Erotiko – Eleftheria Arvanitaki



Eleftheria Arvanitaki sings “Erotiko”, a Greek song, which translates to “Of love”, or simply “love song”.

Erotiko is a very known Greek love song based on the verses written by Napoleon Lapathiotis, a famous Greek poet. The song is tender, but in a rather pessimistic tone, talking about the unfulfilled desire for love, devotion and sharing.

However, there is a secret behind this love song, a secret revealed only to those, who can read the Greek language. The poet had a secret love, a young man who was his object of desire, but he could not reveal his love due to obvious reasons at that time. So, he wrote the lyrics of the song, not only expressing his need for love, but also communicating his message to the man he loved, through an acronym. Indeed, if you read the first letter of each sentence in Greek you will get the man’s name ” Κωστας Γκικας”.

Lapathiotis at the age of 56 committed suicide at his home in Athens, poor and addicted to drugs. In 1991 Nikos Ksidakis created the music and Eleftheria Arvanitaki gave her beautiful voice.

The song Erotiko should not be confused with another song called this way, that we have already posted here: Erotiko with Haris Alexiou. They are two completely different songs, and the latter is also known as “Piroga”. However, both of them are considered classics in Greek music, due to the power of the feelings described.

Arvanitaki’s voice is anyway amazing, and totally suitable for expressing the despair, but also eeriness of the song “erotiko”.

Erotiko Arvanitaki 

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Greek music Greek songs