Interpretation of “I had the garden of Eden” by Yiannis Litaenas

2025-01-23

For this entry, I have picked yet another masterpiece from the collection of Thanasis Papakonstantinou. This songwriter’s work is defined by the striking instrumentation and thought-provoking lyrics. I had the garden of Eden is no exception. The original interpretation of this song is done by Socratis Malamas, whom I adore. Yet I still prefer this specific cover by Yiannis Litaenas: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coRI92AbLR0.

Below I provide the original lyrics, my faithful translation of them, and some further commentary. As I have covered the aforementioned artists before, here are the relevant entries:

• Letter (2022-06-29)
• The mystics of the desert (2022-08-28)
• Talk about you (2024-11-04)

Είχα τον κήπο της Εδέμ

Ερμηνεία:  Γιάννης Λίταινας
Στίχοι:    Θανάσης Παπακωνσταντίνου
Μουσική:   Θανάσης Παπακωνσταντίνου


Θέλετε, δέντρα, ανθίσετε, θέλετε μαραθείτε
Δε σας ποτίζω, δέντρα μου, και μη με αδικείτε
Όσο νερό μ' αναλογεί το ρίχνω σε μια γλάστρα
αχόρταγη που με κοιτά μ' αναίδεια στα μάτια

«Ρίξε δροσιά, ρίξε νερό, το χώμα να νοτίσει
ο σπόρος που 'χω μέσα μου να πιει και να ξυπνήσει
Να βγάλει ρίζες, να γενεί μία περικοκλάδα
ένα αγρίμι της ζωής, μια ξέφρενη Μαινάδα

Που θ' απλωθεί σ' όλη τη γη και, αφού τηνέ σκεπάσει
να κάνει ντου στα σωθικά εκείνων που 'χουν χάσει
φίλους, αδέρφια, και παιδιά κι εκεί ανθούς να βγάλει
Γύρη να πέσει στις καρδιές, να τις γλυκάνει πάλι»

Τέτοια μου λέει η άτιμη η γλάστρα και λυγίζω
Δάκρυ, νερό, δάκρυ, νερό, ο δόλιος, την ποτίζω
Ανάθεμά σε, πήλινο, και συ, παλιοβοτάνι
Είχα τον κήπο της Εδέμ και τώρα δε μου φτάνει

I had the garden of Eden

Singer:  Yiannis Litaenas
Lyrics:  Thanasis Papakonstantinou
Music:   Thanasis Papakonstantinou


Trees, blossom if you will, wither if you will
I am not watering you, my trees, and do not misjudge me
Whatever water is allotted to me I pour into a flower pot
insatiable it looks at me with disrespect in the eyes

"Pour freshness, pour water, to soak the soil
the seed I have within me to drink and awaken
To grow roots, to become Morning Glory
a beast of life, a frenzied Maenad

That will extend across the land and once it covers it
to force itself into the hearts of those who have lost
friends, siblings, and children and there to blossom as well
Pollen to fall on the hearts, to sweeten them again"

It is what this dishonourable flower pot says and I yield
Tear, water, tear, water, poor me, I water it
Curse you, clay pot, and you, damned herb
I had the garden of Eden and now it is not enough

The insatiable flower pot represents all these rationalisations we make whenever we give up on something we have in pursuit of an alternative that is ostensibly better. It is a flower because those tend to look pretty upon first sight, even when they are not benign for us.

We are easily swayed by first impressions, which then colour our judgement. We are willing to fill in the blanks and to make belief about how nice everything shall be. We make sacrifices and go to great lengths to accommodate the demands of this new fixation of ours. In the process, we ignore the inherent worth of the world we had while we valorise a figment of imagination; an unrealistic figure we have made out some phenomenon.

Such is a propensity we have in our relations with other people, objects, or fields of endeavour. There is a fear of missing out, but also an implicit sense of entitlement and desert (as in “deserve”, not the landscape). We act out of that fear because we fundamentally believe that we ought to get some better deal in our life.

There are times this is justified, when change is the best course of action. Though the sense of adventure is suspicious when it happens systematically, when nothing quite sticks and there is no longer-term vision to how things are in our life. If we are always in pursuit of novelty, we are more likely addicted to the immediate dopamine rush we get out of whatever discovery rather than genuinely trying to improve our condition.

Rationalisation is but a fig leaf we use to cover matters we have not thought through. “Oh, once I switch to THAT, I will solve all my problems…” How many times have we said this, only to repeat it shortly afterwards? At its core, this is a matter of not coming to terms with who we are and not trying to work with what is allotted to us by the fates. We would rather tell ourselves the lie that there is an easy way out, that there exists a shortcut on the path to excellence, and that we shall implement this “life hack” because of how much smarter we are than everybody else.

All such plans are futile. They can only result in failure, for they do not represent a potential in our life. Excellence is such exactly because it is hard to achieve. Commitment is difficult and at times inconvenient, but also uniquely rewarding and stabilising, precisely because it is a bond that strengthens the more time and sincere effort is invested into it.

We must then have the decency to reflect on our actions or to ask others who know us to help accordingly. The goal is to call out rationalisations for what they are and to make small steps towards appreciating the little things all around us; those that may no longer have any “wow” factor, but continue to have value for us.

When we consider everything replaceable, we are doomed to persistent discontent, for nothing ever fulfills us.