Kekuli Lyrics by Senaka Batagoda

The honey-fragrance has filled the whole jungle,
and until you bring it to me, it torments my heart,
even the burning heat of the noon-sun I still haven’t felt,
that is how bound my heart is to Kekuli

Hoora, in the village you are not there,
hoora, [I go] having seen you,
hoora, I walk on all alone,
hoora, never mind that you are not here

Before the light hides behind the western hill,
I am coming to the village hamlet, through the deep jungle still,
about the loneliness of life,
I felt it, there where you are not,
I am coming, my golden one,
for you are all alone…

A warm, rustic love song by Senaka Batagoda, sung by a man making his way home through the jungle to his beloved, whom he calls Kekuli, little bud. The whole forest is filled with a honey-sweet fragrance, and, he says, until she brings it to him it only torments his heart; he is so bound to Kekuli that he hasn’t even felt the burning noon heat. Love makes him oblivious to everything but her.

The refrain is built on the country call hoora, a rural interjection that gives the song its village texture. In the village she isn’t there, he sings; having glimpsed her, he must go; he walks on alone, and yet, never mind that you’re not here, he keeps going, longing folded into acceptance.

The close is all homeward tenderness. Before the light slips behind the western hill, he is coming to the hamlet, still deep in the jungle; he has felt the loneliness of life most sharply exactly where she is not. And so he calls ahead to her, I’m coming, my golden one, for you are all alone. Sung by Senaka Batagoda, it is an earthy, affectionate song about hurrying home through the wilds to the one you love, who waits, alone, at the end of the path.