Haris Alexiou sings the song Theos an einai, which translates to If there is a God. This Greek song is written by the Greek lyricist Lina Nikolakopoulou and composed by the famous Bosnian composer Goran Bregovic.
This song Theos an einai has its own long story. It was first performed by Bijelo Dugme, the Yugoslavian band formed by Goran Bregovic and his friends; the original title of the song is Ako ima Boga, which also means If there is a God. It was a rock song at that time. Then, in 1986, the movie Queen Margot was released and the amazing Israeli singer Ofra Haza sings the same song in Israeli language: Elo Hi is the title. Superb performance.
A few years later, in 1989 Lina Nikolakopoulou and Alkistis Protopsalti meet with Bregovic in order to sing in Greek some of the songs heard in the movie “The Time of the Gypsies”. Indeed, the album Paradechtika is born and one of the songs of the album is Theos an Einai, sung by Alkistis. Therefore, Alkistis was the one who brought the song in Greece. But… a few years later, in 1995 Alexiou sings the song, changing the music arrangement and making the song slower.. That was it!
The song Theos an einai became instantly one of the most beloved songs of the singer, who managed with her sublime performance to spotlight the gripping and overwhelming lyrics that Nikolakopoulou wrote. Allow me to say that the meeting of Alexiou’s voice with the touching music by Bregovic and these emotional lyrics by Nikolakopoulou is one of the most astonishing moments in Greek music.