Interpretation of “Do not cry” by Sotiria Bellou
In this entry, I translate a beloved Greek song from the 1980s and provide further commentary on its lyrics: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umzN2ujyARY. Below are the original lyrics followed by my translation.
Ερμηνεία: Σωτηρία Μπέλλου
Μουσική: Ηλίας Ανδριόπουλος
Στίχοι: Μιχάλης Μπουρμπούλης
Μη κλαις και μη λυπάσαι που βραδιάζει
Εμείς που ζήσαμε φτωχοί
Του κόσμου η βροχή δε μας πειράζει
Εμείς που ζούμε μοναχοί
Τα σπίτια είναι χαμηλά
σαν έρημοι στρατώνες
Τα καλοκαίρια μας μικρά
κι ατέλειωτοι οι χειμώνες
Μη κλαις και μη φοβάσαι το σκοτάδι
Εμείς που ζήσαμε φτωχοί
Του κόσμου η απονιά δε μας τρομάζει
Θα έρθει και για μας μια Κυριακή
Τα σπίτια είναι χαμηλά
σαν έρημοι στρατώνες
Τα καλοκαίρια μας μικρά
κι ατέλειωτοι οι χειμώνες
Performance: Sotiria Bellou
Lyrics: Elias Andriopoulos
Music: Michalis Bourboulis
Do not cry and do not be sad that it darkens
We who lived poor
The world's rain does not bother us
We who live alone
The houses are short
like deserted barracks
Our summers are brief
and our winters endless
Do not cry and do not fear the darkness
We who lived poor
The world's indifference does not scare us
There will come for us a Sunday
The houses are short
like deserted barracks
Our summers are brief
and our winters endless
Do not cry speaks of everyday hardship of the sort only poverty creates. It is about those quotidian affairs you cannot experience because they are priced out of your budget. One can relate to the humiliation a person feels when their worth is measured in terms of money; when their many talents are cast aside on the basis of their low income.
There is no contempt in those lyrics. They describe a tough life in a manner that is courageous and optimistic. The poor people need not lose their greatest social quality: honour. They must not use their immiseration as an excuse for debasing their moral standing. Instead, they can muster the strength to continue on with life, showing a positive attitude, being helpful towards their comrades, and leading by example.
[ Also watch: Action, credibility, and restraint (2024-06-05): https://protesilaos.com/books/2024-06-05-action-credibility-restraint-confucius/. ]
There is a certain beauty in being poor. You do not feel entitled to anything in this world as you learn to appreciate the little things and to work with what you have. If you have to sleep on the floor because the inflatable bed is broken, you do it without complaints. Every moment is precious and you can only be thankful to have experienced it. It is not the overseas trips, the opulent decor, and extravagant nights out that provide the sole conduit to fulfilment. You can just enjoy the gentle breeze and the ambient noise of the cicadas during those “brief summers”.
Wealth is not inherently evil, though it easily distorts a person’s and society’s sense of place. When everything a petulant child wants is readily available, it is hard for it—be it as a kid or adult—to ever relate to the life of a person who has to toil day and night, with unpaid overtime shifts, just to acquire the essentials. The feeling of plenty and of its concomitant immediacy disconnects a person from the natural rhythms of the Earth Mother, the seasonality of crops, and the general fact that everything must run its course before it is ready. One shall never have patience when everything they ever desire is delivered to them right away.
You need not fear the darkness when your values are clear. The circumstances delineate the horizon of possibilities in any given state of affairs, yet they do not necessarily undo a person’s outlook. Let there be incessant rain: we will tolerate being wet.