Kadupul Thala Lyrics by Victor Rathnayake

Crushing the kadupul flower
washing it in tears
in secret, she
parted and went away….

Gaining her parents’ blessing
bound to him
may she prosper forever
that is enough for me….

If one day you are tormented
your eyes wet with tears
just say the word, my dear
and in an instant I will come….

This is one of the most selfless kinds of heartbreak song. It opens on a devastating image: “crushing the kadupul flower, washing it in tears, in secret she parted and went away.” The kadupul is the night-blooming cereus, the Queen of the Night, a flower that opens only rarely and for a single night, and it is the Sinhala symbol for beauty and love that are precious precisely because they are so fleeting. A crushed kadupul, wet with tears, is a rare and perfect love destroyed, and she left him quietly, without a scene.

The second verse reveals why, and reveals his character. She has married another man, “gaining her parents’ blessing, bound to him.” Rather than rage or beg, he offers a blessing of his own: “may she prosper forever, that is enough for me.” He would rather she be happy in her rightful marriage than hold on to his own claim. That single line turns a heartbreak into an act of love.

The last verse is the quiet proof of how deep that love runs. He asks nothing of her, except this: if she is ever tormented, ever in tears “some day,” she need only say the word and “in an instant I will come.” He steps out of her life so she can live it, but leaves the door open forever in case she ever needs him. What the listener is left with is the rare, aching dignity of a man who loves someone enough to let her go completely, and still keep watch over her happiness from afar.