Interpretation of “Just two days” by Dimitra Galani
The subject of this entry is an erotic and inspiring song by Dimitra Galani (Δήμητρα Γαλάνη) titled Just two days: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9ByBDFDvqmI.
Below are the original lyrics, my faithful translation of them, and then some comments on the substantive point.
Δυο μέρες μόνο
Ερμηνεία: Δήμητρα Γαλάνη
Στίχοι: Παρασκευάς Καρασούλος
Μουσική: Δήμητρα Γαλάνη
Δυο μέρες μόνο
Να σε κρατάω αγκαλιά
Δυο μέρες μόνο
Να σ'έχω δίπλα μου ξανά
Για λίγο μόνο
Δυο μέρες μόνο
Σ'ένα ταξίδι αστραπή
Να ξεδιπλώνω
Να παίρνει ανάσα η ζωή
Για λίγο μόνο
Για τόσο μόνο
Φως να γεμίζουν οι στιγμές
Να λάμπουν μες στο χρόνο
Όλο το σώμα μου να ζει
Για σένα μόνο
Δυο μέρες μόνο
Να συνηθίζει το κορμί
Κι εγώ να λιώνω
Έπειτα μόνο τη φωνή σου
Ν'ανταμώνω
Δυο μέρες μόνο
Όσο μια βόλτα διαρκεί
Για τόσο μόνο
Όλη η ζωή μου
Αυτή η στιγμή
Δυο μέρες μόνο
Just two days
Singers: Dimitra Galani
Lyrics: Paraskevas Karasoulos
Music: Dimitra Galani
Just two days
To hold you in my embrace
Just two days
To have you beside me again
Just for a little while
Just two days
On a lightning trip
To be unfolding
Life to be taking a breath
Just for a little while
Just for that long
Moments to be filling with light
To be shining in time
My entire body to be living
Just for you
Just two days
The body to be adapting
And me be melting
Then only your voice
to be encountering
Just two days
As much as a stroll lasts
Just for that long
My entire life
This very moment
Just two days
In Greek we disambiguate the concept of falling in love from love in its broadest sense: this experience is called erotas (έρωτας) unlike the more subdued and general form of love, else agape (αγάπη). Erotas has been symbolised since antiquity as the god Eros, who is related to Aphrodite, the goddess of both beauty and love in their broadest sense. In English we have terms such as “erotic” (pertaining to Eros) and “aphrodisiac” (related to Aphrodite, though here this is a proxy for erotic and thus not faithful to the archetype of the goddess).
What Just two days describes is the intensely passionate phenomenon of erotas. The artist is not shy about expressing a desire to defy all constraints and dismantle all barriers, to be fully present in the moment of physical attraction, to become one with the lover by not hedging anything, and consequently to touch the eternal through the momentary.
Erotas is passion throughout. Authenticity is its beauty. As the ancient saying goes, it is invincible in battle (eros anikate mahan, «έρως ανίκατε μάχαν»). It being short-lived does not detract from the experience. If anything, it is what keeps it honest. The encounter has to be brief, just long enough to ride the wave of excitement but also to keep lust as the driving force.
Those who share erotas make no pretences to propriety and care not of meeting social expectations. Such concerns might occur later, once erotas transpires. But erotas is impervious to the mode of longer-term planning and will not be burdened by the trivia of everyday affairs. It shall not be the facade of a business transaction; of securing the partner that maximises the chances of success in terms of social mobility and financial outcomes. No! Those may be worthwhile, but they do not belong to passion of this sort.
When thinking of the different types of love, it is tempting to rank them and, perhaps, to place erotas at the bottom of the list due to how ephemeral it tends to be. This song inspires us to refrain from such an exercise, for it is misguided. It invites us to appreciate deep-seated erotic desire as such and to recognise it as yet another facet of the human condition. How can it be lesser (or indeed greater) when it is equally human?
More generally, Just two days unapologetically presents us with an aspect of reality. It defies whatever taboo forces people into a pretentious modus vivendi. Erotas is not interested in conforming with some ideal of normativity, such as the cultural construct of the coy lady or the indomitable man qua guardian. There is a place for those, but not here. The artist then gives us the truth of what the person wants.
We can choose to echo whatever moral precepts find currency in our milieu, about suppressing this and sacrificing that, or take the art as-is. However we go about it, reality does not care about our norms. Erotas will continue to be there, even if we condemn it as frivolous. It can still be felt equally by the unabashed womaniser and the shy girl, no matter the era and prevailing tradition.
Those who wish to understand what it is to be human, do not argue with the cosmos. They start their inquiry from a position of acceptance and conclude their investigations in a state of acceptance. They take a step back to suspend judgement, while they remain calm in the face of openendedness. Uncertainty will not go away. Every answer engenders a million questions.
With patience and sincerity, one shall discern the patterns exhibited in the world and take them for what they are. Only then is it time to admit, with humility, that without knowledge of the whole, there can be no final judgement about the parts. Our morality may then be appraised for what it is: a useful tool to make social life liveable; a tool that is refined to serve our ever-evolving needs; a tool nonetheless.