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| Wednesday, 8 December 2004 |
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Sunil Sarath Perera The committed lyricist Well-known environmentalist, author and lyricist Sunil Sarath Perera was presented with the Deshabimani Pranama Pooja (Patriotism Award) for composing patriotic songs at a ceremony held at President's House recently. The ceremony was organised by Lakhanda Radio to mark its eighth anniversary.
Soft-spoken Sunil Sarath Perera is essentially a bureaucrat who has made a niche for himself as a committed lyricist. His track record as Senior Assistant Secretary in the ministries of Parliamentary Affairs and Sports (1988-89), Justice and Parliamentary Affairs (1989-90) and Environment and Parliamentary Affairs may have had an impact on his vocation as a lyricist. Then he got himself seriously involved in environmental affairs by participating in the conference on Bio-diversity and Traditional Knowledge held in Seville, Spain and the authorities accepted his proposals. He eventually received the Green Award of the Environmental Journalist Forum in recognition of his services. Unknown to many Sunil composed songs for Karunaratne Abeysekera's Lama Mandapaya way back in 1965. "It was a period of art songs, he recalls with nostalgia. There were three of us - Ajantha Ranasinghe, Sunil Ariyaratne and myself who were writing lyrics for the then Radio Ceylon. We were inspired by our role models, such as, Sri Chandraratne Manawasinghe, Mahagamasekara, Madawala S. Ratnayake, Arisen Ahubudu and Wimal Abeysundara,' he said turning his attention to another aspect of music. "Meanwhile, Sunil Shantha, Ananda Samarakoon and W. D. Amaradeva were experimenting with producing an indigenous music in line with literature. They gave prominence to carefully written lyrics. It was a kind of renaissance in Sinhala music,' Sunil said. Joint effort He says language gives rise to thought. The musician produces a song based on the lines written by the lyricist. That means a song is a joint production of the lyricist, the musician and the vocalist. "There cannot be a song without a lyricist," says Sunil who has penned more than 500 pieces of lyrics. "Most of my songs have been sung by Amaradeva, Sanath Nandasiri, Somatilleke Jayamaha, Dayaratne Ranatunge, Amara Ranatunge, Victor Ratnayake, Athula Somasiri, Narada Disasekera, Amitha Wedisinghe and Neela Wickramasinghe," Sunil said. Except for Mahagamasekara and Madawala S. Ratnayake, Sunil has written a large number of lyrics for maestro Amaradeva. For instance, his popular song "Peradinayaka ma pemkala yuvathiya.....", sung by Amaradeva, was adjudged the best radio song in 1974. The other popular song "Erandathi enawa....." was an experiment on language. "Although, Peradeniya poetry had a still birth, it had a tremendous influence on lyrics. An example is the use of metaphors. I found it as a literary short hand," Sunil said. Metaphors Perhaps he was the first lyricist to use metaphors in songs in modern songs. "Sende Kaluwara gala helenawita...." sung by Sanath Nandasiri is full of such metaphors used effectively. Even in "Peradinayaka ma pemkala yuvathiya...." the metaphors used are the sun and the moon. In recent times he wrote the lyrics for "Vasiva vesi vasiva...." to be sung by Amaradeva. Another popular song he wrote was "Eya yanna giya..." sung by Amarasiri Peiris. A careful reading of his songs contained in "Mahakanda" (Dayawansa Jayakody publication) reveals that Sunil has been experimenting with the folk idiom to enrich his songs. Folk songs became popular because of their use of metaphors. Sunil Sarath Perera is an expert in expressing a volume of ideas in a few words. Here is a classic example: Yauvana Premaya mathakaya pubuda No helu kandulak daese mathuvina Agony Here he sees a couple traversing the same path used by him and his fiancee. The girl's smile reminds him of his own girl friend. The last line shows the utter agony he undergoes. Apart from such memorable songs, Sunil has written a large number of patriotic songs for the radio. "Mage ratata Dalada Himi Saranai, sung by Sanath Nandasiri and "Piyasara karav deshayen deshayata/mage rata mata agei", sung by Amaradeva are classic creations of lasting value. Those who turn out meaningless songs by the dozen these days have something to learn from Sunil Sarath Perera who remains one of the leading lyricists Sri Lanka has produced. R. S. Karunaratne **** Back **** |
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