Interpretation of “Minor adulterations” by Vasilis Papakonstantinou

2025-03-01

For this entry, I have picked one of the many masterpieces performed by legendary Greek rock singer Vasilis Papakonstantinou: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SL5WqqSEn18 (and by “many” I am thinking of “more than a hundred”). Minor adulterations gives us insight into the life of a troubled mind, as it tackles themes of failure, regret, introspection, and escapism.

Below are the original lyrics, my translation of them, and some further philosophical thoughts.

Also check the other “interpretations” involving Vasilis Papakonstantinou’s songs:

• Sophie (The wild crowd) (2023-03-22)
• Porto Rico (2022-07-28)
• Trench coat (2022-07-09)

Μικρές Νοθείες

Ερμηνεία:  Βασίλης Παπακωνσταντίνου
Στίχοι:    Οδυσσέας Ιωάννου
Μουσική:   Θάνος Μικρούτσικος


Ποτέ του δεν κατάφερε να βγει σε μια λιακάδα
και ζει με ό,τι περίσσεψε από ένα σκάρτο ποίημα
τα πρωινά σηκώνεται με μια βαριά ζαλάδα
και λέει πως τον ξύπνησε ένα μεγάλο κύμα

Κρεμάει τις αφίσες του στα παράθυρά του
Κρύβει το φως μα κρύβει κι όλα τ'άλλα
γιατί το μόνο που λαχτάρησε ως λάφυρα του
είναι μια θάλασσα να φτάνει ως τη σκάλα

Βάζει σημάδια με στυλό πάνω στον τοίχο του
Μετράει το ύψος του που πόντο-πόντο χάνει
Μα κάθε βράδυ όταν βγαίνει απ'τον ύπνο του
στέκεται όρθιος και τρυπάει το ταβάνι

Είναι που ονειρεύεται πως φεύγει για ταξίδια
πως μπαίνει μέσα σε παλιές φωτογραφίες
Ξέρει αν μπορούσε θα'κανε μία απ'τα ίδια
αλλά τι νόημα έχει το όνειρο χωρίς μικρές νοθείες

Minor adulterations

Singers:  Vasilis Papakonstantinou
Lyrics:   Odysseas Ioannou
Music:    Thanos Mikroutsikos


Never did he manage to reach a sunshine
and lives with whatever remains of a scrapped poem
The mornings he gets up with heavy dizziness
and says a great wave woke him up

He hangs his posters on his windows
Hides the light but also hides everything else
because the only thing he desired as plunder
was a sea that stretches to the stairs

He sets marks on his wall with a pen
Measures his height that he loses bit by bit
But each night when he gets out of his slumber
he stands up and pierces through the roof

It is that he dreams of embarking on journeys
that he gets into old pictures
He knows if he could he would do more of the same
but what is the point of a dream without minor adulterations

The poetic “he” is a person who is caught in a spiral of introspection. We get a hint as to what the cause is, in the form of the person’s own perfectionism, symbolised by the company of some scrapped poem. It is a memento of his works and his dissatisfaction with them. He is the most stern of judges in discarding works that do not live up to some ultimately irrelevant standard of objective excellence. Why irrelevant? Because a creator can only create what their condition renders possible. To reject the end result is to not recognise or accept what the condition is: it is to live in dissonance.

This person is fundamentally ashamed of what they do and who they are. Hence the desire to withdraw from the public eye, to hide in his ever darker room, and to reminisce about the few experiences that were worth keeping a photograph of. It is perfectly fine to have ambitions and to set high standards. Though every plan has to be couched in terms of practicality, of the immediate experience of the world. It cannot be decoupled from what one is doing, where they started from, and what their trajectory is. It cannot be “objective” strictly speaking, as there is always some context that determines what is happening and delineates the realm of the potential.

For as long as someone is putting in honest effort, to the best of their abilities, there is nothing to be ashamed of. Only cheating and faking it, only the lack of honour, is worthy of contempt. But the hard work is noble and praiseworthy as such, even if the results are not the best ever.

Hiding from others is a healthy coping mechanism when it is an initial response to some injurious situation. One needs time to recuperate and come back stronger. Withdrawing into a safe space is thus helpful. Though it is paramount to not become fatalistic by thinking that this is the end of the world. By disaggregating the big problem into its smaller constituents, the pressure becomes less intense: one can tackle minor issues and get a taste of the ensuing small wins. It is a matter of not giving up, of not shutting off the sunlight completely.

Concretely, the sort of overthinking described in this song cannot be overcome by more thinking. The cycle of negativity is broken by action. Our protagonist, this nameless “he”, must muster the courage to venture outside. Though this means that he has to swallow his pride and make some concessions, such as by relaxing his standards and lowering his expectations. Perhaps poetry is not what he is meant to do or he can still do it on the side while balancing it out with something else.

It is single-mindedness and inflexibility that undoes a man. Those same qualities are invaluable in certain cases where one has to power through hardship. The key is to not lose sight of the bigger picture; to not make unflinching commitment the goal itself, but to understand that everyone can be wrong while the world can always introduce new states of affairs. Thus the priorities we once set for ourselves are either no longer correct or relevant.

By blotting out the light and everything else with it, the person is bound to forgo the sense of perspective that informs sound judgement. Now, confined to their own space, dwelling over the same tired thoughts, all they can do is continue to lose any sense of self-respect, as they belittle their being one regret at a time.

The titular “adulterations” do give us a hopeful message though. Just as we once dreamt of achieving something grand, we retain the ability to dream anew no matter the setbacks. We may modify what once was to fathom a purpose we had not envisaged. It is this very pivot that makes the adulteration of the original dream benign and, indeed, necessary. The world may then reveal to us an altogether different reality that the one we had hoped for; a reality that may still fulfil us.