Numba Nethiwa Lyrics (නුඹ නැතිව) by Harshana Disanayake

Without you, and yet with you yourself,
the evening has come,
here, at this very tank-bund,
it has stopped, together with me

Washed by fresh rain, in the muddy tank-bed,
fresh flowers offer themselves up,
the beauty of the tank’s plain, as if I saw it new,
I am still watching it..

Rising in the rhythm of the journey, the blue waves gather and come,
striking the journey’s end,
white foam-bubbles break, saying the journey is a weariness,
and, without thinking, I simply stay..

A quiet, contemplative song about being alone by a reservoir, present with an absent love. Its paradox opens it: without you, and yet with you yourself, the evening has come. The other person is gone, yet somehow accompanies him, and here at this very tank-bund, the evening simply stops beside him. Solitude and companionship in the same breath.

The middle finds unexpected renewal. Washed by fresh rain, even in the muddy tank-bed fresh flowers offer themselves up; and the familiar beauty of the tank-plain looks to him as if I saw it new. Grief has, oddly, sharpened his sight; he keeps watching, as if noticing the place for the first time.

The close watches the water like a life. Blue waves rise in the rhythm of the journey, gather, and strike the journey’s end, where white foam-bubbles break, the wave’s whole trip ending in a burst of foam, saying the journey is a weariness. And the singer, without thinking, I simply stay. Sung by Harshana Disanayake, it is a still, meditative song about lingering alone by a reservoir at dusk, finding a strange new beauty in an old place, and quietly accepting the weariness of the journey.