Pem Rasa Wahena Lyrics by Victor Rathnayake

Like a wedding song raining the sweetness of love over life
raining a honeyed sweetness (mmhhhm)
love draws near like an auspicious hour
In the blue-skied home, in a little branch, love
a song trembles on the lips (mmhhhm)
and forever gives its fragrance to the earth

In this tale of love, cooling the eyes
let a shower of dew fall, out of season
In this tale of love, cooling the eyes
let a shower of dew fall, out of season
And while I move through that tale of love
let me float like a single, lonely star

Like a wedding song raining the sweetness of love over life
raining a honeyed sweetness (mmhhhm)
love draws near like an auspicious hour
In the blue-skied home, in a little branch, love
a song trembles on the lips (mmhhhm)
and forever gives its fragrance to the earth

The beautiful moon of love, risen on the swing of saṃsāra (the cycle of rebirth)
may it never fade
may it last forever
The beautiful moon of love, risen on the swing of saṃsāra
may it never fade
may it last forever
From birth to birth I will come, my sweet one
I will come to you like a goddess

Like a wedding song raining the sweetness of love over life
raining a honeyed sweetness (mmhhhm)
love draws near like an auspicious hour
In the blue-skied home, in a little branch, love
a song trembles on the lips (mmhhhm)
and forever gives its fragrance to the earth
love draws near like an auspicious hour
and forever gives its fragrance to the earth
love draws near like an auspicious hour

This is a woman singing to the one she loves, and the whole song is a vow. She isn’t asking for anything or worrying over a single look the way a young man in a heartbreak song might. She is promising that her love will outlast this life and reach him again in the next one. The mood is calm and full, more like a blessing than a plea, the kind of love that has already settled deep and only wants to keep going forever.

She opens by comparing their love to a wedding song that rains sweetness over life. In Sinhala a “mangala geethe” is the auspicious song sung at a marriage, so by reaching for that image she is saying their love feels sacred and blessed, not casual. She layers honey and an “auspicious hour” (nakatha, the lucky moment astrologers choose for a wedding or a new beginning) on top of it, so love arriving feels like a marriage being set in motion. Then she pictures love nesting in a little branch under a blue sky, a song trembling on the lips, a fragrance that spreads across the whole earth. That fragrance is the giveaway, in Sinhala song a “suwanda” that fills the air is love made visible, something gentle that touches everyone and everything around it.

In the second verse she asks for a shower of dew to fall out of season and cool the eyes in this tale of love. Dewfall in this poetry is soothing and tender, it softens and calms, so she is wishing their love stays cool and unhurting, never harsh. And while she moves through that story she wants to float like one lonely star, fixed and steady in the dark, holding her place no matter what.

The last verse is where the song lifts into something close to worship. She calls their love a beautiful moon risen on the swing of saṃsāra, the endless cycle of birth and rebirth that runs through so much Sri Lankan feeling. The moon here stands for a love that is serene and lasting, and she begs it never to fade, to last forever. Then comes the heart of it: from one birth to the next she will keep coming back to him, “like a goddess.” That single word, deewariya, tells you the voice is a woman and tells you how she sees herself in his life, not just a lover for now but someone who will return to him lifetime after lifetime. It is one of the tenderest promises in Sinhala love song, the idea that real love doesn’t end when a life ends, it simply waits and finds you again.