Labandiye

You arrive with the breeze resting upon you
I remain here, knowing you’re about to come
Sheltered under the wings of a white swan
Let’s love in secret, hidden away

Labandiye… Labandiye…
You imprisoned my thoughts
Labandiye… Labandiye…
You captured my heart with love

Shining like a moonlit stream
I was soaked in a shower of pearl-like rain
Trapped between your lips like a sigh
If I must stay, let it be alone

Labandiye… Labandiye…

Like a necklace of milk-white beads, I clasped you
Hung around your neck, admiring your beauty
I searched for the edge of joy I had tasted
But you drifted away like the wind – just us left behind

Labandiye… Labandiye…

“Labandiye,” performed and composed by Lahiru Perera with lyrics by Manuranga Wijesekara, is a tender, modern Sinhala love song that sways between intimacy, longing, and fleeting beauty. The term Labandiye, a sweet and affectionate way of calling someone “beloved” or “darling,” sets the tone for a deeply personal, almost whispered confession of love.

From the very first lines, the imagery is dreamlike. The lover is imagined arriving with the wind – soft, sudden, natural – and the speaker prepares his heart for her return. The metaphor of the white swan’s wings provides a sense of gentleness and protection, suggesting that this love isn’t loud or boastful, but quiet, delicate, and hidden away from the world.

There’s a constant interplay between closeness and distance throughout the song. The line “Trapped between your lips like a sigh” is intimate and poetic, expressing how deeply the speaker feels held by the smallest details of their connection. And yet, even in that closeness, there’s isolation. “If I must stay, let it be alone” – a bittersweet acceptance that even though he is in love, he may be left with only memories.

The second half of the song takes a symbolic turn. The singer imagines gifting his love a necklace of white beads – a gesture of adoration, commitment, and beauty. But before that joy can be fully savored, the wind – symbolic of change or fate – carries her away. There’s no dramatic goodbye, just the quiet ache of someone who once stood close but now feels far away.

This is what makes “Labandiye” resonate so strongly. It doesn’t rely on heartbreak or betrayal to move you. Instead, it captures the kind of love that feels like it belongs to another world – something too gentle and fleeting for reality. The emotions linger like perfume in the air: you can’t hold them, but you feel them long after the moment passes.

As a translated Sinhala love song, “Labandiye” is a perfect example of how poetic imagery and emotional restraint can come together to create a song that is romantic without being loud, nostalgic without being heavy, and timeless without being old-fashioned.

It speaks to anyone who has loved quietly, who has memorized someone’s smile, who has waited for someone who might not return. In its melody and meaning, “Labandiye” leaves behind a trace of love that’s soft, sincere, and unforgettable.