Samanala Renak

If it could come again, I would love it in our life,
that beautiful time

Flying like a flock of butterflies,
the school days we went to learn our letters,
if it could come again, I would love it in our life,
that beautiful time

Nestled in the embrace of the school-mother….
joining together our A’s and our B’s…

Twelve years slipped by, all unnoticed,
and the school days came to their end..

Flying like a flock of butterflies,
the school days we went to learn our letters,
if it could come again, I would love it in our life,
that beautiful time

Running, jumping, dancing, competing…
winning and laughing, that time…
winning the hearts of our teachers and parents,
in the embrace of the school-mother, that time

Like a lamp-flame caught by the wind,
did our childhood hide itself away and go?

Flying like a flock of butterflies,
the school days we went to learn our letters,
if it could come again, I would love it in our life,
that beautiful time

A warm, nostalgic song by the Marians about school days and the ache of missing them, sung with the plain, universal wish at its heart: if it could come again, I would love it in our life, that beautiful time. Its central image is butterflies, the children flying off like a flock of butterflies to school, to learn their letters.

The middle fills in the tender, ordinary details of a Sri Lankan childhood at school, nestled in the embrace of the school-mother, the alma mater, joining together A’s and B’s, running, jumping, dancing and competing, winning and laughing, and winning the hearts of teachers and parents alike. And, quietly, the ache underneath: twelve years slipped by all unnoticed, and then school was suddenly over.

The loveliest and saddest image closes it: like a lamp-flame caught by the wind, did our childhood hide itself away and go? Childhood is gone as softly and completely as a candle snuffed by a breeze. Sung by the Marians to words by Shamali Priyanthi, it is a beloved, bittersweet song about how precious and how fleeting the schooldays are, and the wish, shared by everyone who has grown up, to live them once more.