Saima Cut Wela Lyrics by Gypsies

Why are you crying fake tears and sulking, Vimala
Why are you making a fuss, nobody’s even sick
Squeeze them well and get some limes ready, Vimala
Oh, your darling Simon has gone and passed out drunk
Squeeze them well and get some limes ready, Vimala
Oh, your darling Simon has gone and passed out drunk

Today was payday, so he was in a good mood
He rounded up his friends, maybe they drank in a contest, who knows
Maybe he wasn’t used to it and threw up, who knows
Aiyo, if he can’t hold his drink, why did he drink at all, who knows
Squeeze them well and get some limes ready, Vimala
Oh, your darling Simon has gone and passed out drunk

Two years have gone by since the wedding
No child has come, the house feels empty
Oh, brooding over that, somewhere out there Simon got drunk
Quick now, jump up and tend to him, Vimala
Squeeze them well and get some limes ready, Vimala
Oh, your darling Simon has gone and passed out drunk
Squeeze them well and get some limes ready, Vimala
Oh, darling Simon has gone and passed out drunk

What’s the use of crying more, Vimala, it won’t help
He got carried away, drank till he was wrecked
What’s the point of scolding him, scolding won’t do any good
Get those limes ready and quick, give them to him, Vimala
Squeeze them well and get some limes ready, Vimala
Oh, your darling Simon has gone and passed out drunk
Squeeze them well and get some limes ready, Vimala
Oh, your darling Simon has gone and passed out drunk
Crying those fake tears…….

This is one of those cheeky, comic songs the Gypsies are loved for, the kind that gets a whole party laughing along. It is a little domestic scene set to music. Simon has gone out on payday, drunk far too much with his friends, and come home a wreck, and the whole song is somebody gently teasing his wife Vimala as she fusses and cries over him.

The voice in the song is a friend or neighbour standing in the middle of the drama, half scolding and half comforting Vimala. The joke runs on the title itself. “Saima cut wela” plays on the way Sri Lankans say someone is “cut” when they are dead drunk and out cold, so “darling Simon is cut” simply means he has passed out from the arrack. The “pembara” and “darling” tacked on to his name are affectionate sarcasm, poking fun at how she still dotes on the man who came home in this state.

The running line about limes carries the household cure everyone here knows. When a man drinks too much, the classic home remedy is to squeeze fresh lime, sometimes with a pinch of salt or sugar, to settle his stomach and ease the hangover. So the singer keeps telling Vimala to stop wailing and go squeeze the limes, because tears will not sober him up but a glass of lime juice might. There is a small tender turn in the middle too: two years married and no child yet, the house feeling quiet and empty, and the hint that Simon drinks partly to drown that disappointment. The song does not dwell on it, it slides straight back into the joke.

What you are left with is warmth, not judgement. Behind the laughter is an ordinary couple, a husband who overdid it and a wife who frets and scolds but loves him anyway. The song’s whole advice is simple and human: stop crying, the man is only drunk, fix the lime and look after him, and tomorrow will be fine.