Aniyata Naga Balapan Lyrics by Gypsies

Climb the mast and scan the horizon well,
come to the fish-hold, son,
don’t hand the catch to the shop for a bit of bread,
take the money by the fistful, weighed out right

Watch the sea-edge, spread out the nets,
bring the thora and rock fish ashore,
koss, sprats, the lagoon prawns thrashing about,
auction them off, lads, weighed out fair

Praying to Saint Anthony through the night for help,
thinking all the while of the wife and children at home,
throwing off the cold that clings to the body,
let us leap from the belly of the wave and go see the deep

Watch the sea-edge…

When the choppy sea was soothed and calmed,
the fish came close to the fibreglass boat,
the gods and the Buddha smiled along with us,
this time a fine little chance was set up

Watch the sea-edge…

Where the nets slip loose at the small shore,
is there no fish for curry at the big landing?
we can shake the nets out on the high beach,
in the evening let us set up at the little corner

Watch the sea-edge…

This is a lively fishermen’s baila from the Gypsies, sung in the voice of a seasoned fisherman calling to a younger one, most likely his son. Climb the mast and read the horizon, he says, come to the hold, and above all do not hand the catch to the fish shop for a pittance: sell it yourself, take the money by the fistful, and weigh it out fair. It is hard-nosed work advice set to a dance rhythm.

The song is full of the real texture of the coast. It names the catch by kind, thora and rock fish, koss, sprats, the lagoon prawns thrashing in the net, and the tools and places of the trade, the sea-edge, the fibreglass boat, the big landing and the little shore. Woven through it is faith: they pray through the night to Saint Anthony, patron of Sri Lanka’s Catholic fisherfolk, and feel the gods and the Buddha smiling with them when the choppy sea finally calms and the fish come close.

Underneath the fun is the weight every fishing family carries. Even as he throws off the cold and leaps into the waves, he is thinking of the wife and children at home who depend on the day’s catch. The song ends practically, planning where to set the nets by evening, and that is its charm: it turns the hard, hopeful daily work of the sea into something you can dance to.