Dear reader, the book you hold in your hands – and which may inspire you to hum as you leaf through it – contains lyrics by Nikos Gatsos, which thematically and stylistically "align" with popular folk songs and engage in dialogue with them.
These are lyrics from well-known songs such as "Milise Mou" and "Bournovalia," iconic pieces like "Tsamikos" and "Stou Digeni ta Kastria," legendary ones like almost all from the Drosoulites circle or non-melodic such as "Maniatikos Esperinos," which, detached from the comprehensive volume "Ola ta Tragoudia," are presented here with rich commentary and in juxtaposition with the referenced folk songs.
"My black swallow, and from Arabia, my white dove, where are you going to my homeland, lower a little so that I can write a letter to send to my beloved so she won't wait for me," says the song of exile from Bithynia.
"White dove in my cloudiness, you gave me your hand to have company. White dove, my black wing, every summer I will wait for you," says Gatsos' lyrics and urges us to seek in every text the emotion that gave rise to it.
A. D.
