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 #6: My Love Must Be Somewhere — Κάπου υπάρχει η αγάπη μου

Year: 1959

Composer & Poet		Singer
Manos Hadjidakis Μάνος Χατζιδάκις (1925 – 1994)		Nana Mouskouri Νάνα Μούσχουρη (1934 – )

1st stanza

Music:

Lyrics:	*Pronunciation: ()**	Meaning:
Τώρα που είναι άνοιξη	tóra pu íne áñiksi	Now that it is spring time
και τα λουλούδια ανθίζουν	ce ta lulúδia anθízun	and the flowers are blossoming
οι νύχτες με ζαλίζουνε	i ñíxtes me zaLízune	the nights make me dizzy
τ’ αγόρια όταν σφυρίζουν.	t aγórJa ótan sfirízun	when the boys whistle.
Κι όσους τα βράδυα συναντώ	c ósus ta vráδia sinandó	And those I meet in the evenings
μου λένε καλησπέρα	mu léne kaLispéra	tell me “Good evening”
μα εγώ δεν έχω τί να πω	ma eγó δen éxo ti na po	but I have nothing to say
σφυρίζω στον αγέρα.	sfirízo ston aJéra	I whistle toward the air.

Κάπου υπάρχει η αγάπη μου	kápu ipárCi i aγápi mu	My love must be somewhere
μα δεν ξέρω ποια ’ναι	ma δe gzéro pia ne	but I don’t know who it is
κάπου υπάρχει η αγάπη μου	kápu ipárCi i aγápi mu	my love must be somewhere
μα δεν ξέρω πού.	ma δe gzéro pu	but I don’t know where.

Θα την γυρέψω στα χαρτιά	θa tin Jirépso sta xartiá	I will look for her in the cards
θα την γυρέψω στ’ άστρα	θa tin Jirépso st ástra	I will look for her in the stars
μα σαν τη βρω	ma san ti vro	but when I find her
στ’ ορκίζομαι	st orkízome	I swear
πως θα ντυθώ	pos θa diθó	that I’ll dress up
πως θα ντυθώ μέσ’ στ’ άσπρα.	pos θa diθó mes t áspra	that I’ll dress up all in white.

2nd stanza

Music:

Lyrics:	*Pronunciation: ()**	Meaning:

Θα την γυρέψω στα χαρτιά	θa tin Jirépso sta xartiá	I will look for her in the cards
θα την γυρέψω στ’ άστρα	θa tin Jirépso st ástra	I will look for her in the stars
μα σαν τη βρω	ma san ti vro	but when I find her
στ’ ορκίζομαι	st orkízome	I swear
πως θα ντυθώ	pos θa diθó	that I’ll dress up
πως θα ντυθώ μέσ’ στ’ άσπρα.	pos θa diθó mes t áspra	that I’ll dress up all in white.

Here is a YouTube video in which the same singer, Nana Mouskouri, sings this song. She’s at a very young age here, without her “trademark” glasses. The excerpt is from an old b&w Greek movie, in which she supposedly sings this song at an entertainment center:

(*) This is how the singer pronounces the words in this song, not how they are pronounced typically. 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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