In a recent Greek lesson, my tutor, Maria, introduced me to this powerful song by Mikis Theodorakis. So I thought I would share it and provide my own translation of the lyrics which are also by Theodorakis.
In the orchards, amidst the flowering gardens,
As once we did, we will set up a round dance,
And we will invite Charon
To drink together and sing with us.
Take hold of the clarinet and the zourna [type of folk clarinet]
And I will come with my little baglama [small bazouki]
Oh, and I will come along…
You took me in the heat of battle, Charon.
Let’s go to the orchards for a dance.
In the orchards, amidst the flowering gardens,
If I take you along, Charon, to drink wine,
If I take you along to dance and sing songs
Then give me the gift of life for one night.
Hold your heart, sweet mother,
For I am the son who came home for a single glance from you.
Oh, for a single glance…
When I left for the front, dear mother,
You didn’t come and see me off.
You went out to work and alone I caught the train
That took me far away from life.
The odd thing about the song which took me a while to register is that it is being sung by someone who has died. In fact he died fighting on the battlefront during the Second World War and from that state invokes the figure of Charon, the ferryman across the River Styx in Greek myth and the personification of death in Greek poetry and song.
The song vividly conjures up his love of life and longing for a chance to live again just for a night. I get the sense that the mother he invokes may be a personification of Greece itself as well as his own mother who didn’t see him go off to war.
I love the heft of Giota Negka’s voice in this song and her ability to control its power to add light and shade to the narrative, as the music moves between stately and solemn tread to intense longing.
Two other things to note from this recording. The first is the fact that the TV celeb audience to a man mouth the words with the singer. This is something I’ve often noticed when watching audiences in Greek concerts and it always surprises me. I don’t think this is anywhere near as common in the UK for example and is a specific cultural difference. I wonder why this should be the case?
The second thing is the way that, particularly at the end of the song, one of the celebs on stage raises his arm. Again I’ve noticed this at live performances in Greece and it sees to be at points in the music where someone identifies with the music or the sentiments being expressed (‘einai se kefi’).
Anyway, it’s a great song.
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