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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
Movie name
Album Songs 2021
Movie release year
2021
Lyrics added on
5 Jan 2021

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Unnai kaanadha kannum kannalla
Unnai ennadha nenjum nenjalla
Nee solladha sollum sollalla…aa..
Nee illamal naanum naanalla
Nee illamal naanum naanalla
Unnai kaanadha kannum kannalla
Unnai ennadha nenjum nenjalla
Nee solladha sollum sollalla..haa
Nee illamal naanum naanalla
Nee illamal naanum naanalla
……………………
Unnai kaanadha kannum kannalla
Unnai ennadha nenjum nenjalla
Nee solladha sollum sollalla….haa
Nee illamal naanum naanalla
Nee illamal naanum naanalla
Oru dheivam illaamal kovilum illai
Oru kovil illaamal dheebamum illai
Both :Nee andha kovil naan angu dheebam
Dheivathin munnae neeyum naanum ver alla
An eye that does not see you is no eye at all
A heart that does not think of you is no heart at all
A word not spoken by you is no word at all... ah..
Without you, I am not myself
Without you, I am not myself
An eye that does not see you is no eye at all
A heart that does not think of you is no heart at all
A word not spoken by you is no word at all.. ah
Without you, I am not myself
Without you, I am not myself
...
An eye that does not see you is no eye at all
A heart that does not think of you is no heart at all
A word not spoken by you is no word at all.... ah
Without you, I am not myself
Without you, I am not myself
Without a deity, there is no temple
Without a temple, there is no lamp
Both: You are that temple, and I am the lamp there
Before the divine, you and I are not separate
Female
Female
Chorus
Female
Female

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

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.

Did you know?

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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