Happy November 17th with music!!!
Greece has three national holidays; March 25th, the Independence Day, October 28th, the ΟΧΙ (No) Day aaaaand November 17th, the Polytechneio Day.
In fact, November 17th is considered a semi-national day, as it doesn't commemorate an ethnic uprising against some foreign oppressor or invader but the political intranational uprising against the Colonel Dictatorship of 1967-1974. It is the anniversary of the revolt that took place in the National "Metsovion" Technical University of Athens (Εθνικό Μετσόβιο Πολυτεχνείο - Ethnikó Metsóvio Polytechnío) by its students in November 1973. (Greek Polytechneia are high education engineering universities, so they are not the equivalent to technical schools.) The uprising was the most impactful anti-junta movement in Greece - students commandeered the University, operated a radio station and started protesting against the junta and spreading effectively the message to the Greek people, who started gathering around the school. Their effective protests harmed the dictators, who sent the army to surround the university and threaten the students. While the students and the junta were still in negotiations, the army broke the academic asylum, a tank demolished the gates and soldiers invaded the school. During the episodes that ensued, there were 40 deaths and more than 2,000 injured reported. The Polytechnic movement did not bring down the junta, however it was a crucial contributor to its weakening and to the spread of awareness against it across the globe. (The dictatorship eventually fell about half a year later, during the Turkish invasion of Cyprus, in which Greece failed to provide significant assistance to Cyprus or even protect its own interests.)
The spirit of the university's revolutionaries as well as the general hardship Greece went through in those seven years were the inspiration for a lot of great artists, particularly poets and musicians, and birthed numerous classic Greek songs. Below are four of my favourite ones, from the many that became symbols of this era, and are today sung by school choirs across the country!
Ὀταν σφίγγουν το χέρι - When they clench their fist
Ο Δρόμος - The Road
Θα σημάνουν οι καμπάνες - The bells will toll
Είμαστε δυο - We are two
Lyrics of the last one in English:
We are two, we are two,
it's eight o'clock,
turn off the light, the guard knocks,
they'll come again at night
one in the front, one in the front,
and the rest will be following him,
then silence and what follows
is the usual again.
They hit twice, they hit thrice,
they hit one thousand thirteen times,
you are hurting, I am hurting too
but who is hurting the most,
only time will tell.
We are two, we are three,
we are one thousand thirteen,
we ride the times,
in time, in rain
blood thickens in the wound
and the pain turns into a nail. (x2)
The avenger, the saviour,
we are two,
we are three,
we are one thousand thirteen.
89 notes
·
View notes
άνθρωπε μου, τι ξεφτίλα να σου χαλάνε το όνειρο και εσύ να τους αφήνεις.
Θανάσης Παπακωνσταντίνου
78 notes
·
View notes
Can I consider the traditional Greek song "brunette" a gay song since it's kind of a love song and the pronouns are gender neutral
7 notes
·
View notes
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.
77 notes
·
View notes
Κλείνω τα μάτια και βλέπω το αύριο
κι είναι ένα αύριο δίχως εικόνες.
Ίσως να ζει η αγάπη μεθαύριο.
Ίσως περάσουν κι αυτοί οι χειμώνες.
4 notes
·
View notes
I've fallen in love with this Greek song! Give it a listen, the intensity, the melody and the visuals will wisk you away.
12 notes
·
View notes
Είχα μια φορά μια θάλασσα
που από λάθος μου τη χάλασα
κι από τότε φτιάχνω κύματα
έρωτες, καημούς κι αισθήματα
μα με ζαβολιές κι άλλες διαβολιές
δεν ανθίζουν αγκαλιές
Ποτέ δε θα ξεχάσω αυτή τη θάλασσα
αυτή που χάλασα για να σε βρω
παλεύαμε στα κύματα κι εσύ κι εγώ
μα είχαμε οδηγό
τον ουρανό
Έχω δυο ψυχές αγάπη μου
κλειδωμένες στο ντουλάπι μου
με τη μια μιλάω για θαύματα
η άλλη ζει μέσα στα τραύματα
ειν' αναποδιά, να 'χεις δυο παιδιά
κλειδωμένα στην καρδιά
Κάτσε καλά - Κώστας Μακεδόνας
7 notes
·
View notes