Interpretation of “The birds fooled me” by Kadinelia

2024-12-28

For this entry, I have picked a traditional Greek song from the region of Thrace. Many talented artists have performed it. The one I like the most is this, by the Kadinelia duo: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=68VkYerWdBM.

Part of the appeal for me is the cosy environment of the performance. It is relatable, humane, authentic. It is the kind of event I have witnessed many times, when someone at the table will spontaneously pick up an instrument and start playing. These are my people.

I resonate with this simplicity and immediacy. It makes no pretences. There is something endearing about seeing a talented person be so down-to-earth. Unlike what you find in the opulent opera houses of the world, this show can be held anywhere without an empire bankrolling it. It is about us together, while at our symposia (Greek word for “drinking together”), as we make art in a spirit of camaraderie. The table we share, the experiences we partake in, remind us that we are all equal.

Below are the original lyrics, followed by my translation, and further commentary.

Με γέλασαν τα πουλιά
της άνοιξης τ'αηδόνια
Με γέλασαν και μου'πανε
ποτέ δε θα πεθάνω

Φτιάχνω κι εγώ το σπίτι μου
ψηλότερο από τ'άλλα
Σαράντα δυο πατώματα
εξήντα παραθύρια

Στα παραθύρια στέκομαι
τους κάμπους αγναντεύω
Βλέπω τους κάμπους πράσινους
και τα βουνά γαλάζια

Βλέπω το Χάρο που'ρχεται
καβάλα στ'άλογο του
Με γέλασαν τα πουλιά
της άνοιξης τ'αηδόνια

Με γέλασαν τα πουλιά
της άνοιξης τ'αηδόνια
Με γέλασαν και μου είπανε
ο Χάρος δε με παίρνει

Μη με παίρνεις Χάρο
μη με παίρνεις
γιατί δε με ξαναφέρνεις

The birds fooled me
the nightingales of springtime
They fooled me and they told me
that I will never die

I thus built my house
taller than the rest
Forty two stories
sixty windows

I stand by the window
staring at the fields
I see the green fields
and the blue mountains

I see Death (Charon) coming
riding his horse
The birds fooled me
the nightingales of springtime

The birds fooled me
the nightingales of springtime
They fooled me and told me
that Death will not take me

Do not take me Death
do not take me
for you will not bring me back

The song is about those who lose sense of their actuality as human. They have a good moment in their life, a period of success, this poetic spring time when the nightingales are singing, which fools them into thinking they are somehow special.

The birds are not there to fool anybody. No. They do what birds always do, namely, live in the present of their presence. It is the human who misinterprets the phenomena; who searches for signs in the universe to vindicate whatever self impression they have already assumed as true.

Such a misfortune to accumulate riches you can never enjoy, just so that you can brag about how much better you are than everybody else! It is a meaningless number on a scoreboard. Same principle for other vanity projects, such as how many followers you have online, the number of likes your latest post received, how much of a “personality” you are, and so on.

What matters are the little things in life. The moments we share when we can stare each other in the eyes without any power dynamic between us. We are honest when we have nothing to prove, nothing to fight for, nothing to persuade the other side with; when we feel no need whatsoever to proclaim “hey, look at me!” and to become the centre of the world. We are content with being a member of the community.

As we drink and sing together, we acknowledge our shared humanity; not with more of the same inane virtue signalling and vainglorious competitiveness, but through our participation in the commons. It is the deed of treating the others as your equals; the deed of setting aside whatever ephemeral successes you have had to see the inherent worth in others.

The personification of Death, the god Charon from antiquity, is a powerful metaphor for our natural equality. It has the obvious signification of our shared mortality, though it also speaks to the inevitabilities we are all aware of: happiness, sorrow, gain, loss, victory, failure, health, disease, and more. Being mindful of Charon thus is the means by which we keep a sense of perspective. We may enjoy the fruits of our labour, though we recognise that (i) we are not special and (ii) nothing we have is inalienable. Time takes it all away as all patterns in the cosmos transfigure. Let us, then, have another round as we appreciate the little things.