00:00
Ας πα να δουν τα μάτια μου
Let my eyes go see for themselves
how my love spends her days,
lest she’s found another and fallen in love
and left me.
Who said that, my dark-haired one,
who said I didn’t love you?
If it was the sun, may he never shine;
if it was the star, may it never rise again.
And if you heard it in church,
may I never light another candle.
Translated by Michael Eleftheriou
Ας πα να δουν, ας πα να δουν τα μά- τα μάτια μου,
ας πα να δουν τα μά- τα μάτια μου
πώς τα περνά η αγά- η αγάπη μου,
μήν’ ηύρ’ αλλού κι αγάπησε
και μένα μ’ απαράτησε.
Ποιος τό ειπε, βρε μελαχρινό,
ποιος τό ειπε πως δε σ’ αγαπώ.
Κι αν τό ειπε ο ήλιος να μη βγει,
τ’ άστρι να μην ξημερωθεί,
[κι αν τό ’πανε στην εκκλησιά,
κερί να μην ανάψω πια].
A love song that expresses lovers’ eternal doubts and reassurances. Widespread in the Peloponnese and Central Greece, it is mainly heard at weddings as a patinada —that is, a song played in the street to accompany the bride on her way to the church— or as a circle dance with twelve steps in 7/8 rhythm. The dance is called kalamatianos, named after the city of Kalamata in the Peloponnese, where it is believed to have originated. Songs and dances based on this 7/8 rhythm were created throughout Greece, which is why the kalamatianos is considered both one of Greece’s national dances and one of the most characteristic examples of Greek folk music.
The earliest known recording of this popular song, dating from July 1917 in Görlitz, Germany, during World War I, featuring prisoners of war, has recently come to light.
A wonderful performance by Marika Papagika, recorded a little later in the United States in 1923, is available on YouTube.
Miranda Terzopoulou (2018)
See also Let My Eyes Go See.
Studio recording (1979).
