Denna Dena Lyrics by Bathiya and Santhush (BnS)

Denna dena na dena dena denna deno
Denna dena na dena dena denna deno
Denna dena na dena dena dena deno
Denna dena na dena dena denna deno

Na na na na dena deno

Denna dena na dena dena dena deno
Denna dena na dena dena dena deno
Denna dena na dena dena dena deno
Denna dena na dena dena dena deno

That demon, born and stirring there inside your mind,
scratches out and erases every new idea you have,
the sly one finds fault with everything you bring,
so cast it out, that demon living in your heart.

Denna dena na dena dena dena deno
Denna dena na dena dena dena deno
Denna dena na dena dena dena deno
Denna dena na dena dena dena deno

That demon, born and stirring there inside….

(Na na na na dena deno…///)
(Denna dena na dena dena dena deno…////)

That demon, born and stirring there inside….
(Denna dena na dena dena dena deno…////)

This is a playful, chant-driven song, and most of it is pure rhythm. The “Denna dena na dena dena denna deno” that runs through it isn’t words at all, it’s scat, sung syllables used like a drumbeat. It gives the track the feel of a chant you’d hear at a thovil, the old Sinhala ritual where drumming and singing are used to drive out a demon. That ritual feel is the whole joke and point of the song.

Because under the playful chanting there is one short, real verse, and it’s about a “yaka.” In Sinhala folklore a yaka is a demon or evil spirit, but here it isn’t a literal ghost. It’s the demon inside your own head, the voice of doubt and negativity that everyone carries. The verse describes exactly what that inner demon does: every fresh idea you come up with, it scratches out and erases. Everything you try to put forward, the sly thing (“vaka,” the crooked, cunning one) twists into a fault. It is the part of you that says no, that finds the problem in every plan, that talks you out of things before you start.

So the last line of the verse turns into a kind of friendly exorcism. Cast that demon out, drive it from your heart. The song borrows the sound and shape of a real demon-banishing ritual and points it inward, at the self-sabotage we all do. The nonsense chant becomes the drumming that chases the spirit away.

It’s light and fun rather than heavy, but the message underneath is genuine. Stop letting the negative voice inside kill your ideas and pick holes in everything. Send it packing, and let yourself believe in what you bring.