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Isaimozhi
Lyrics & meaning

Unnai Kaanadha Kannum

From Album Songs 2021 · 2021

Lyricist
Kannadasan
Singers
Tanvi Shah, Girishh Gopalakrishnan
Music director
Girishh Gopalakrishnan
Details
Album Songs 20212021

Lyrics & meaning

Tanglish lyrics English translation
Female
Unnai kaanadha kannum kannallaAn eye that does not see you is not an eye at all.
Unnai ennadha nenjum nenjallaA heart that does not think of you is not a heart at all.
Nee solladha sollum sollalla…aa..A word that is not spoken by you is not a word at all.
Nee illamal naanum naanallaWithout you, I am not myself.
Nee illamal naanum naanallaWithout you, I am not myself.
Female
Unnai kaanadha kannum kannallaAn eye that does not see you is not an eye at all.
Unnai ennadha nenjum nenjallaA heart that does not think of you is not a heart at all.
Nee solladha sollum sollalla..haaA word that is not spoken by you is not a word at all.
Nee illamal naanum naanallaWithout you, I am not myself.
Nee illamal naanum naanallaWithout you, I am not myself.
Chorus
……………………
Female
Unnai kaanadha kannum kannallaAn eye that does not see you is not an eye at all.
Unnai ennadha nenjum nenjallaA heart that does not think of you is not a heart at all.
Nee solladha sollum sollalla….haaA word that is not spoken by you is not a word at all.
Nee illamal naanum naanallaWithout you, I am not myself.
Nee illamal naanum naanallaWithout you, I am not myself.
Female
Oru dheivam illaamal kovilum illaiThere is no temple without a deity.
Oru kovil illaamal dheebamum illaiThere is no lamp without a temple.
Both :Nee andha kovil naan angu dheebamBoth: You are that temple, and I am the lamp inside it.
Dheivathin munnae neeyum naanum ver allaBefore God, you and I are not distinct from each other.

Beyond the translation

Song interpretation

This classic devotional-style love song expresses complete emotional and spiritual surrender to one's soulmate. The lyricist conveys that all sensory and human faculties—eyes, heart, speech, and individual self-identity—lose their fundamental purpose and value in the absence of the beloved.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Polyptoton / Negative Epanalepsis

Unnai kaanadha kannum kannalla

The repetition of a word immediately followed by its negation (e.g., 'kannum kannalla', 'nenjum nenjalla', 'naanum naanalla') stresses that an object or person loses its identity without love.

Metaphor (Uvamai)

Nee andha kovil naan angu dheebam

Comparing the beloved to a sacred temple ('kovil') and oneself to the holy lamp ('dheebam') within it elevates romantic devotion to spiritual oneness.

Anaphora / Structural Parallelism

Unnai kaanadha kannum kannalla / Unnai ennadha nenjum nenjalla

Sequential lines use identical grammatical structures ('Unnai ...', 'Nee ...') to create a rhythmic and cumulative emotional intensity.

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Trivia

Written by the iconic poet Kaviyarasu Kannadasan, this legendary composition originally belongs to the 1965 Tamil movie 'Idhayak Kamalam', composed by K. V. Mahadevan and rendered by P. Susheela and T. M. Soundararajan.

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