Performed by: Stiga Theodosia
Music: Vassilis Tsitsanis
Lyrics: Vassilis Tsitsanis
Year: 1948

Lyrics:

Μην απελπίζεσαι και δε θ’ αργήσει
κοντά σου θα ‘ρθει μια χαραυγή
καινούργια αγάπη να σου ζητήσει
κάνε λιγάκι υπομονή

Διώξε τα σύννεφα απ’ την καρδιά σου
και μες το κλάμα μην ξαγρυπνάς
τι κι αν δε βρίσκεται στην αγκαλιά σου
θα ‘ρθει μια μέρα μην το ξεχνάς

Γλυκοχαράματα θα σε ξυπνήσει
και ο έρωτας σας θ’ αναστηθεί
καινούργια αγάπη θα ξαν’ αρχίσει
κάνε λιγάκι υπομονή

English:

Don’t fall in despair for he won’t be late
at the crack of dawn he’ll come by you
to beg from you a new love’s beginning
be just a bit patient

Push the cloudy darkness away from your heart
and don’t lose your sleep sobbing all night
what if he is not in your cuddly arms as yet
he’ll come one day, don’t you forget that

Some sweet daybreak he’ll awake you
and your love for each other will resurrect
a new love will bloom again
be just a bit patient

I heard this song at a George Dalaras concert in London, and fell in love with it immediately. I managed to record only the second half of it on my phone, so the length and quality are not at their best. Now I am desperately looking for its name.

So far the only information I have is that it’s a Cretan song. The performers are Despina Olympiou and Mihalis Tzouganakis.

Do you know this name of this song? Please share if you do!

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Found it :)

“Stylitis” by Thanasis Papakonstantinou. Thank you Ioanna Voudouri!

Performed by: SOAS Rebetiko Band (singer Eleni Dimopoulou)
Music:  Giorgos Katsaros
Lyrics: Giorgos Katsaros
Year: 1928

Lyrics:

Last Sunday, I published an article on an Istabul-based rebetiko band called Tatavla Keyfi in Radikal, a Turkish daily newspaper. The story of this band is so intriguing, so inspiring, and so mahallas-like in essence that I thought the entire public in Turkey must read about it and find out more about the history of the music that this band plays and what kind of ideas and feelings they play with. Music perhaps doesn’t have borders but unfortunately languages do, so it’s a pity that the article could only be published only in Turkish. That’s why I felt the urge to talk about what I wrote in the article also here on Mahallas. This whole story perhaps has nothing to do with Cyprus per se, but the cultural connection surely is there. You can read the article in Turkish by clicking here.

I discovered Tatavla Keyfi randomly on a regular Youtube break off work and I was immediately fascinated by the very idea behind their existence – rebetiko! It is the music of the inbetweeners, the immigrants, the misfits, the Greeks that were stigmatized as ‘Turks’ in Greece and the Turks that were received as ‘infidels’ in Turkey. It is in fact a sub-culture, a way of life or even a whole philosophy on its own that surpasses the boundaries of a meagre musical genre. And these guys, all from Istanbul (except for Haris, who is from Athens, born and bred) are the first to make this music semi-popular and back in demand in the nightlife of Istanbul, just like it used to be in the 1920s and 30s.

Tatavla Keyfi: (from left to right) Mamed Cafarov, Haris Rigas, Ceyhun Kaya and Alper Tekin.

What’s most interesting about this band is, the name they call themselves, “Tatavla Keyfi”, stems from a true mahallas inspiration. Tatavla is the name of an old mahalle in Istanbul which used to be inhabited predominantly by Greeks during the Ottoman times and until 1960s. During the early decades of the twenieth century , Tatavla was synonmous with the Tukish word keyif (or κέφι in Greek) which means “pleasure” in English, as the area was renowned for its lively nightlife and vibrant musical scene, dominated by songs in both Greek and Turkish. The band calls itself Tatavla Keyfi, “the pleasure of Tatavla” exactly for this reason, and tries to bring back the spirit of Tatavla and the authenticity of the old rebetika back in town.

The story of Haris Rigas, the bouzouki and baglama player of the band, is genuinely one of a kind. Haris is originally from Athens and had never seen Istanbul or spoken a word of Turkish until about five years ago, but after a brief visit to the city to attend a conference in 2005 he made a radical decision to settle in Istanbul. He has been living there since 2006, speaks nearly flawless Turkish, teaches Ancient Greek and Latin in the Bosphorus University and also pursues a PhD in the Political Science Department of the same university. On top of that, he performs old Istanbul and Izmir style, “Greco-Turkish” rebetiko songs with his band every Tuesday in Badehane. To cut this whole story short, we could just say that Haris is the perfect example of an individual who is pursuing a peaceful life in the “other” mahallas and loving it.

If hearing bilingual songs performed live and together by the kids of two different neighbourhoods sounds like an interesting experience to you, do go to Istanbul sometime and drop by Badehane on a Tuesday. At the end of the night, you will not be able to wait for the next time you can hear them.

Tatavla Keyfi’ni bir tesadüf eseri Youtube’da keşfettiğimden beri takip ediyordum. Sonra yolum ilk İstanbul’a düştüğünde Badehane’ye gidip hünerlerini birinci elden, sahnede izledim. İstanbul gibi bu müziğe anavatanlık yapmış bir şehirde vahim seviyelerde bir rebetiko eksikliği yaşanırken, bu cici insanların sözkonusu boşluğu bir nebze doldurabilmesini heyecanla karşıladım. Sağolsunlar, Haris Rigas ve Alper Tekin ile biraz spontan birer söyleşi gerçekleştirdik. İkisinin de ayrı ayrı enteresan yaşam öyküleri var, yaptıkları müziğe öyle uyumlu ki.

Yazıyı okumanızı, ardından da ilk fırsatta Tatavla Keyfi’ni canlı olarak izlemenizi tavsiye ederim. Yetenekleri tecrübe ile sabittir.

http://www.radikal.com.tr/Radikal.aspx?aType=RadikalEklerDetay&ArticleID=992422&Date=20.04.2010&CategoryID=42

An interesting version of Soura kai Mastoura by Anestis Delias, performed by a London-based group called Trio Tekke. Rebetiko fusion is often tricky and easily gets slippery, but  the idea of incorporating different instruments into these songs is a real musical turn-on. Gotta love the video, too! Good stuff.

Here goes my Sunday anthem. I hear this is the case for many in Greece, so I know I’m not being original or anything here.

A product of the occupation period during World War 2, straight from Tsitsanis & Ninou to your ears.

Music: Vassilis Tsitsanis
Lyrics: Vassilis Tsitsanis, Vlahos & Alekos Skouveris
Year:  1947

Lyrics:
Συννεφιασμένη Κυριακή,
μοιάζεις με την καρδιά μου
που έχει πάντα συννεφιά,
Χριστέ και Παναγιά μου.

Όταν σε βλέπω βροχερή,
στιγμή δεν ησυχάζω.
μαύρη μου κάνεις τη ζωή,
και βαριαναστενάζω.

Είσαι μια μέρα σαν κι αυτή,
που χασα την χαρά μου.
συννεφιασμένη Κυριακή,
ματώνεις την καρδιά μου.

Transliteration:
Synnefiasmeni kyriaki
Miazeis me tin kardia mou
Pou ehei panda synnefia, synnefia
Hriste kai pa- hriste kai panayia mou

Eisai mia mera san ki afti
Pou ‘hasa tin hara mou
Synnefiasmeni kyrikai, kyriaki
Matoneis ti matoneis ti kardia mou

Otan se vlepo vroheri
Stigmi den isihazo
Mavri mou kaneis ti zoi, ti zoi
Kai bariana – kai barianastenazo

English:
Cloudy sunday
Cloudy sunday, you look like my heart
Which is always cloudy, oh Christ and Mary.

You’re a day like the one I lost my joy.
Cloudy sunday, you make my heart bleed.

When I see you rainy, I can’t find a moment’s peace.
You make my life black, and I sigh deeply.

It also has a Turkish cover by Yeni Türkü, not bad at all:

Music: Haralambos Vasileiadis
Lyrics:  Yiannis Papaioannou
Year: 1948

Alternative version (better quality) in audio format: click here.

Lyrics:

Πριν το χάραμα μονάχος εξεκίνησα
αχ και στο πρώτο μας το στέκι την αυγούλα γύρισα

Aν και άλλη μ’ είχε μπλέξει με καμώματα
αχ σ’ αγαπώ κι ήρθα κοντά σου πριν τα ξημερώματα

Πριν ακόμα σβήσουν τ’ άστρα εξεπόρτισα
αχ να ξανάβρω τα δυο χείλη που ποτέ δε χόρτασα

English:

Before daybreak I set out alone
and returned to our old haunt at dawn

I left before the stars had faded
to find those lips I never got tired of

And although I got caught in another woman’s charm,
I love you and came to you before dawn.

Bonus! – The Turkish adaptation of the song (Gün Doğarken) by Yeni Türkü, from the album Külhani Şarkılar (1994).