Ayi Ayi Yo Mage Ammo Lyrics by Gypsies

I listened to what my parents told me,
and oh, I went and lost the freedom I had.
Now I understand how women have it.
I tied myself into a marriage that just won’t work.

(Ai… aiyyo… oh my mother…
why did I ever get married?)//

You call it “overtime,” sneak off on the sly,
and every single day you come home late.
The work here piles up, I’m stuck in a mess,
and from now on, if you’re late, I’ll break your legs.

(Ai… aiyyo… oh my mother…
why did I ever get married?)//

Oh, I can’t even walk down the street with you,
you go casting sideways glances at women.
Shame, I feel embarrassed, it makes me furious.
Married and all, you’re still acting like a bachelor.

(Ai… aiyyo… oh my mother…
why did I ever get married?)//

There, I’m losing it, oh mother, I’m going mad,
yet when I look, I haven’t done a single thing wrong.
I’m leaving, that’s it, we’re getting divorced,
there’s no point us living together fighting like this.

Ha! She’s getting ready to leave, after making two kids,
oh, I’ll give you a piece of my mind, I’ll have my say.
Listen to this now, and take it to heart,
if you got married, you’ll dance to my tune.

(Ai… aiyyo… oh my mother…
why did I ever get married?)//

This is a comic song from the Gypsies, the kind of cheeky, tongue-in-cheek number they are loved for. It is a husband-and-wife squabble set to music, the sort of argument that plays out in plenty of homes, only here it is exaggerated for laughs. Most of the song is the wife’s voice, fed up and at the end of her rope, and right near the close the husband jumps in with the last word.

The wife starts by blaming herself for ever listening to her parents and getting married in the first place. She says she has lost the freedom she once had, and “now I understand how women have it,” meaning only now does she grasp what wives put up with. From there she runs through her complaints. He stays out late and calls it “overtime,” she suspects he is up to no good, the housework keeps piling on her, and she warns, half-joking, that she will break his legs if he is late again. Worst of all, she cannot even walk down the road with him without his eyes wandering to other women. The line “bandala unath manamalakama thama thiyenawa” is the sting of it, married or not, he is still behaving like an unmarried bachelor on the prowl, and that is what shames and infuriates her.

The recurring cry of the chorus, “ai, aiyyo, mage ammo, mokatada man banda gaththe,” is pure everyday Sri Lankan exasperation. “Aiyyo” and “mage ammo” (oh my mother) are the words people throw out when life has become too much, and here they carry the punchline of the whole song, “why on earth did I ever get married?” It is the groan of someone who feels trapped but cannot help laughing at her own situation.

Then the song flips. Just as she announces she is done and wants a divorce, the husband cuts in. “She’s getting ready to leave, after making two kids,” he scoffs, and he is not about to let her have her say. His parting shot is “bandagaththa nam tamuse bere gahanawa,” literally “if you married me, you’ll beat the drum,” a Sinhala way of saying you will dance to my tune and do as I say. The fun of the song is exactly this, two people who clearly cannot stand each other in the moment yet are stuck together with two children and a houseful of grievances, trading threats neither of them really means. It is a wink at married life, the bickering, the jealousy, the empty ultimatums, played for warmth and a good laugh rather than real bitterness.