Welawa Ko Lyrics (වෙලාව කෝ) by Marians

Ko ko ko, where is the time? ////

Speaking just two words, saying what was in the heart,
we shared our whole lives

Ko ko ko, where is the time? ////

Crazy talk, small talk, jokes, wise talk, laughing through childhood,
naive talk, cooing talk, flattering talk, foolish talk, delighting through youth
childhood and youth, weren’t those our finest days?
none of it is here now, no time now, for anyone today

Ko ko ko, where is the time? ////

Peace talk, love talk, plans made and plans coming true, spilling ear to ear and door to door,
without a drink or a bite, laughing away, whiling the idle hours, now we hang off the internet
now we can’t, can’t sit and look at each other, we sit staring at cell phones
where are the old days? you couldn’t drag them back now even with elephants

Ko ko ko, where is the time? ////

Speaking just two words, saying what was in the heart,
we shared our whole lives

Ko ko ko, where is the time?

This is a warm, wistful song from the veteran band Marians about how we have run out of time for each other. Its refrain is a double question, welawa ko, which means both where is the time and where did the time go. Once, it says, just two words spoken from the heart were enough to share a whole life together.

The song walks back through the ages of a friendship. Childhood was crazy talk and small talk and jokes and laughter; youth was all naive, cooing, foolish chatter and pure delight. Weren’t those our best days, it asks, and then lands the sad answer: none of that is here now, nobody has time for anyone today.

The last verse names the culprit, with more regret than anger. People used to spill peace talk and love talk and plans from ear to ear and door to door, laughing the idle hours away, and now we hang off the internet instead, unable even to sit and look at one another because we are staring at our cell phones. Where are the old days, it sighs, with a lovely idiom: you could not drag them back now even with a team of elephants. It is a gentle lament for real, unhurried human company in the age of the screen.