Sakwa Lihini Lyrics

In the wind that strokes the trees in the heavy rain,
in the cold that raises goosebumps, the trees caught fire,
she is a lone bird, alone upon a branch,
though she has drawn on her feathers, why is the cold no less?

Sakwa bird, flying sakwa bird,
spreading its wings, it roams the ten directions of the sky,
the tenderness of a young na-leaf you do not desire,
in this love story, I am only a minor character

Sakwa birds, in the middle of the flying night,
did you not see a lotus forced into worship?
the sound that rises from the snapped string of a sitar
pierces the sighs, all through this clouded night

A poetic, sorrowful duet built on the sakwa (chakravaka) bird, the classic Sinhala image of lovers doomed to be parted through the night. It opens cold and stark: wind stroking the trees in heavy rain, a chill that raises goosebumps, and, in a striking paradox, the trees caught fire. She is a lone bird, alone upon a branch, and asks the aching question, though she has drawn on her feathers, why is the cold no less? Nothing warms a heart in separation.

The second voice widens the sky. The sakwa bird spreads its wings and roams the ten directions, free and restless; yet the tenderness of a young na-leaf you do not desire, gentle love, offered, is refused. And a quiet confession of place in the story: in this love story, I am only a minor character, one lover feeling small, secondary, easily left behind.

The close turns to unheard grief. In the flying night, the singer asks the birds whether they saw a lotus forced into worship, beauty pressed into something against its will; and over it all rises the sound of a snapped sitar string, a music broken mid-note, piercing the sighs all through this clouded night. Sung as a duet by Theshini Dasunmalee and Dinusha Jayasinghe to words by Dilhan Fonseka, composed by Tharindu Damsara, it is a lyrical, wintry song about separated lovers, a cold that feathers cannot ease, and a love broken like a snapped string.