Premaya Nisamai Lyrics by Mihindu Ariyaratne

When I was alone with you,
as we bade farewell to loneliness,
we stayed so close together,
all because of love

With your head on my shoulder,
as your sleep became mine,
I never thought to wake you,
all because of love

As I kissed your brow,
as it hid there between our lips,
you wrapped yourself around me,
all because of love

As we lived in happiness,
as we went against the world,
what forced us to part in the end
was, all the same, because of love

As I accepted it as my own,
as my surface mind found peace,
what my deeper heart never said
was, because of love

As we made ready to leave,
as we spoke of parting ways,
what I never meant to do, to part,
was because of love

As you walked to the wedding altar,
as you took another’s hand,
that I held your hand in my mind
was because of love

Falling victim to fate,
as you slipped away, senseless,
that you bade your smile farewell
was because of love

As you stayed far away,
as your memory of me faded,
that I still remember you,
is because of love

Now that we are far apart,
when you come to my memory,
that my heart torments me,
is because of love

Bidding farewell in good order,
as I fell into disorder,
that I swallowed down the poison-water
was because of love

Growing lonely through love,
growing used to loneliness,
that I find peace just seeing you,
is because of love

Growing lonely through love,
growing used to loneliness,
that I find peace just seeing you,
is because of love

A quietly devastating song built on a single relentless refrain, premaya nisaamayi, because of love, repeated at the end of every couplet until it carries the weight of a whole life. It begins in tenderness: alone together, saying goodbye to loneliness, they stayed close, her head on his shoulder, her sleep becoming his, a kiss on the brow, all because of love. At first the phrase means everything sweet.

Then the very same phrase turns and begins to wound. They were happy, they went against the world, and what forced them to part was, too, because of love. As he made peace on the surface, what his deeper heart never dared say was because of love; and, unbearably, as she walked to the poruwa, the wedding altar, and took another man’s hand, he held her hand only in his mind, because of love. The refrain now names loss as gently as it once named joy.

The last verses sink into grief and its aftermath. Fate claimed her, her smile said its goodbye; far away, her memory of him faded, yet he still remembers, because of love; now apart, when she surfaces in memory, his heart torments him, because of love. And in the darkest couplet, having bidden a careful farewell, he falls apart and swallows the poison-water, because of love. Sung by Mihindu Ariyaratne, it is a masterful, aching song that uses one repeated phrase to show how the very same love can build a whole happiness and then quietly take it all away.