Learning Greek with the Help of Greek Music

This page is part of the author’s set of pages on Learning Greek with Music, which in turn is part of the Greek language

If the reader landed on this page directly, and is unfamiliar with the project of learning the Greek language with the help of Greek music, they are advised to follow the previous link first, and learn the general issues (and caveats!) behind this idea.

A note on copyright issues:

To avoid violating copyrights, no whole songs are included, but excerpts only; specifically, only excerpts that contain whole stanzas. You will not be able to reconstruct the songs by stitching end-to-end their pieces — sorry! — due to the way I present the beginning and end of each piece (fade-in, fade-out). I apologize for having to do that, but without such precautions this page would not exist.

Song #3: Song of Songs — Άσμα Ασμάτων

Year: 1965

Composer		Poet		Singer
Mikis Theodorakis Μίκης Θεοδωράκης (1925 – )		Iakovos Kambanellis Ιάκωβος Καμπανέλλης (1922 – )		Maria Farantouri Μαρία Φαραντούρη (1947 – )

1st stanza

Music:

Lyrics:		*Pronunciation: ()**	Meaning:
Τί ωραία που είν’ η αγάπη μου,		ti oréa pu in i aγápi mu	How beautiful my love is,
με το καθημερνό της φόρεμα		me to kaθimernó tis fórema	with her everyday dress
κι ένα χτενάκι στα μαλλιά.		c éna xtenáci sta maLá	and a little comb in her hair.
Κανείς δεν ήξερε	x 3	kañís δen íksere	Nobody knew
πως είναι τόσο ωραία!	x 3	pos íne tóso oréa	that she’s so beautiful!
Κοπέλλες του Άουσβιτς, του Νταχάου κοπέλλες,		kopéles tu áuzvits tu daxáu kopéles	Girls of Auschwitz, girls of Dachau,
μην είδατε την αγάπη μου;	x 3	min íδate tin aγápi mu	could it be that you saw my love?
Την είδαμε σε μακρινό ταξίδι		tin íδame se makrinó taksíδi	We saw her on a long journey
Δεν είχε πια το φόρεμά της		δen íCe pCa to fóremá tis	She didn’t have her dress anymore
Ούτε χτενάκι στα μαλλιά.		úte xtenáci sta maLá	Nor little comb in the hair.

2nd stanza

Music:

Lyrics:		*Pronunciation: ()**	Meaning:
Τί ωραία που είν’ η αγάπη μου,		ti oréa pu in i aγápi mu	How beautiful my love is,
η χαϊδεμένη από τη μάνα της		i xaⁱδeméñi apó ti mána tis	pampered by her mother
και τ’ αδερφού της τα φιλιά.		ce t aδerfú tis ta fiLá	and her brother’s kisses.
Κανείς δεν ήξερε	x 3	kañís δen íksere	Nobody knew
πως είναι τόσο ωραία!	x 3	pos íne tóso oréa	that she’s so beautiful!
Κοπέλλες του Μαουτχάουζεν, κοπέλλες του Μπέλσεν,		kopéles tu mautxáuzen kopéles tu bélsen	Girls of Mauthausen, girls of Belsen,
μην είδατε την αγάπη μου;	x 3	min íδate tin aγápi mu	could it be that you saw my love?
Την είδαμε στην παγερή πλατεία		tin íδame sti baJerí platía	We saw her in the freezing square
Μ’ έν’ αριθμό στο άσπρο της το χέρι		m en ariθmó sto áspro tis to Céri	With a number on her white arm
Με κίτρινο άστρο στην καρδιά.		me cítrino ástro sti garδJá	With a yellow star over her heart.

(*) For an explanation of the pronunciation symbols, see this page. The only deviations, for the sake of avoiding confusion, are:

the symbol L (instead of K) is used for the palatal lateral approximant,
ñ is used instead of #,
δ is used instead of D,
θ is used instead of T,
γ is used instead of +, and
G is used instead of ].

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