Sto perigiali to kryfo – English lyrics
The lyrics of the song Sto perigiali to kryfo by Grigoris Bithikotsis translated to English
Sto perigiali to kryfo (Arnisi) – English lyrics
On the hidden shore
white as a dove
we got thirsty at midday;
but the water salt.
On the golden sand,
we wrote her name;
How lovely the wind blew
and the writing was wiped out.
With what heart, what spirit,
what desires and passion
we took on our life. Wrong!
and we changed it.
Sto perigiali to kryfo
- Sto perigiali to kryfo – Grigoris Bithikotsis
- Sto perigiali to kryfo – English lyrics
- Sto perigiali to kryfo – Greek lyrics
- Sto perigiali to kryfo – Russian lyrics
I think this poem is “Denial” by the poet laureate Giorgios Seferiadis set to music by Mikis Theodorakis in the tone of the dictatorship
You are correct about the poet. It was written by Giorgos Seferis (his full family name was indeed Seferiadis).
The song was actually written before the dictatorship. Theodorakis composed the music and recorded it with the singer Grigoris Bithikotsis in 1962 for the album Epifania. At that time, Greece was not under a dictatorship. The military dictatorship (the Junta) took power a few years later, in 1967.
During the dictatorship, the regime banned Theodorakis’s music. Because of that ban, singing “Sto perigiali to kryfo” became a massive, dangerous act of defiance and a symbol of resistance against the rulers. Seferis himself also famously spoke out against the junta in 1969. So, while it wasn’t composed during or for the dictatorship, it became absolutely defined by that era as a musical weapon against it.