Patrick Comerford
I no longer have a CD player, and my laptop has no disc drive. And I no longer have a tape player – who does?
But I am sure we all remember the days when cars had CD players or tape decks, and sometimes even both. I have memories of long drives between Dublin and Achill, when two small children in the back seats sat passively, listening to – or even falling asleep to – Greek music.
It began with a tape put together for their sake by my friend Manolis Chrysakis of Mika Villas in Piskopiano, with music by composers such as Manos Hatzidakis (1925-1994) and Mikis Theodorakis (1925-2021), both born 100 years ago and both with strong connections with Crete, and by Ross Daly, who also lives in Crete.
Within half an hour of leaving Dublin – or within half an hour of leaving Dugort for the return journey – the plaintive request could be heard from the back seats: ‘Play Manoli’s music’. It was soothing and reassuring, and soon two young passengers were dozing off, relaxed and comforted by the reassuring and familiar sounds of Crete.
My collection of Greek CDs and music expanded over the years. It was not merely a wistful desire to recreate the sounds and sentiments of regular and constant return visits to Crete; I also imagined in my heart that listening to and trying to sing along with the words of Greek songs and poetry would help improve my fluency and pronunciation as I continued to try (to little avail, I now admit) to work on my spoken Greek.
Over the years, I continued to accumulate more CDs to add to that collection. But as time passed, I found I no longer had a CD player, and certainly would not know where to find a tape deck. My collection of Greek music has gone to other – and hopefully better – homes, and I now find I am listening to Greek music and Greek songs online on a variety of platforms, still trying to sing along to lyrics that are often adapted from Greek poetry but that sadly suffer from bad translations into English.
In time, my love of Greek music and poetry led to Professor Panos Karagiorgos inviting me to write the foreword to his Ελληνικα Δημοτικα Τραγουδια, Greek Folk Songs, published in Thessaloniki last year.
In recent days, with time on my hands after a surgical procesure in Oxford last week, I have been listening more often to the music of both Hatzidakis and Theodorakis as I think about the centenary of their births. This, in turn, has led me to search anew for some of those CDs that in recent years I lost, mislaid or passed on to friends.
Of course, Greek music is so much more than Nana Mouskouri singing ‘The White Rose of Athens’ for Luxembourg in Eurovision in 1963, Melina Mercouri singing the theme tune of Never on Sunday, or the theme music of Vangelis for Chariots of Fire. Nor is it merely the music that flash groups dance to when they dress up in black and white, form lines with their arms on each other’s shoulders and dance hasaposerviko and to the sound of hasapiko on a bouzouki or to the theme music by Theodorakis for Zorba the Greek.
Every part of Greece, from the islands to the mainland, has its own unique style, from the a capella polyphonic singing of Epirus or the mixed rhythms of Cretan and Pontic lyras, to the rembetiko of the Greeks who were forced to leave Turkey a century ago and that quickly became the music of the Greek underworld in the 1920s.
In trawling through Greek music websites I have also rediscovered a collection that I thought was gone forever when I lost that collection of Greek CDs. The Putumayo collection Greece: A Musical Odyssey was originally released on 29 June 2004. The collection is an interesting introduction to modern Greek music that is still within the tradition, with work by some of Greece’s most popular artists, including George Dalaras, who merges the traditional music with pop.
In all, 12 tracks showcase a variety of Greek music styles, including Apenanti with Melina Aslanidou, Kostas Mantzios, Anastasia Moutsatsou, George Dalaras, Elly Paspala, Children of the Revolution, Melina Kana, Pantelis Thalassinos, Theodosia Stiga, Sofia Papazoglou, Gerasimos Andreatos, Glykeria and Kostas Makedonas.
They include lively and haunting songs that connect the ancient and modern worlds, with styles such as soulful rembetiko and elegant entehno.
Among them, Melina Kana sings Άρνηση (Arnisi, Refusal). She has been a favourite vocalist in Greece since the early 1990s, and she is widely acknowledged as one of the top voices in her country. She has recorded several successful CDs in Greece, many of them collected on the Portrait album in 2000.
Άρνηση
Πότε σήκωσες το βλέμμα,
δίχως να 'χει στεναγμό,
πότε άλλοθι το ψέμα,
μου έδωσες να κρατηθώ.
Πώς μπορεί να 'σαι δική μου,
ζωή μου, τόσο άδικη,
ένα όνειρο δε δίνεις,
κι ειν' η σιωπή σου απάντηση,
κι έχεις για όποιον σ' αγαπά,
την άρνηση.
Πότε ξέχασες ν' αφήσεις,
πίσω σου, κάθε καημό,
πότε τράβηξες να σβήσεις,
με μια γραμμή το παρελθόν.
Πώς μπορεί να 'σαι δική μου,
ζωή μου, τόσο άδικη,
ένα όνειρο δε δίνεις,
κι ειν' η σιωπή σου απάντηση,
κι έχεις για όποιον σ' αγαπά,
την άρνηση.
Refusal (Arnisi)
When you looked up,
without anyway sigh,
when alibi a lie,
You gave me to hold on.
How it happens – you’ll be mine
my life so unfair,
even a dream you do not give me,
great is thy silence your answer,
and you have for anyone who loves you,
denial.
When you forgot to leave,
behind you, every sorrow,
when you pulled to extinguish,
with a line in the past.
How it happens – you’ll be mine
my life so unfair,
even a dream you do not give me,
great is thy silence your answer,
and you have for anyone who loves you,
denial.
Anastasia Moutsatsou, who sings Πίνω, πίνω (Pino Pino, I’m drinking, I’m drinking), was born in 1961 in rural area Lakonia, where she learned traditional Greek songs from her mother. She moved to Athens at 15, and began taking singing and guitar lessons, and 21 started performing publicly alongside the singer Glikeria.
Her first recordings in the early 1990s made her as one of the most promising singers of the day, with world tours alongside leading Greek artists, including Haris Alexiou, Giorgos Dalaras and Pantelis Thalassinos, followed by acclaimed stage and television appearances.
Πίνω, πίνω
Από τις άδειες μέρες
ζωή σημαδεμένη
απ' τις λευκές τις νύχτες
ψυχή μου διψασμένη
Πίνω, πίνω
απ' τους χυμούς σου, φως μου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
Πίνω, πίνω
απ' τους χυμούς σου, φως μου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
Η νύχτα μπερδεμένη
στου χρόνου το κουβάρι
κι εγώ να σε ζητάω
σαν τελευταία χάρη
Πίνω, πίνω
απ' τους χυμούς σου, φως μου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
Πίνω, πίνω
απ' τους χυμούς σου, φως μου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
Η αγάπη τρεμοσβήνει
φλογίτσα στο σκοτάδι
φουντώνει και φωτίζει
με τ' ακριβό σου χάδι
Πίνω, πίνω
απ' τους χυμούς σου, φως μου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
Πίνω, πίνω
απ' τους χυμούς σου, φως μου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
λύνω το αίνιγμα του κόσμου
I’m drinking, I’m drinking
From the empty days
life marked
by the white nights
my thirsty soul
I’m drinking, I’m drinking
from your juices, my light
I’m solving the enigma of the world
I'm solving the enigma of the world
I’m drinking, I’m drinking
from your juices, my light
I’m solving the enigma of the world
I’m solving the enigma of the world
The night tangled
in time’s ball
and I’m asking for you
like a final favour
I’m drinking, I’m drinking
from your juices, my light
I’m solving the enigma of the world
I’m solving the enigma of the world
I’m drinking, I’m drinking
from your juices, my light
I’m solving the enigma of the world
I’m solving the enigma of the world
Love is flickering
a little flame in the dark
flares up and lights up
with your dear caress
I’m drinking, I’m drinking
from your juices, my light
I’m solving the enigma of the world
I’m solving the enigma of the world
I’m drinking, I’m drinking
from your juices, my light
I’m solving the enigma of the world
I’m solving the enigma of the world
In recent days too I have also found myself listening also to Αχ, φεγγαράκι μου (Ah, Feggaraki Mou, Oh, dear moonlight) written by Giorgos Zikas and recorded by Sofia Papazoglou and Gerasimos Andraetos in 1998. It reminds me of a small restaurant, Φεγγαράκι, that was once on the walk down the hill from Piskopiano into Hersonissos at that time.
Αχ, φεγγαράκι μου
Αχ, φεγγαράκι μου, αθώο φεγγάρι
Ήρθε κι απόψε να με πάρει
Στέκεται από ψηλά και με κοιτάει
Κι όλο για σένανε, αχ μου μιλάει
Σκύβει από πάνω μου, μαζί μου κλαίει
Κι όλο για σένανε, αχ όλο λέει
Σε νερά κολυμπάει
Στα λιμάνια της γης
Τα σημάδια του αφήνει
Να τα βρεις αν χαθείς
Τα σημάδια του αφήνει
Να τα βρεις αν χαθείς
Αχ, φεγγαράκι μου, αθώο φεγγάρι
Ίδιο με σένανε λάμψη και χάρη
Ψηλά στα σύννεφα με ταξιδεύει
Μου λέει για σένανε και με μαγεύει
Σκύβει από πάνω μου, μαζί μου κλαίει
Κι όλο για σένανε, αχ όλο λέει
Σε νερά κολυμπάει
Στα λιμάνια της γης
Τα σημάδια του αφήνει
Να τα βρεις αν χαθείς
Τα σημάδια του αφήνει
Να τα βρεις αν χαθείς
Σε νερά κολυμπάει
Στα λιμάνια της γης
Τα σημάδια του αφήνει
Να τα βρεις αν χαθείς
Τα σημάδια του αφήνει
Να τα βρεις αν χαθείς
Other outstanding tracks in this collection include: ‘Eleni’ from the Epirot singer Kostas Mantzios, a song referring to Helen of Troy in the Iliad; and ‘An Iparhis Kapou Esi’ from Elly Paspala, who was born in the US and grew up in New York City, but later returned to Greece, where she performs jazz and pop as well as traditional music.
There is so much to listen to, again and again. But this evening I am just pleased to have rediscovered what I thought I had once lost or mislaid.
