Greek music is not always about happy creators and sweet talking; there have been controversies in the history of Greek music, and one of the most known stories is the one about Sinnefiasmeni Kiriaki and its lyrics.
Sinnefiasmeni Kyriaki is a Greek song composed by Vassilis Tsitsanis. However, the lyric writer of the song is not yet confirmed. If you ask most people, they will tell you that Vassilis Tsitsanis is the lyric writer of the song, however, there is a huge litigation behind it.
Tsitsanis as the lyric writer of Sinnefiasmeni Kiriaki
Vassilis Tsitsanis wrote – as most people suggest – the song a little after the Greek civil war in 1948. Tsitsanis did not give any details about the incident that inspired this song, but later on, when his biography was published, there was a reference to the way this song was born.
According to Tsitsanis himself, he witnessed an incident in Thessaloniki, while Greece was occupied by the German army in World War 2: three men went to a wall and wrote with paint “Death to Fascism – Freedom”. But before they finished, German soldiers appeared and killed them on the spot. Blood was everywhere…
Tsitsanis with his 2 friends left the area quickly to save their lives. Since then, he was trying to put to words what happened that day.
One Sunday, while coming back from Salamina, he heard someone saying “what a day, it breaks your heart”. That gave an inspiration to Tsitsanis, who took a small paper out and wrote the first few lyrics of Sinnefiasmeni Kiriaki.
Alekos Gouveris claims the rights
A few years later, another lyric writer, Alekos Gkouveris showed up and claimed the lyrics of Sinnefiasmeni Kiriaki suggesting that he wrote the song one Sunday when his favorite football team , AEL from Larissa, lost a very important game.
Gouveris presented a handwritten note in 2004, stating that he had contributed a paragraph to the lyrics of Sinnefiasmeni Kiriaki, therefore he was claiming the rights at 20%.
The Hellenic Society for the Protection of Intellectual Property (AEPI) has declared Tsitanis as the lyricwriter of Sinnefiasmeni Kiriaki at 80% and Gouveris at 20%.