Sodura Nuba Mata Lyrics by Victor Rathnayake

Beloved, be my mother,
in the womb, on the day I am next born,
to quench the fires of sorrow you suffered as my wife,
and to repay the sins

In sorrow and in comfort alike,
staying beside me like my life-breath,
beloved, be my mother,
in the womb, on the day I am next born

Without giving your heart any fire of sorrow,
to protect you, to repay the debt,
beloved, be my mother,
in the womb, on the day I am next born.

A profoundly tender song in which a husband asks his wife to be reborn, in the next life, as his mother. Beloved, be my mother, he pleads, in the womb, on the day I am next born, so that he can, at last, quench the fires of sorrow you suffered as my wife, and repay the sins. It is love expressed as a wish to change places and finally give back.

The middle honours what she has been to him: someone who stayed by him in sorrow and in comfort alike, like my life-breath. Precisely because her devotion was so complete, he longs for a next birth in which he can care for her the way she cared for him.

The close makes the vow explicit and selfless. He wants to be reborn her child so as to protect her without giving your heart any fire of sorrow, and to repay the debt he feels he owes. Sung by Victor Rathnayake, it is a quietly astonishing love song, a husband’s wish to become his wife’s child in the next life, so that all the sorrow she bore for him might finally be repaid with a lifetime of care.