Api Adaren Paraduna Lyrics (අපි ආදරෙන් පැරදුනා) by Dasun Madushan

We were defeated by love, we slipped from a golden-ring love,
swearing in the name of love, somewhere the two of us went wrong
for a time you were my friend,
for a time my beloved,
my wedded wife on the golden thread,
defeated… we parted…

I remember the moon, the very first day I told you I love you..
if only we could go back to the start and write the story anew
may I hold you to my chest a moment longer,
my love.. if you will allow it…

Were we too quick to come together, was the love I offered too little..
is love alone enough, without spending the time to grow close..
may I hold you to my chest a moment longer,
my love.. if you will allow it…

This is a gentle, regretful breakup song whose title says it all: api aadaren paraduna, we were defeated by love. The two of them slipped out of a golden-ring love, he says, and even though they had sworn vows in love’s name, somewhere along the way they themselves went wrong. He lists what she was to him in turn, for a while a friend, then a lover, then his wedded wife, before the plain fact lands: defeated, and parted.

The middle is all wishing to rewind. He remembers the moon on the very first day he told her he loved her, and aches to go back to that beginning and write the whole story over. In between comes the tenderest line in the song: may I hold you to my chest just a moment longer, if you will allow it? It is a man trying to hold on to the last few seconds of a love already ending.

The last verse is him searching for what went wrong. Were we too quick to come together, he wonders, was the love I gave too little, and is love by itself enough without taking the time to truly grow close? He never blames her, only questions himself, and returns once more to that plea to hold her a moment more. It is a breakup sung without bitterness, only sorrow and the wish that they had done it differently.