Listen

I had a ribbon at the weaver’s and felt at the tailor’s,
and a loved one in a foreign land,
and him I’m waiting for,
oh, and him I’m waiting for.

Oh, ribbon spun and wound
around the spinning wheel.

The water is from Rhodes and the well, too,
and so’s the maid who goes to fill her pot with water.

Oh, ribbon spun and wound
around the spinning wheel.

The cloth is from Rhodes and the shuttle, too,
and so’s the maid sitting there a-weaving.

Ribbons and silk
from Symi they did send me,
for the maidens to sew
their menfolk shirts.

Translated by Michael Eleftheriou

Γαϊτανάκι μου πλεγμένο

Γαϊτάνι ν-είχα στο πλεχτρί και τσόχαν εις το ράφτη,
ωχ, και τσόχαν εις το ράφτη,
και ξένον εις την ξενιτιά και καρτερώ τον να ’ρθει,
ωχ, και καρτερώ τον να ’ρθει.

Γαϊτανάκι μου πλεγμένο,
στην ανέμη τυλιγμένο.

Ροδίτικο ’ναι το νερό, ροδίτικια κι η βρύση,
Ροδίτισσα κι η κοπελιά που πάει για να γεμίσει.

Γαϊτανάκι μου πλεγμένο,
στην ανέμη τυλιγμένο.

Ροδίτικο ’ναι το πανί, ροδίτικο το χτένι,
Ροδίτισσα κι η κοπελιά που κάθεται και υφαίνει.

Γαϊτανάκι και μπιρσίμι1
μου ’στειλαν από τη Σύμη
για να ράψουν οι κοπέλες
των αντρών τους τις φανέλες.

1μπιρσίμι: μεταξωτό νήμα

Information

Collaborators

Albums

Recording information

Studio recording, 2005.

Member Comments

0 Comments

Post a comment


up to 2000
Login to post a comment

See also

d23_badge
Song
Exile Is the Greatest Hardship
Exile is the greatest hardship, the parting so upsetting but oh, that greeting  “Welcome home”, oh that Maroúli,1 is bliss. ...
779_badge_rmp45_061_2
Song
Exile Is the Greatest Hardship
Marouli Exile is the greatest hardship, the parting so upsetting but oh, that greeting  “Welcome home”, oh that Maroúli,1 is bliss. ...
d21_badge
Song
I See Some Ships Approaching Port
I see some ships approaching port, how beautiful they seem to me, ships that sail across the waters, rending my faint heart...
d12_badge
Song
I See Some Ships Approaching Port
I see some ships approaching port, how beautiful they seem to me, ships that sail across the waters, rending my faint heart...
d26_17_badge
Song
I Sold My Boat
In Saloniki I sold my boat but when I got home to Chios, I didn’t have a groat. Heave ho once, man the sails Heave ho twic...
d23_badge
Song
I Want to Climb up to the Top
I want to climb up to the top, my friend, up to the top of the roof of Saint George's, of Saint George's roof. I want to pi...
d26_19_badge
Song
The Great North Wind Blew
The Great North Wind blew throughout the land and all those, kalé, all those ships that heard him made it safely into shore...
d26_32_badge
Song
The Sea Has Made Me Old
The sea has made me old, yet I revel in her sight. I weep and find no peace, as I lie remembering her at night. The Aegean,...
d26_15_badge
Song
I Climbed up the Cherry-Tree
I climbed up the cherry-tree Marie, Maria, Marigo, to pick a cherry vái tzigitzéla, vái tzigitzó. The couple just now joi...
d20_badge
Song
Just Like Easter Sunday
How wonderful if every day were just like Easter Sunday, when girls put on their finery and dress as gentlefolk do. Come on...
d11_badge
Song
Our Tráta All Tattered
Our battered old boat and its tattered old nets patched over and over and yet always torn. Our old boat needs sails, Our ...