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Puthiya Paravai album cover
Lyrics & meaning

Unnai Ondru Ketpen 2

From Puthiya Paravai · 1964

Lyricist
Kannadasan
Singer
P. Susheela
Music director
Vishwanathan-Ramamoorthy
Movie name
Puthiya Paravai
Movie release year
1964
Lyrics added on
24 Mar 2018

Lyrics & meaning

♫ Tanglish lyrics
↻ English translation
Unnai ondru ketpen
Unmai solla vendum
Ennai paada sonnaal
Enna paada thondrum…
Unnai ondru ketpen
Unmai solla vendum
Ennai paada sonnaal
Enna paada thondrum…
Kaadhal paattu paada
Kaalam innum illai
Kaadhal paattu paada
Kaalam innum illai
Thaalaattu paada thaayaagavillai
Nilavillaa vaanam
Neerillaa megam
Pesaatha penmai
Paadaathu unmai
Kannai mella moodum
Thannai enni vaadum
Pennai paada sonnaal
Enna paada thondrum
Unnai ondru ketpen
Unmai solla vendum
Ennai paada sonnaal
Enna paada thondrum…
Enna paada thondrum…
I want to ask you something,
you must tell me the truth.
If you ask me to sing,
what would I feel like singing?
I want to ask you something,
you must tell me the truth.
If you ask me to sing,
what would I feel like singing?
To sing a love song,
the time has not yet come.
To sing a love song,
the time has not yet come.
I am not yet a mother to sing a lullaby.
A sky without a moon,
a cloud without rain,
a woman who remains silent,
cannot sing the truth.
Gently closing her eyes,
grieving over her own fate,
if you ask a woman like her to sing,
what would she feel like singing?
I want to ask you something,
you must tell me the truth.
If you ask me to sing,
what would I feel like singing?
What would I feel like singing?
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female
Female

Beyond the translation

Overall song meaning

Unnai Ondru Ketpen from Puthiya Paravai (1964) is a deeply melancholic song exploring themes of unfulfillment, quiet grief, and longing. The speaker reflects on her inability to sing joyful songs of love or maternal tenderness because her life lacks romantic fulfillment and motherhood. Through vivid imagery of an empty sky and rainless clouds, Kannadasan captures a woman's silent sorrow and sense of incompleteness.

Writing craft

Poetic devices

Metaphor (Uvamai)

“Nilavillaa vaanam / Neerillaa megam”

Compares an unfulfilled woman's state to a moonless sky ('Nilavillaa vaanam') and a waterless cloud ('Neerillaa megam'), conveying empty potential.

Etukai (Second Letter Rhyme)

“Unnai ondru ketpen / Unmai solla vendum”

The second letter consonant 'n' (ன/ண்) rhymes across lines, enhancing the rhythmic melodic flow.

Anaphora (Repetition)

“Kaadhal paattu paada / Kaalam innum illai”

Repetition of phrase patterns emphasizing the lack of appropriate timing and circumstances for joy.

Keep listening

Songs with a similar feeling

Unnai Ondru Ketpen1964
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Nilave Ennidam Nerungathe1966
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Chittu Kuruvi1964
Puthiya ParavaiLongingWistful
Ninaikka Therintha1963
Anandha JodhiLongingMelancholic
Ennadi Meenakshi1978
Ilamai Oonjal AadukirathuLongingMelancholic

From the same album

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