Song H061 Coming soon
ලන්ඩන් මැද අපේ කඩේ
Our Shop, in the Middle of London
London Mada Ape Kade
On a cold opening morning in the middle of London, our daughter hangs Thaththa's old shop bell on the door of her Sri Lanka House before she cuts the ribbon. The queue pours in, a papare band plays, and Amma in the village hears it down the phone and shouts that's our sound.
Lyrics
Chorus
ලන්ඩන් මැද අපේ කඩේ, පෝලිම පාරටම!London mada ape kade, polima paratama!Our shop in the middle of London, and the queue's out to the road!
අපේ රටේ රහ, අපේ සද්දේ ඇතුළේApe rate raha, ape sadde athuleThe taste of our country, our sound, inside
අම්මා ෆෝන් එකෙන් අහගෙන, "ඒ අපේ සද්දේ!" කිව්වාAmma phone eken ahagena, "E ape sadde!" kiwwaAmma heard it down the phone and said "that's our sound!"
ගමේ නම දොර උඩ, ලන්ඩන් මැදGame nama dora uda, London madaOur village's name over the door, in the middle of London
අපේ කඩේ, අපේ කඩේApe kade, ape kadeOur shop, our shop
ලන්ඩන් මැද, ඇතුළට එන්න, අපේ කඩේ!London mada, athulata enna, ape kade!In the middle of London, come on in, our shop!
Verse 1
උදේ සීතලේ, දොරකඩ පෝලිමක් පාරටමUde seethale, dorakada polimak paratamaCold morning, a queue at the door out to the road
තාත්තගේ කඩේ සීනුව මම දොරේ එල්ලුවාThaththage kade seenuwa mama dore elluwaI hung Thaththa's shop bell on the door
රිබන් එක කැපුවා, දොර ඇරුණා, සීනුව නාද වුණාRibbon eka kapuwa, dora aruna, seenuwa nada wunaCut the ribbon, the door opened, the bell rang
මුල්ම අමුත්තා ඇතුළට, මම කෑ ගැහුවා "ආයුබෝවන්!"Mulma amuththa athulata, mama ka gahuwa "Ayubowan!"The first guest came in and I shouted "Ayubowan!"
Before the chorus
කවුරුහරි පපරේ බෑන්ඩ් එකක් ගෙනාවාKauruhari papare band ekak genawaSomebody brought a papare band
ෆෝන් එක උඩට උස්සලා, "අම්මේ අහන්න!"Phone eka udata ussala, "Amme ahanna!"I held the phone up high: "Amma, listen!"
ගමෙන් අම්මා කෑ ගැහුවාGamen amma ka gahuwaFrom the village, Amma shouted
"ඒ අපේ සද්දේ! ඒ අපේ සද්දේ!""E ape sadde! E ape sadde!""That's our sound! That's our sound!"
Chorus
ලන්ඩන් මැද අපේ කඩේ, පෝලිම පාරටම!London mada ape kade, polima paratama!Our shop in the middle of London, and the queue's out to the road!
අපේ රටේ රහ, අපේ සද්දේ ඇතුළේApe rate raha, ape sadde athuleThe taste of our country, our sound, inside
අම්මා ෆෝන් එකෙන් අහගෙන, "ඒ අපේ සද්දේ!" කිව්වාAmma phone eken ahagena, "E ape sadde!" kiwwaAmma heard it down the phone and said "that's our sound!"
ගමේ නම දොර උඩ, ලන්ඩන් මැදGame nama dora uda, London madaOur village's name over the door, in the middle of London
අපේ කඩේ, අපේ කඩේApe kade, ape kadeOur shop, our shop
ලන්ඩන් මැද, ඇතුළට එන්න, අපේ කඩේ!London mada, athulata enna, ape kade!In the middle of London, come on in, our shop!
Chant
අපේ කඩේ!Ape kade!Our shop!
ලන්ඩන්!London!London!
පෝලිම!Polima!The queue!
ඇතුළට එන්න!Athulata enna!Come on in!
Verse 2
සතියකට පස්සේ, ගමේ හන්දියේ කඩේSathiyakata passe, game handiye kadeA week later, at the shop at the village junction
තාත්තා ෆෝන් එක හැමෝටම පෙන්නනවාThaththa phone eka hamotama pennanawaThaththa is showing the phone to everybody
"මගේ දුවගේ කඩේ, ලන්ඩන් මැද!" කියලා"Mage duwage kade, London mada!" kiyala"My daughter's shop, in the middle of London!" he says
ගමේත් පෝලිමක්, ෆෝන් එක බලන්න!Gameth polimak, phone eka balanna!A queue in the village too, to look at the phone!
Before the chorus
කවුරුහරි පපරේ බෑන්ඩ් එකක් ගෙනාවාKauruhari papare band ekak genawaSomebody brought a papare band
ෆෝන් එක උඩට උස්සලා, "අම්මේ අහන්න!"Phone eka udata ussala, "Amme ahanna!"I held the phone up high: "Amma, listen!"
ගමෙන් අම්මා කෑ ගැහුවාGamen amma ka gahuwaFrom the village, Amma shouted
"ඒ අපේ සද්දේ! ඒ අපේ සද්දේ!""E ape sadde! E ape sadde!""That's our sound! That's our sound!"
Chorus
ලන්ඩන් මැද අපේ කඩේ, පෝලිම පාරටම!London mada ape kade, polima paratama!Our shop in the middle of London, and the queue's out to the road!
අපේ රටේ රහ, අපේ සද්දේ ඇතුළේApe rate raha, ape sadde athuleThe taste of our country, our sound, inside
අම්මා ෆෝන් එකෙන් අහගෙන, "ඒ අපේ සද්දේ!" කිව්වාAmma phone eken ahagena, "E ape sadde!" kiwwaAmma heard it down the phone and said "that's our sound!"
ගමේ නම දොර උඩ, ලන්ඩන් මැදGame nama dora uda, London madaOur village's name over the door, in the middle of London
අපේ කඩේ, අපේ කඩේApe kade, ape kadeOur shop, our shop
ලන්ඩන් මැද, ඇතුළට එන්න, අපේ කඩේ!London mada, athulata enna, ape kade!In the middle of London, come on in, our shop!
Bridge
තාත්තගේ කඩේ සීනුව, හන්දියේ නාද වුණාThaththage kade seenuwa, handiye nada wunaThaththa's shop bell used to ring at the junction
ගමේ හැමෝම ඒ සද්දෙට ඇතුළට ආවාGame hamoma e saddeta athulata aawaThe whole village came in to that sound
අද ඒ සීනුව ලන්ඩන් මැද, දොර ඇරෙන හැම පාරමAda e seenuwa London mada, dora arena hama paramaToday that bell is in the middle of London, every time the door opens
තාත්තා ෆෝන් එකෙන් අහගෙන, "ඒ මගේ සීනුව!" කියනවාThaththa phone eken ahagena, "E mage seenuwa!" kiyanawaThaththa hears it down the phone and says "that's my bell!"
Chorus
ලන්ඩන් මැද අපේ කඩේ, පෝලිම පාරටම! (පාරටම!)London mada ape kade, polima paratama! (paratama!)Our shop in the middle of London, and the queue's out to the road!
අපේ රටේ රහ, අපේ සද්දේ ඇතුළේApe rate raha, ape sadde athuleThe taste of our country, our sound, inside
අම්මා ෆෝන් එකෙන් අහගෙන, "ඒ අපේ සද්දේ!" කිව්වාAmma phone eken ahagena, "E ape sadde!" kiwwaAmma heard it down the phone and said "that's our sound!"
ගමේ නම දොර උඩ, ලන්ඩන් මැදGame nama dora uda, London madaOur village's name over the door, in the middle of London
අපේ කඩේ, අපේ කඩේ (අපේ කඩේ!)Ape kade, ape kade (ape kade!)Our shop, our shop
ලන්ඩන් මැද, ඇතුළට එන්න, අපේ කඩේ!London mada, athulata enna, ape kade!In the middle of London, come on in, our shop!
Outro
අපේ කඩේ, ලන්ඩන් මැදApe kade, London madaOur shop, in the middle of London
ඇතුළට එන්න.Athulata enna.Come on in!
From the book
- Idea 363Sri Lanka House in London, Melbourne and Toronto: a shop, a café and a desk, the Colombo model abroad
- Cluster 18Sri Lankans abroad, both directions
The book behind the songs
Every song here is sung from inside one moment: the day someone in Sri Lanka has already done one of the book's 500 ideas, and the family is celebrating.
This song is a story about one idea from the book Why Not Sri Lanka. It promises nothing. No real person or business is shown in it. The book's ideas belong to whoever builds them. Music and vocals created with Suno from original lyrics written for this channel. The pictures in the songs are made with AI too.
© 2026 Dr Maheshika Halbeisen. Lyrics, music recordings, films and pictures. All rights reserved. Please do not re-upload or reuse these songs; to use one, get in touch through whynotsrilanka.com.