Uda La Hiru Ena Paye Lyrics (උදා ළා හිරු එන පැයේ) by Victor Rathnayake

In the hour the young sun rises,
adorned all in dazzling white,
the day I saw you, back in our school years,
I remember it always,
thoughts… thoughts…

Pure smiles of love took shape,
we were bound in a first, budding love,
that day, at the river’s edge,
we met, I remember it, my dear…
thoughts… thoughts…

Time wore on and flew away,
the affection cracked and broke,
you came loose and joined another,
why did you leave me alone forever?…
thoughts… thoughts…

A gentle, nostalgic classic about a first love remembered from schooldays. It opens at dawn, the hour the young sun rises, adorned all in dazzling white, and the memory it lights up is the very day he first saw her, back in our school years. The refrain, thoughts… thoughts…, is the whole song’s mood, a mind quietly turning old memories over.

The middle recalls love budding in innocence. Pure smiles of love took shape, and they were bound in a first, budding love; and he pins the memory to a place, that day, at the river’s edge, we met. It is young, uncomplicated love, still bright in his mind.

The last verse brings the loss. Time wore on and flew away, the affection cracked and broke, and she came loose and joined another. All that is left is the plaintive question, why did you leave me alone forever?, trailing off again into thoughts… thoughts… Sung by Dr. Victor Rathnayake to words by Kularatne Ariyawansa, composed by Stanley Peiris, it is a tender, wistful classic about a schoolday first love, remembered forever by the one it left behind.