#Rebetiko

[moiroloi]

Sotiria Bellou and Christopher Lee, circa 1980

A journalist had been horrified when, upon coming into Bellou’s house for an interview, he caught sight of a framed picture of Dracula. “Don’t be scared now,” Bellou had soothed, “Dracula’s my fan!”, then went on to explain that Lee had been an avid collector of her records ever since the 1950s.

[sgiandubh]

Sunday sounds: Φεύγω

We are very melancholic, Baby the Dog and I, in this postapocalyptic decor of boxes, bags of unwanted miscellanea and life shards. So I hope you will indulge me this uncharacteristic Greek interlude, with one of the finest rebetiko voices of the Nineties - Orfeas Peridis.

If you traveled with me in my beloved Peloponnese, on a very early, scorching sunny morning, you would probably hear some Haendel (of course and no matter the weather), but you would also probably hear this. My playlists are viciously eclectic, by the way, and I think Piaf comes next, on that one. Or The Proclaimers, never mind.

Φεύγω means 'I am leaving' and like all those rebetiko plaintive and devil may care songs, this one has its hefty amount of existential angst, unrequited feelings and dramatic narrative solutions. But this song will always remind me of Monemvasia, the Greek Gibraltar, Byzantine fiction precariously perched on a rock promontory:

I would move in there tomorrow, no second thoughts and damn all the consequences:

They do, after all, have one of the most beautiful parking lots on this planet:

Of course we won't do anything. Adventure awaits. But still, it's going to be ugly crying at the border and for Baby, his first contact with his real, international dog life.

[epestrefe]

Το μυστήριο ζεϊμπέκικο (1932)Ιωάννης Χαλικιάς (ή Τζακ Γκρέγκορυ)

Μικρασιάτικη μελωδία. Φωνογραφήθηκε στη Νέα Υόρκη, τον Ιανουάριο του 1932. Μπουζούκι παίζει ο Ιωάννης Χαλικιάς (ή Τζακ Γκρέγκορυ) και κιθάρα ο Σοφοκλής Μικελίδης. Δίσκοι Columbia Co 56294-F και DGX 36 (12΄΄). Την ίδια χρονιά φωνογραφήθηκε και στην Αθήνα από το Σπύρο Περιστέρη.Στη μελωδία αυτή βασίστηκε το τραγούδι "Μανταλιώ και Μανταλένα"με την Μαρίκα Παπαγκίκα

[mpaglamas]

Ρεμπέτικο, το κακό βοτάνι

David Prudhomme (2010)

[sivavakkiyar]

[yt: Mu Me Stelnies Mana Stin Ameriki]

[yt: M’ekapses Ameriki]

[alatismeni-theitsa]

Σωτηρία Μπέλλου στον Διονύση Σαββόπουλο: "Αχ Διονύση με έκανες και τραγουδάω ποπ!"

Εγώ στη Σωτηρία Μπέλλου: "ΚΑΙ ΚΑΛΑ ΕΚΑΝΕ"

[vlasman123]

(Vlasis Metaxas)

[peterwebscott]

Singing rebetiko with the angels

As my post about Dimitris Mitropanos’s song Roza (https://wordpress.com/posts/wordscene.wordpress.?s=great+song+bu) has for some reason been generating a lot of interest recently, I thought I would translate another song in the zeïmbekiko style of the Greek rebetiko tradition – brilliantly performed here by Themis Adamantidis, Dimitris Mitropanos and Dimitris Basos. The lyrics, by the writer…

[thomas-querqy]

Johan Papaconstantino J’aimerai (Contre-jour 2019)

Johan Papaconstantino  Mon chat danse - Feat. Prosper (Premier degré)

[radio-4-is-static]

The last song that was written, the last lyrics that were written was (for) the song “Hooked.” It starts off with the line, “I’ve got the fear / I’ve got the human fear.” And I realize that so many of the songs had an underlying theme of fear to them. But not necessarily succumbing to fear, but more like overcoming fear. “The Doctor” is about the fear of leaving an institution, and “Bar Lonely” is the fear of leaving a relationship. “Night or Day” is the fear of committing to a relationship. But fear is fascinating because fear is universal. We all experience fear. We all experience the same fears. But how we respond to it is individual. And that’s how we find who we are, our personalities. And overcoming fear feels good. That’s why we watch horror films or ride rollercoasters — because you overcome fear and then feel very alive for having done so.

– Alex Kapranos on the story behind Franz Ferdinand's latest album The Human Fear for AP

[professionalnooneatall]

"'Misirlou' (Greek: Μισιρλού < Turkish: Mısırlı 'Egyptian' < Arabic: مصر Miṣr 'Egypt'[1]) is a folk song[2] from the Eastern Mediterranean region. The song's original author is unknown, but Arabic, Greek, and Jewish musicians were playing it by the 1920s. The earliest known recording of the song is a 1927 Greek rebetiko/tsifteteli composition. There are also Arabic belly dancing, Albanian, Armenian, Serbian, Persian, Indian and Turkish versions of the song. This song was popular from the 1920s onwards in the Arab American, Armenian American and Greek American communities who settled in the United States." —Orginal Wikipedia Article https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Misirlou

[gemsofgreece]

Christopher Lee and Sotiria Bellou, the emblematic Greek rebetiko singer in the 80s. 

Fun fact: Lee had met Bellou during his vacation in Greece in the late 80s. Lee described himself as a fan; he was a collector of her 50s recordings and he told her her voice reminded him of Billy Holiday. Naturally, Bellou took a liking to him. When a journalist visited her at her house for an interview, he was startled by a frame of Lee as Count Dracula hanging on the wall. This is how Bellou told him and we know about their encounter and mutual appreciation.  

We all know Christopher Lee but here’s a song with the unique voice of Sotiria Bellou from 1951, so he definitely knew this song and probably loved it :) 

This is rare footage from a live in 1972. The man with the mustache playing the bouzouki, Vassilis Tsitsanis, is also the composer of the song and extremely prominent in Greece’s music history. 

[katerinaaqu]

Remembering this CHILLING Greek song made me think of Andromache

When the human is born A pain is born And when war begins Blood cannot be measured

*

I'm burning I'm burning Pour more oil in the fire! I'm drowning I'm drowning Throw me into deep sea (x2)

*

I sworn upon your eyes That I considered them like a Bible The knife wound you gave me To turn it into laughter for you

*

I'm burning I'm burning Pour more oil in the fire! I'm drowning I'm drowning Throw me into deep sea! (x2)

*

But you, deeply in hell Break the chain And if you pull me next to you Blessed you be

*

I'm burning I'm burning Pour more oil in the fire! I'm drowning I'm drowning Throw me into deep sea (x2)

This song comes from the PHENOMENAL movie Ρεμπέτικο (Rebetiko) in 1980s, created by Κώστας Φερρης (Kostas Ferris) with music and lyrics of the phenomenal Σταύρος Ξαρχάκος (Stavros Xarhakos) and Νίκος Γκάτσος (Nikos Gatsos) respectably.

The song's title is "Καίγομαι Καίγομαι" ("I'm burning, I'm burning"), and it is sung in a very emotional moment of the movie with the singer remembering her harsh life and her abuse in the past.

This song gave me so much Andromache vibes because of the deep voice of the singer, the way the song is so rhythmical (epic poetry vibes) sadness and desperation as well as the melodies bearing music that most people associate with Anatolia and Turkey which is the perfect example of Troy given the mix of culture we have.

A WOMAN'S DESPERATION AND EMOTION!

The beginning of the song starting with the classic Turkish exclamation "Aman!" which basically is an expression of pain and sadness. This somehow made me think of Helenus too as the two of them are now slaves and traveling across the sea to an unknown land with Neoptoplemus

The monotone and sad melody and the coming always back to the refrain is the perfect psychological pattern for someone that is mourning all the time and comes back to their pain.

The first mention to people being born being equivalent of pain is somehow something I imagined Andromache to believe after she lost everyone she loved

The mention to blood and war is not even necessary to be explained...

"I swore to your eyes that I considered them like a Bible". Andromache's legendary love for Hector is apparent here in my mind. She loved him more than life itself along with her son

"The knife wound you gave me" somehow I imagine Andromache considering that Hector "hurt her" when he went out to fight even if he knew fighting Achilles would mean certain death. The moment she found about Hector's death was definitely a stab wound in her heart

"To turn it into laughter for you"; Andromache struggling even if she has nothing to hope for in life, to live and survive for the sakes of her husband, so that his death protecting her will not be in vain

"But you deeply in hell, break the chain", Andromache almost praying to her dead husband in the underworld to break the chain of her slavery

"And if you pull me next to you, blessed you be!", Andromache hoping to be released from her slavery with death as her husband were to "pull her next to him" in the underworld!

My Greek Song Dedication to Penelope

My Greek Song Dedication to Thetis

[wordsmithic]

<< Hades in the Greek Christian tradition >>

Ancient concepts like the Underworld, "Hades", are still prevalent in Greek tradition. It can be found in traditional folk songs and, of course, in religious hymns. Many concepts of our ancient religions are found in the new, since it was the beliefs that changed with the coming of Christianity but not the culture.

In Psalm 140, the below Byzantine chant, we find the sentence "διεσκορπίσθη τὰ ὀστᾶ ἡμῶν παρὰ τὸν ᾅδην." (Their bones will be scattered into Hades)

Hades is still seen in the Greek tradition as the dark place under the earth where all humanity is destined to go after death. It coexists with the Christian concept of Heaven and Hell. Hades is mentioned in mourning songs, as well as joyful songs that encourage people to dance and have fun since they will go to Hades one day.

Another example: This 1950 rebetiko song is called "Five Greeks in Hades" (Πέντε Έλληνες στον Άδη). It's about five Greeks who played their local music in the underworld, making the whole place festive and driving everyone into dizziness and madness.

[genericpuff]

It's so hard to pick one but! But I am going to take the chance to talk about Greek music!

Entekhno and rebetiko are some of my favourite music genres, the later one especially has very interesting history if anyone is interested in looking it up! (it would be too long to analyse it here unfortunately, I would love to)

For it's significance I would recommend the album "Axion Esti" by Mikis Theodorakis, it's based on the poetry of Odysseus Elytis. Many of the songs were also very important to the resistance during the 1967-1972 dictatorship, so if you have ever been to a greek school during a national holiday you have definitely heard these songs a million times already.

The next song I would recommend is "Hamlet tis Selinis" (Hamlet of the moon), purely because I love it :)

From what I've noticed, if you enjoy rock music you are very likely to enjoy these genres, many artists that sing entekhno are also known for their greek rock songs! The subcultures really overlap, even though they are quite distinct in sound. Thank you for the opportunity, I am literally always looking to talk about greek music lol, so if this has interested anyone feel free to look into it! (or ask me about it)

omg thank you so much for these recommendations! There seems to be a live performance of "Axion Esti" that sounds gorgeous, I can't wait to listen to the whole thing!

Here's "Hamlet tis Selinis" btw if anyone wants a sample of the reccs!

Thanks so much for sharing!!! <3