Nursery Rhymes›Asian Lullabies›Aararo Aariraro
With Anna · Tamil Nadu, India

ஆரரோ ஆரிரரோ (Aararo Aariraro) — Thalattu

Key: Am~56 BPMGuitar & Piano chords

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In Tamil, a lullaby is called thalattu, and nearly every one opens with the same soft, wordless call — “aararo, aariraro” — before the mother’s own words of love begin.

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Verse 1

Am         Dm      Am
Aararo, aariraro,
Dm         Am      E7
vaa vaa en kanmani.
(Aararo, aariraro — come, come, my precious one.)
Am         Dm      Am
Aararo, aariraro, come now to me,
Dm         Am      E7
you are the light of my eyes, my whole world I see.

Verse 2

Am         Dm      Am
Aararo, aariraro,
Dm         Am      E7
vandha naal muthal.
(Aararo, aariraro — since the day you came.)
Am         Dm      Am
Aararo, aariraro, since the day you came,
Dm         Am      E7
my life has never been the same, you gave my heart your name.
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Chords — guitar & piano

Am
x
Guitar
CEA
Piano
Dm
xx
Guitar
DFA
Piano
E7
Guitar
EGB
Piano
Good to know

What this song means

Thalattu — Tamil for “lullaby” — traditionally opens with the same gentle, near-wordless call: “aararo, aariraro.” What follows is entirely up to the mother, who is considered the song’s true composer: she sings of the moment her child was born, of how deeply her life changed, and of a love so complete that, as an old saying goes, only babies who cannot yet speak are worthy judges of it.

Traditional Tamil thalattu. The Tamil refrain is the real, characteristic traditional opening; the English lyrics are a singable adaptation, not a literal translation.

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Sources & rights

  • Words and melody: see the credits in the text of this page. Older songs are traditional or in the public domain; songs by known authors keep their authors' credit.
  • Recording and arrangement: real instruments played by hand, no AI music, by Relax In No Time.
  • Chords: written by us for guitar and piano.
  • Translation: our own meaning-for-meaning translation, written for understanding. The sung words stay in the original language.

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