One Day in the Evening

Come to the town, one evening,
give me more love than the water of the tank,
let me see you one more day, the way it was back then

Rows of fish, drawn in to a handful of puffed rice,
flocks of birds, perched pure upon the treetops,
the streets we walked, measuring out our steps,
the memory is still young, and the eyes brim over with water

Even when the town rain comes and soaks me through,
there is no umbrella held in my hand today,
raising a thousand ripples across the tank water,
love has gone, blown away on the wind

A tender, nostalgic love song set in the hill-town of Kandy, built around its famous lake. The singer’s whole wish is small and aching: come to the town, one evening, and give me more love than the water of the tank, let me see you one more day, the way it was back then. He is asking the past to return for a single evening.

The memories are all lakeside details: rows of fish drawn in to a handful of puffed rice, flocks of birds settled pure upon the treetops, and the streets we walked, measuring out our steps. That memory, he says, is still young, undimmed, and the very freshness of it makes the eyes brim over with water.

The present is rain and absence. When the town rain comes and soaks him, there is no umbrella held in my hand today, no one beside him, no shelter. And in the final image, love itself raises a thousand ripples across the tank water and is then blown away on the wind, scattered like ripples that fade across the lake. Sung by Ishan Hewage to words by Dilan Nuwaragedara, composed by Tharindu Damsara, it is a wistful song about longing for one more lakeside evening with a love the wind has carried off.