Nirpathum nirpathum
En udal en urai
Ketpathum ketpathum
En vazhi nal vazhi
Paarpathum paarpathum
En manam nallennam
Kaapathum kaapathum
Athu unnaal… athu unnaal…
Athu unnaal…aa……
Oh...
My sky dawns because of you
My doorway opens because of you
My street comes alive because of you
My moonlight and sunlight
The rain and the cold
Are because of you, because of you, because of you... my great love
Because of you, because of you, because of you... my great love
Playing in the Ganges,
All the birds
Speak of your love, my darling
All the fragrances wafting through Kasi (Varanasi)
Are the scent of your hair, my love
Spreading across my sky,
The blue is because of you
Breaking through my silence,
The words are because of you
Sprouting upon my face,
Even the stubble is because of you
To lift me to the highest peak,
Only you can
Even where I come to an end,
A new beginning is because of you
Ah... aah... ah... ah... ah... ah...
Piercing my heart like a knife,
You walk away
Kanna... Kanna, Kanna... my great love
Why did we meet here like fire?
Left without words, we fell silent and met only pain
Why did we ever think of love?
Why did you come on your own,
Like fire catching cotton?
Because of you
The song I sing is because of you
The fading smile in it is because of you
My rightful voice is because of you
My very life is because of you
Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani (My darling...)
Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani, oh...
Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani
Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani
Are you a rain of nectar
Or a rain of acid?
Or did you come as both at once?
To know my pain,
Let your heart merge with mine
Hey, the beauty of the crescent moon,
Let me touch it just once
Come, my great love who calls my name...
Deep love within cannot be hidden
By a woman like you
Your gaze must shower grace
With just a single glance
If you say you do not want my love
With just a single word,
Even the seven-colored rainbow
Will lose its colors on its own
Because of you, because of you, because of you
My very life
Because of you, because of you, because of you
My very life
Playing in the Ganges,
All the birds
Speak of your love, my darling
All the fragrances wafting through Kasi (Varanasi)
Are the scent of your hair, my love
Spreading across my sky,
The blue is because of you
Breaking through my silence,
The words are because of you
Sprouting upon my face,
Even the stubble is because of you
To lift me to the highest peak,
Only you can
Even where I come to an end,
A new beginning is because of you
Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani
Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani, oh...
Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani
Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani, Kanmani
In my solitude,
My smiling is because of you
My crying at times is because of you
My sitting down to eat is because of you
My going hungry is also because of you
My moon rising is because of you
My birth and my death are because of you
My life staying
In my own control,
My body listening
To what I say,
My path seeking out
The good way,
My mind holding on
To good thoughts,
It is all because of you... all because of you...
It is all because of you... ah...
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Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

This soul-stirring song captures the intensity of total surrender and passionate obsession experienced by the protagonist. Set against the spiritual backdrop of Varanasi and the Ganges, the lyrics express how every aspect of the lover's existence—from the dawn in his sky, his laughter, his sorrow, to his very birth and death—is entirely defined and governed by his beloved.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Anaphora / Emoni

En vaanam vidivathu unnaalae / En vaasal thirapathu unnaalae

Repeated use of the phrase 'Unnaalae' / 'Unnaal' (Because of you) at the end of multiple consecutive lines to emphasize absolute devotion and singular dependency.

Metaphor

Nee amutha mazhaiyaa / Amila mazhaiyaa

Contrasting the lover as both 'amutha mazhai' (nectar rain) and 'amila mazhai' (acid rain), symbolizing the dual bittersweet nature of love that brings both ecstasy and agony.

Hyperbole

Ezh vanna vaanavil kooda / Niram maarum thannaal

An exaggerated poetic claim that a single word of rejection from the beloved would cause even a seven-colored rainbow to lose its natural colors.

Etukai (Second letter rhyming)

Gangaiyil aadiya... / Kaasiyil veesiya...

Classic Tamil poetic meter technique where the second consonant matches in corresponding lines ('vaanam' / 'vaasal', 'Gangaiyil' / 'Kaasiyil').

Did you know?

Trivia

This track is from 'Ambikapathy' (2013), the Tamil dubbed version of the Hindi romantic drama 'Raanjhanaa', starring Dhanush and Sonam Kapoor. Composed by A.R. Rahman with lyrics adapted into Tamil by legendary poet Vairamuthu, the song encapsulates the spiritual yet obsessive nature of Kundan's love in Varanasi.

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