Interpretation of “The world that changes” by Alkinoos Ioannidis
For this entry in the series, I have picked The world that changes by renowned songmaker Alkinoos Ioannidis: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddiCJ76fPbs. What I discern in the songs of Alkinoos is originality as well as variety in the images they evoke. Not only are they masterful musically, they also are profound intellectually.
Below are the original lyrics, my faithful translation of them, and further comments on what all this is about.
Other entries I have written related to Alkinoos Ioannidis:
- Mirror (2022-06-28)
- Out of space and time (2022-09-03)
Ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
Ερμηνεία: Αλκίνοος Ιωαννίδης
Στίχοι: Αλκίνοος Ιωαννίδης
Μουσική: Αλκίνοος Ιωαννίδης
Μεγάλο δέντρο ο στεναγμός
μεγάλη κι η σκιά του
απλώνει ρίζες στην ψυχή
στο σώμα τα κλαδιά του
Μα όπως ανοίγει ένα πουλί
φτερούγα στον αέρα
το δέντρο γίνεται γιορτή
και φτερουγίζει η μέρα
Πόσες φορές να σου το πω
πόσες να στο μηνύσω;
Να σου το πω ψιθυριστά
ή να στο τραγουδήσω;
Θα σου το πω ψιθυριστά
όπως μιλάει το βλέμμα
που κρύβει μες τη σιγαλιά
του κόσμου όλο το αίμα
Αυτός ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
πως σου μοιάζει, πως σου μοιάζει
Αυτός ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
με τρομάζει, με τρομάζει
Χαμένοι μοιάζουμε, λοιπόν
στο γύρο του θανάτου
στην παγωνιά του οριστικού
στον τρόμο του αοράτου
Μα οριστικά θα'χεις χαθεί
μονάχα αν το διαλέξεις
όπως διαλέγει η μουσική
τα λόγια και τις λέξεις
Αυτός ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
πως σου μοιάζει, πως σου μοιάζει
Αυτός ο κόσμος που αλλάζει
με τρομάζει, με τρομάζει
The world that changes
Singer: Alkinoos Ioannidis
Lyrics: Alkinoos Ioannidis
Music: Alkinoos Ioannidis
Large tree is the sigh
also large is its shadow
spreads its roots to the soul
to the body [it spreads] its branches
Just as a bird spreads
its wings against the air
the tree becomes a feast
and the day flaps
How many times should I tell you
how many to convey it to you?
Shall I tell you in whispers
or shall I sing it to you?
I will tell you in whispers
the way the glance speaks
which hides in the silence
all of the world's blood
This world that changes
how it resembles you, how it resembles you
This world that changes
it scares me, it scares me
Losers we seem to be, then
at the tour of death
in the frost of the definitive
at the fear of the invisible
But you will forever be lost
only if you so choose
like how the music chooses
the expressions and the words
This world that changes
how it resembles you, how it resembles you
This world that changes
it scares me, it scares me
This is a song about a person who experiences stagnation and is now confronted with the prospect of change. Humans are animals of habit. We get accustomed even to situations that are not benign to us. This is how we end up with the concept of “the devil you know”. The prevailing conditions will bedevil us, yet we remain reluctant to introduce thoroughgoing changes out of fear that we might end up with something worse.
Stagnation, of the sort here considered, breeds pessimism. Every reform is treated as the harbinger of a greater evil. It is thus to be avoided at all costs. The person remains stuck. Grief takes hold. Its roots grow deep and get entangled everywhere. This situation normalises itself through the force of habit. Only then may the tree of disappointment be perceived as a feast. It becomes a celebration of itself, which is a metaphor for how a person will cling on to the devil they know, as if they were having fun the whole time.
Now why would the artist describe stagnation in terms of something as beautiful and peaceful as a tree and a bird? It is to emphasise how the logic of “the devil you know” works: it impresses in us the feeling that whatever prevailing conditions are not too bad after all—they may even be wonderful in some twisted way! This is the part where we find excuses to not make any changes and, thus, to conceal the attendant fear.
The poetic first person eventually musters the courage to speak about their dread. They decide to do so as discreetly as possible by whispering. Here the artist communicates a sense of emotional intensity: the whisper is likened to the silent yet decisively passionate glance. We know that stare, that moment when everything is said without words, when something pierces us and time stops for a little while. The blood in the second verse is a reference to passion. It is how we get all excited in those moments; a telltale sign of an emotionally charged experience.
Not all is lost though. Losers are those who declare themselves thus, who choose to quit without trying in earnest. They are the people who make the mistake of befriending their fears and making best buddies with their own inhibitions. When we choose to be losers, we condition our life accordingly. This is exactly how a given rhythm only enables certain lyrics, while precluding all others.
All consequential decisions delineate the horizon of possible subsequent actions. This is because we live with their consequences and, thus, operate within the confines of the state of affairs they engender. Choosing to fight is difficult for this exact reason: it needs longer-term commitment.
Whether one is a fighter or a loser is a matter of outlook. That can change. It is embedded as lifestyle through everyday affairs. To put the desk in order, for example, is a task that requires some relatively minor effort against inertia. Achieving that engenders the feeling that the immediate surroundings are controllable or, in other words, that our actions can indeed change our world one tiny bit at a time. By gradually increasing the intensity while widening the scope of our initiative, we can change our ways.
Fear, then, need not be interpreted as an evil. It simply is a mechanism which brings some reality to the foreground of our conscience. What matters is how we respond to it. This is about our attitude and the kind of resolve we show. To recognise one’s fear, and perhaps to share it with another, as does the poetic first person in this song, is the precondition for overcoming said fear.