Srilanka, Jan. 27 -- Last week, we looked at a critical evaluation of Swarna Mallawaarachi from Eric Illayapparachchi's essay 'The Last Face: Swarna' from his book 'In Search of Art.' This week, we look at his critical evaluation of the Sinhala song as quoted from the same work, which I consider to be seminal as no other Lankan critic has even come close to the depth and scope of his analysis when it comes to music.

I hasten to add that the title of this column is not a quote from the book. But one is tempted to call the Sinhala song virginal because, as far as lyrics and subject matter is concerned, it has not evolved or matured. A comparison with English pop music will make this truth obvious.

While English pop too, deals with the t...