The Street of Dreams -part 2 (Mikis Theodorakis)
Opposite to the Ionian pillar of Hadzidakis' lyricism and grace, stands the Doric pillar of Theodorakis' epic and vibrant music. Those two are the most significant Greek composers and songwriters, and they have both marked, in their own way, the culture of modern Greece.
is a man overflowing with passion and creativity, having written innumerable songs, concerts, operas, but most significantly, having linked his music with the struggles for freedom and democracy.
Being politically active from a very young age, he had joined the resistance against the Nazis, and was imprisoned, exiled and tortured many times in the following decades for his leftist beliefs. During the Junta of 1967-1974 he barely escaped execution, his songs were forbidden, and he was exiled abroad where he became a symbol of the anti-dictatorship struggle.
After the restoration of democracy he continued to be politically active; today, at the age of 86, he leads an organisation against the financial occupation of the country by the IMF/EU/ECB and the subservient Greek government.
Undoubtedly, I would choose the following Elytis' poem made song by Theodorakis, as the true national anthem of Greece.
Most of the times I listen to it I end up misty-eyed.
The song "Tis dikaiosynis ilie noite" is composed by Mikis Theodorakis and its lyrics are actually part of a poem written by the Greek Nobelist Odysseas Elytis in the poetic collection "Axion Esti".
The poem was written in 1949 and became later a song with the music composed by Mikis Theodorakis; the song became a symbol of Greece that is trying to recover and heal its wounds and is one of the most dramatic songs heard in this country, but at the same time one of the most inspirational and optimistic songs one can tell.
After the establishment of Democracy in Greece in 1974, the song "Tis dikaiosinis ilie noite" became a hymn for the Greeks, a song representing their agonies and their fights against the Greek Junta, their desire for freedom, stability and progress that started coming soon after.
Grigoris Bithikotsis is the man who marked this song with his voice - as many other songs composed by Theodorakis - and he also became a symbol of an era.
Translating these lyrics doesn't do justice to the original verses of the poet Elytis, because he used to write in a very descriptive, complex and "concentrated" way.
Lyrics: Odisseas Elytis
Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Performed by: Grigoris Bithikotsis
Tis dikaiosinis ilie noite - Grigoris Bithikotsis
Noetic Sun of Justice
Sun of Justice, conceived by the mind
And you, glory-bringing myrtle
Do not, I implore you,
do not forget my country!
It has the tall mountains shaped like eagles
the vines in ranks on the volcanoes' flanks
and the houses more white
in the neighbourhood of the azure!
My bitter hands with thunder
I am turning back behind the times,
My old friends I am calling forth
with threats and with blood!
Translating Greek poems, and especially those of Elytis, is exceptionally difficult. For example, the word "νοητός" (in the above poem "νοητέ sun of justice"), is beyond my translating capabilities. Here is a comment about it; I took the liberty to use the word noetic.
A Solitary Swallow
Lone is the swallow and precious is the spring
For the sun to turn it takes a lot of work
Thousands of dead are needed at the wheels
and it takes the living also shedding their blood.
God, my Master Builder, you built me into the mountains
God, my Master Builder you enclosed me in the sea!
Carried off by magicians was the body of May
In a sea tomb they have buried it
In a deep well they have sealed it up
Its scent filled the darkness and all the Abyss.
God, my Master Builder, you too among the Easter lilacs
God, my Master Builder, you smelled the scent of Resurrection
Bloods of Love (poem by O. Elytis)
Bloods of love dyed me purple
and joys unseen did shade me
I got oxidated in the dampness of people
distant mother, my rose unfading
In the open sea they awaited me
With three-sail bombard ships and opened fire
my sin, to have a love of my own
distant mother, my rose unfading
Sometime in July, her big eyes
half-opened inside my bowels
to illuminate the virgin life for a moment
distant mother, my rose unfading
Concert after the fall of the military Junta (1974). People yell "give the Junta to the people".
When they shake hands
When they shake hands, the sun is certain for the world
When they smile, a little swallow flies from their rough beards
When they are killed, when they are killed
life pushes uphill with flags and smiles
With so many leaves the sun nods to you "good morning"
With so many flags the sky shines
And these behind bars, and those beneath the ground (2)
Hush, any moment now the bells will ring (2)
This land is theirs and ours (2)
Images from the (1973) against the Junta; students protesting; a tank breaking down the gate of the University.
Beginning of fight (The first dead)
Beginning of fight, new struggles
guides of hope the first dead
No more tears, the graves are closed
freedom's fertiliser the first dead
Flower of fire springs from the graves
a message sent by the first dead
Unity and struggle the answer they will receive
in order for the first dead to find peace
Two songs from the Mauthausen circle, lyrics from a Greek poet imprisoned there during WWII.
O Antonis
There on the broad staircase
the staircase of tears
in the deep Willengraben
the stone quarry of sighs
Jews and partisans are walking
Jews and partisans are falling
Carrying rocks on their backs
thats their deadly cross
There Antonis among the voices
he hears a single voice
o kamarade, o kamarade
help me to climb the stairs
But there on the broad staircase
the staircase of tears
such a help would be an offence
such mercy would be a curse
The Jew falls on the steps
and the staircase turns red
and you my lad come here
carry a double rock now
I get a double, I get a triple
my name is Antonis
and if you are a man come here
on the marble threshing floor*
*a reference to the medieval legends.
Song of songs
How beautiful my love is,
with her everyday dress and a little comb in her hair.
Nobody knew that she is so beautiful!
Girls of Auschwitz, girls of Dachau,
could it be that you saw my love?
We saw her on a long journey
She didn't have her dress any more
nor little comb in the hair.
How beautiful my love is,
pampered by her mother and her brother's kisses.
Nobody knew that she's so beautiful!
Girls of Mauthausen, girls of Belsen,
could it be that you saw my love?
We saw her in the freezing square
with a number on her white arm
with a yellow star over her heart.
The original verses of the above song were written by Brendan Behan, an Irish poet, and were a reference to Michael Collins. They were adapted in Greek and were changed a bit to describe the murder of Grigoris Lambrakis, a Greek pacifist-activist, who was murdered by two far-right extremists in 1963, as described in the film "Z" by Kostas Gavras.
To Gelasto Pedi - The Laughing Boy
It was on an August's morning, near the break of dawn
I went out to take some air in the flowered earth
I see a maiden crying, mourning woefully
shatter my heart, the laughing boy perished
He was valiant and courageous
and I will eternally mourn his lively step, his sweet laugh
Damn the hour, curse the moment
the fascists killed the laughing boy
Should he lie dead, on the side of the leader
or should he had only perished by an Englishman's bullet
and because of a hunger strike in prison
it would be my honour to have lost the laughing boy
My princely love, with love I will mourn you
and eternally I will speak about your deeds
For all our enemies you would have undone
Glory and honour to the unforgettable laughing boy (2)
The above song is called "because he didn't comply", and speaks about the leftist political prisoners and exiles to various Greek isolated islands and prisons, during the years following the end of the Greek Civil War and the military Junta.
The following two songs speak about immigration, a very common theme in Greek songs.
Moon, you cast a spell on me
and I am walking in foreign lands
My house is orphaned
the sunset unbearable
and the mountains tear-stained
Heavens, send me a bird
to carry patience to mother
Heavens, send me a bird, a little swallow
to go build a nest
in the garden's cherry plum tree beside the little balcony
Heavens, send me a bird
to carry patience to mother
To carry patience to mother
wrapped in a handkerchief
a dowry for my little sister
and for my little neighbour girl
a sweet kiss on the lips
The little north wind, I implored
to be a nice young boy.'
Not to be hitting my doors
and on the small window.
For in the house where I lie awake
my love is close to dying.
And through the tears I look at her
while shes barely breathing.
Farewell to orchards, farewell to ravines,
farewell to kisses and farewell to hugs
Farewell to headlands and to blond beaches
farewell to pledges for an eternity.
Im overwhelmed by grievance
because in this world
I missed the summers
and reached the winter.
Like the ship that opened up
the sails and is departing
I watch the shores to be receding
and the world to be diminishing.
Farewell to orchards, farewell to ravines,
farewell to kisses and farewell to hugs
Farewell to headlands and to blond beaches
farewell to pledges for an eternity.
The train leaves at 8 o'clock
I've kept a hold of my life
Poem: G. Seferis
I've kept a hold on my life
I've kept a hold on my life
travelling among yellow trees
under the driving rain
on silent slopes laden with beech leaves
no fire on their peaks; darkness is falling.
Denial (poem by G. Seferis)
Denial
On the secret seashore
white like a pigeon
we thirsted at noon;
but the water was brackish.
On the golden sand
we wrote her name;
but the sea-breeze blew
and the writing vanished.
With what spirit, what heart,
what desire and passion
we lived our life: a mistake!
So we changed our life...
is a man overflowing with passion and creativity, having written innumerable songs, concerts, operas, but most significantly, having linked his music with the struggles for freedom and democracy.
Mikis_TheodorakisBeing politically active from a very young age, he had joined the resistance against the Nazis, and was imprisoned, exiled and tortured many times in the following decades for his leftist beliefs. During the Junta of 1967-1974 he barely escaped execution, his songs were forbidden, and he was exiled abroad where he became a symbol of the anti-dictatorship struggle.
After the restoration of democracy he continued to be politically active; today, at the age of 86, he leads an organisation against the financial occupation of the country by the IMF/EU/ECB and the subservient Greek government.
Undoubtedly, I would choose the following Elytis' poem made song by Theodorakis, as the true national anthem of Greece.
Most of the times I listen to it I end up misty-eyed.
The song "Tis dikaiosynis ilie noite" is composed by Mikis Theodorakis and its lyrics are actually part of a poem written by the Greek Nobelist Odysseas Elytis in the poetic collection "Axion Esti".
The poem was written in 1949 and became later a song with the music composed by Mikis Theodorakis; the song became a symbol of Greece that is trying to recover and heal its wounds and is one of the most dramatic songs heard in this country, but at the same time one of the most inspirational and optimistic songs one can tell.
After the establishment of Democracy in Greece in 1974, the song "Tis dikaiosinis ilie noite" became a hymn for the Greeks, a song representing their agonies and their fights against the Greek Junta, their desire for freedom, stability and progress that started coming soon after.
Grigoris Bithikotsis is the man who marked this song with his voice - as many other songs composed by Theodorakis - and he also became a symbol of an era.
Translating these lyrics doesn't do justice to the original verses of the poet Elytis, because he used to write in a very descriptive, complex and "concentrated" way.
Lyrics: Odisseas Elytis
Music: Mikis Theodorakis
Performed by: Grigoris Bithikotsis
Tis dikaiosinis ilie noite - Grigoris Bithikotsis
Noetic Sun of Justice
Sun of Justice, conceived by the mind
And you, glory-bringing myrtle
Do not, I implore you,
do not forget my country!
It has the tall mountains shaped like eagles
the vines in ranks on the volcanoes' flanks
and the houses more white
in the neighbourhood of the azure!
My bitter hands with thunder
I am turning back behind the times,
My old friends I am calling forth
with threats and with blood!
Translating Greek poems, and especially those of Elytis, is exceptionally difficult. For example, the word "νοητός" (in the above poem "νοητέ sun of justice"), is beyond my translating capabilities. Here is a comment about it; I took the liberty to use the word noetic.
A Solitary Swallow
Lone is the swallow and precious is the spring
For the sun to turn it takes a lot of work
Thousands of dead are needed at the wheels
and it takes the living also shedding their blood.
God, my Master Builder, you built me into the mountains
God, my Master Builder you enclosed me in the sea!
Carried off by magicians was the body of May
In a sea tomb they have buried it
In a deep well they have sealed it up
Its scent filled the darkness and all the Abyss.
God, my Master Builder, you too among the Easter lilacs
God, my Master Builder, you smelled the scent of Resurrection
Bloods of Love (poem by O. Elytis)
Bloods of love dyed me purple
and joys unseen did shade me
I got oxidated in the dampness of people
distant mother, my rose unfading
In the open sea they awaited me
With three-sail bombard ships and opened fire
my sin, to have a love of my own
distant mother, my rose unfading
Sometime in July, her big eyes
half-opened inside my bowels
to illuminate the virgin life for a moment
distant mother, my rose unfading
Concert after the fall of the military Junta (1974). People yell "give the Junta to the people".
When they shake hands
When they shake hands, the sun is certain for the world
When they smile, a little swallow flies from their rough beards
When they are killed, when they are killed
life pushes uphill with flags and smiles
With so many leaves the sun nods to you "good morning"
With so many flags the sky shines
And these behind bars, and those beneath the ground (2)
Hush, any moment now the bells will ring (2)
This land is theirs and ours (2)
Images from the (1973) against the Junta; students protesting; a tank breaking down the gate of the University.
Beginning of fight (The first dead)
Beginning of fight, new struggles
guides of hope the first dead
No more tears, the graves are closed
freedom's fertiliser the first dead
Flower of fire springs from the graves
a message sent by the first dead
Unity and struggle the answer they will receive
in order for the first dead to find peace
Two songs from the Mauthausen circle, lyrics from a Greek poet imprisoned there during WWII.
O Antonis
There on the broad staircase
the staircase of tears
in the deep Willengraben
the stone quarry of sighs
Jews and partisans are walking
Jews and partisans are falling
Carrying rocks on their backs
thats their deadly cross
There Antonis among the voices
he hears a single voice
o kamarade, o kamarade
help me to climb the stairs
But there on the broad staircase
the staircase of tears
such a help would be an offence
such mercy would be a curse
The Jew falls on the steps
and the staircase turns red
and you my lad come here
carry a double rock now
I get a double, I get a triple
my name is Antonis
and if you are a man come here
on the marble threshing floor*
*a reference to the medieval legends.
Song of songs
How beautiful my love is,
with her everyday dress and a little comb in her hair.
Nobody knew that she is so beautiful!
Girls of Auschwitz, girls of Dachau,
could it be that you saw my love?
We saw her on a long journey
She didn't have her dress any more
nor little comb in the hair.
How beautiful my love is,
pampered by her mother and her brother's kisses.
Nobody knew that she's so beautiful!
Girls of Mauthausen, girls of Belsen,
could it be that you saw my love?
We saw her in the freezing square
with a number on her white arm
with a yellow star over her heart.
The original verses of the above song were written by Brendan Behan, an Irish poet, and were a reference to Michael Collins. They were adapted in Greek and were changed a bit to describe the murder of Grigoris Lambrakis, a Greek pacifist-activist, who was murdered by two far-right extremists in 1963, as described in the film "Z" by Kostas Gavras.
To Gelasto Pedi - The Laughing Boy
It was on an August's morning, near the break of dawn
I went out to take some air in the flowered earth
I see a maiden crying, mourning woefully
shatter my heart, the laughing boy perished
He was valiant and courageous
and I will eternally mourn his lively step, his sweet laugh
Damn the hour, curse the moment
the fascists killed the laughing boy
Should he lie dead, on the side of the leader
or should he had only perished by an Englishman's bullet
and because of a hunger strike in prison
it would be my honour to have lost the laughing boy
My princely love, with love I will mourn you
and eternally I will speak about your deeds
For all our enemies you would have undone
Glory and honour to the unforgettable laughing boy (2)
The above song is called "because he didn't comply", and speaks about the leftist political prisoners and exiles to various Greek isolated islands and prisons, during the years following the end of the Greek Civil War and the military Junta.
The following two songs speak about immigration, a very common theme in Greek songs.
Moon, you cast a spell on me
and I am walking in foreign lands
My house is orphaned
the sunset unbearable
and the mountains tear-stained
Heavens, send me a bird
to carry patience to mother
Heavens, send me a bird, a little swallow
to go build a nest
in the garden's cherry plum tree beside the little balcony
Heavens, send me a bird
to carry patience to mother
To carry patience to mother
wrapped in a handkerchief
a dowry for my little sister
and for my little neighbour girl
a sweet kiss on the lips
The little north wind, I implored
to be a nice young boy.'
Not to be hitting my doors
and on the small window.
For in the house where I lie awake
my love is close to dying.
And through the tears I look at her
while shes barely breathing.
Farewell to orchards, farewell to ravines,
farewell to kisses and farewell to hugs
Farewell to headlands and to blond beaches
farewell to pledges for an eternity.
Im overwhelmed by grievance
because in this world
I missed the summers
and reached the winter.
Like the ship that opened up
the sails and is departing
I watch the shores to be receding
and the world to be diminishing.
Farewell to orchards, farewell to ravines,
farewell to kisses and farewell to hugs
Farewell to headlands and to blond beaches
farewell to pledges for an eternity.
The train leaves at 8 o'clock
I've kept a hold of my life
Poem: G. Seferis
I've kept a hold on my life
I've kept a hold on my life
travelling among yellow trees
under the driving rain
on silent slopes laden with beech leaves
no fire on their peaks; darkness is falling.
Denial (poem by G. Seferis)
Denial
On the secret seashore
white like a pigeon
we thirsted at noon;
but the water was brackish.
On the golden sand
we wrote her name;
but the sea-breeze blew
and the writing vanished.
With what spirit, what heart,
what desire and passion
we lived our life: a mistake!
So we changed our life...
Total Comments 2
Comments
-
Epic stuff! Epic!!!Posted June 2nd, 2012 at 04:03 AM by Midas
-
Glad you share my passion, my friend.
Posted June 2nd, 2012 at 12:13 PM by Solidaire
