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Να ’μουν νύχτα στο γιαλό
If I could be, if I could be, could be upon the shore at night,
to light a lamp, to light a lamp, to light a lamp so I might see.
Good auntie Nikolakena, don’t you go gath’ring vegetables.
Where are they kindling bonfires now for little girls to overleap?
There was a host of folks assembled in the archdeacon’s close;
a marriage service was afoot — a man was being wedded there.
Translated by John Leatham
Να ’μουν νύ-, μωρέ, να ’μουν νύ- να ’μουν νύχτα στο γιαλό,
ν’ ανάψω λύ-, μωρέ, ν’ ανάψω λύ- ν’ ανάψω λύχνο για να δω.
Θεια μου Νικολάκαινα, να μην πας για λάχανα.
Πού τσ’ ανάβουν τσι φωτιές και πηδάνε οι μικρές;
Στου αρχιδιάκου την αυλή μαζευτήκανε πολλοί.
Γάμος εγινότανε, κάποιος παντρευότανε.
The allusions and wordplay in this song cannot be translated into English. Its incoherence and lack of apparent meaning are not accidental. The words break down into mere sounds, linked not by their significance but by the weight of their acoustic value alone. The song functions almost like an incantation — a kind of magic spell, obscure and opaque, spoken to fulfil a specific purpose: in this case, to promote fertility. It also aims to create the necessary erotic atmosphere simply through the utterance of sex-related words.
Miranda Terzopoulou (1994)
Live recording from 1993 at the taverna “To Monastiri” in Athens.
Watch a different version of the song
Live recording from the concert Carnival Songs with Domna Samiou, held on 4 March 2003
at the Thessaloniki Concert Hall
