The kaiksis
Lyrics: Yiorgos Fotidas
Music: Apostolos Hatzichristos, Smyrniotaki
First version: Markos Vamvakaris & Apostolos Hatzichristos & Evangelos Hatzichristos
Babis Goles, 1982
Come on, come on, kaiksi!
Softly, gently
to the shoreline of the Only City
into the quiet
into the oblivion of the harem…
Come on, come on, kaiksi!
let me steal away
Guzel Hanoum
a slave in her cell
weeping and mourning
and asking for her freedom
Come on, come on, kaiksi!
[Translator's notes:
The kaiksis is the captain of the caïque, a typical boat of the eastern Mediterranean: small, narrow, with oars not sails. If the song had been set in Venice instead of Istanbul, it would have been gondoliere instead of kaiksis, and I would have left the name in the original language too.
"The Only City": this is Istanbul, in its earlier much-lamented incarnation as Constantinople, or, in Greek, Constantinoupoli ("the city of Constantine"), or "i poli", "the city", for short.
It's a well-spiced song, etymologically speaking. The Ottoman city is called by its Greek name, kaiksis and kaïki are Turkish words, so is the call "gkel, gkel", the harem, of Arab origin, is the same in Turkish, Greek and (all?) other languages, and Guzel (a Turkish girl's name) is titled "hanoum" which is a polite honorific to address a woman or girl, and is, if I am not mistaken, of Persian origin.] |
Ο καϊξής
Στίχοι: Γιώργος Φωτίδας
Μουσική: Απόστολος Χατζηχρήστος, Σμυρνιωτάκι
Μάρκος Βαμβακάρης, Φράγκος & Απόστολος Χατζηχρήστος, Σμυρνιωτάκι & Ευάγγελος Χατζηχρήστος
Μπαμπης Γκολες 1982
Γκελ γκελ Καϊξή
γιαβάς γιαβάς
Μεσ’της Πόλης τ’ακρογιάλι
μέσ’τη σιγαλιά
μεσ’του Χαρεμιού τη Λίμνη
γκέλ γκέλ Καιξή
Να κλέψω τη
Γκιουζέλ Χανούμ
σκλάβα μέσα στο κελί της
κλαίει και θρηνεί
και ζητάει τη λευτεριά της
γκελ γκελ Καϊξή |