Interpretation of “The Rupture” by Marianna Papamakariou
For this entry I have picked a song performed by one of the rising stars of the Greek pentagram, Marianna Papamakariou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wD90LWXdCwg. The Rupture achieves a delicate balance between the loss of love, helplessness in the anonymity of a megalopolis, and the wise insight to let go.
Below are the original lyrics, my translation of them, and some further comments. Also check my previous publications on songs/music by Socratis Malamas:
- “The mystics of the desert” by Ioulia Karapataki (2022-08-28)
- “Letter” by Socratis Malamas (2022-06-29)
Το Ρήγμα
Ερμηνεία: Μαριάννα Παπαμακαρίου
Στίχοι: Μάνος Τσιλιμίδης
Μουσική: Σωκράτης Μάλαμας
Δεν ανήκω πουθενά και κανείς δε μου ανήκει
Μη με περιμένεις πια, μόνη στη Θεσσαλονίκη
Δεν ακούω την καρδιά, δε γυρίζουν πίσω οι δρόμοι
Δεν περνάω άλλη βραδιά μόνος πίσω απ’ το τιμόνι
Πες πως ήταν μια ρωγμή κι άνοιξε μεγάλο ρήγμα
Η ζωή μας μια στιγμή που δεν άφησε ούτε στίγμα
Πες πως είμαι από γυαλί κι ότι έσπασα για σένα
κι ότι η πόλη αυτή που ζεις μετακόμισε στα ξένα
Τα παλιά μας τα φιλιά ένας άνεμος σκορπάει
κι έχω μόνο μια καρδιά που μονάχη τριγυρνάει
Για να έρθουμε κοντά έπρεπε να δίνω μάχη
και περίπτωση να ρθω σου το λέω δεν υπάρχει
Πες πως ήταν μια ρωγμή κι άνοιξε μεγάλο ρήγμα
Η ζωή μας μια στιγμή που δεν άφησε ούτε στίγμα
Πες πως είμαι από γυαλί κι ότι έσπασα για σένα
κι ότι η πόλη αυτή που ζεις μετακόμισε στα ξένα
Τhe Rupture
Performance: Marianna Papamakariou
Lyrics: Manos Tsilimidis
Music: Socratis Malamas
I belong nowhere and no-one belongs to me
Don't await me anymore, alone in Thessaloniki
I heed not the heart, roads do not turn back
I shall not spend another night alone behind the wheel
Say it was a rupture that opened a deep crack
Our life a moment that left no sign
Say I am made out of glass and I broke for you
and the city where you live has relocated abroad
Our old kisses are scattered by a wind
and I only have one heart that wanders alone
For us to come close I had to struggle
and there is no chance to arrive I tell you
Say it was a rupture that opened a deep crack
Our life a moment that left no sign
Say I am made out of glass and I broke for you
and the city where you live has relocated abroad
We are transient. Whatever we do involves a finality. What we love dearly comes and goes. Not only intersubjective relations, but also our own constitution. Youth turns into old age. The nights by the seaside fade away as distant memories. Nobody knows about them or is around anymore to regale us with those stories.
That which we associate with our self is not dependent on our volition. It is forever removed from our control. We are not its owner, but its user.
Those who fail to recognise the non-ownership of life are destined to suffer. They will cling on to blurry reminiscences and yearn for cases that cannot be constituted anew. In their quest to salvage what was, they will drown under the weight of the baggage they have accumulated.
What do I have to lose? What do I have? It is liberating to let go. Things run their course, leaving us to choose between feelings of denial or acceptance. Speak the truth before the mirror. Admit that the glass is no longer intact.
You may still dream of shadows; smiles that weren’t; embraces that couldn’t. You are not invested in them. The path unfolds as you keep going. Part of you finds excitement in the potential of a new adventure, while another wishes to reach the terminus. There is no certainty to be had in a state of ignorance.
Cities relocate abroad as their people undergo change. What was is not; what is shall not be; what is to come remains to be determined only to be transfigured again. In the microcosm of your struggle, you are your own metropolis and Smurf village. Where you go there is the presence of you and your experiences. So what if they are made out of glass?
A life that leaves no trace is fine. Why should anyone’s being leave indelible marks on the cosmos? What makes it special?
We come from dust, we consist in dust, we move towards dust. Let the winds disperse us and the eternal fire remake us.