- Lyricist
- Vairamuthu
- Singer
- Chandrabose
- Music director
- Bala Bharathi
- Movie name
- Thalaivasal
- Movie release year
- 1992
- Lyrics added on
- 18 Feb 2021
Lyrics & meaning
Beyond the translation
Overall song meaning
This song is a lively, traditional North Chennai 'Gaana' folk track performed by a street artist calling himself 'Shenoy Nagar Gaana Baabu'. He begins with welcoming hospitality, inviting the gathering to apply sandalwood paste and listen to his song. He then engages in a fast-paced, humorous associative word chain—linking time, beach, body, intestines, medal, gold, and his master's name—a hallmark style of local freestyle singers. The song humorously concludes with him complaining about getting paid a meager three-quarter rupee (75 paise) wage despite his energetic performance.
Writing craft
Poetic devices
Chain Rhyming (Anaphora / Verbal Concatenation)
“Beachunna kadalu / Inga aambalaikkum pombalaikkum / Padaithaanae udalu”
A traditional Gaana technique where the concept or ending sound of one line links directly to the start of the next (beach -> kadalu -> udalu -> kodalu -> medalu -> thangam -> singam).
Rhyme (Edhugai and Monai)
“Hae vandhanam vandhanam / Vandha janam kundhanam / Adaei thambhi santhaanam / Alli kududaa sandhanam”
Strong internal rhyming with the repeating '-ndha-' sound scheme across adjacent lines creating a rhythmic beat.
Did you know?
Trivia
This track from 'Thalaivasal' (1992) is an early cinematic representation of North Chennai Gaana music in 90s Tamil cinema. Sung energetically by veteran singer-composer Chandrabose with music by Bala Bharathi, it helped popularize street gaana rhythms in mainstream film soundtracks.
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