Ellenic Traditional Project Ambient / Ατμοσφαιρική

Just look at the amaranth (3)
on what kind of mountain it grows, my friend. . .

(Other verses not included in this version- but familiar to many Greeks:

It grows in rugged** places, (2)
among the rocks and on the slopes, my friend

It is eaten by your deer, children-
the deer eat it and are intoxicated (2)
the fierce wild animals eat it and become calm

That she would eat it, children,
that my mother would eat it also, children, (2)
and not make me***, my friend. . .)

(translation: Eva Johanos
*amaranth- the etymology of the name refers to the quality of never fading, withering or dying- the flower of immortality, in poetic language.
**δύσβατα, the word used here clearly references the difficulty of walking in such places.
***a mysterious ending to this song full of hidden meanings!)

[*Στίχοι που δεν λέγονται σε αυτή την εκδοχή αλλά που δίνουν σημασία στο γνωστό κι' αγαπημένο αυτό τραγούδι.]

I will become a basil plant at your window,*
at your window
And unmarried I will remain for your sake,
for your sake

The moon takes a walk to my love’s door
The moon makes the rounds of my love’s garden

I will become a basil plant at your window,
at your window
And unmarried I will remain for your sake,
for your sake

Come out to the window to see what’s happening,
to see what’s happening-
The blood of my heart for you is flowing,
for you is flowing

The moon takes a walk to my love’s door
The moon makes the rounds of my love’s garden

I will become a basil plant at your window,
for your sake

(translation: Eva Johanos,
*basil plants are placed on windowsills, in some traditions,
in order to keep the air fresh and to keep insects away)

Βασιλικός θα γίνω στο παραθύρι σου,
για το χατίρι σου

I am dizzy, I am dizzy
when I think of you
dizzying, dizzying*
small and mischievous

In your curly hair
sing nightingales and other birds
dizzying, dizzying
small and mischievous

(translation: Eva Johanos
*free interpretation of lyrics; original “naziarika”- flirtatious- substituted with “zaliarika”- dizzying)

(*ναζιάρικο η ζαλιάρικο, ελεύθερη ερμηνεία)

Our beat up fishing boat,
patched a thousand times
We would always patch her up,
no matter how she was torn up

If my mother knew
how I worked on the trata
She would send me my clothing
and my old britches

Evira** one to the sails
Evira two to the shore
Evira three and three more

[We went and cast our nets
In Karysto one evening
Many fish we caught
and one squid for each of us

Come on, guys, let's cast our nets
down in the Liskarias
and fill our fishing boat
with cuttlefish and squid]***

If my mother knew
how I worked on the trata
She would send me my clothing
and my old britches

My fishing boat, I sold her
near Thessaloniki
and I returned home
without any change

Evira** one to the sails
Evira two to the shore
Evira three and three more

(translation: Eva Johanos
*”Trata”-Notes from the video:
“Originally, ‘trata’ refers to the net used by fishermen; subsequently the word referred to the small boats used for fishing with these nets. Finally the word ‘trata’ refers to the lifting of these nets full of fishes from the sea. This work requires a skillful technique demanding the synchronized rhythm of the fishermen on their small boats. Fishermen sang this song to synchronize the gathering of their nets.
The first recording of this traditional song – which comes from the area of Karystia, in the south of the island of Euboeia – was in the USA, in 1927, with the singer Sotiris Stasinopoulos.”
**Evira- an expression used to express the lifting of an anchor, such as the English “Anchors Aweigh”
***Verses in brackets are not included in this version of the well-known song)

[*Άλλοι στίχοι που δεν λέγονται στην εκδοχή αυτή]