kıraathane

Ρόζα Εσκεναζυ – Είμαι πρεζάκιας

Roza Eskenazi – Ime Prezakias (I’m A Junkie)

Music: Sosos Psiriotis (under the alias Sosos Ioannidis)
Lyrics: Emilios Savvidis (under the alias Nikos Deltas)
Year: 1934

* The composer and lyricist are believed to have hidden their real names in order to avoid paying taxes or due to their cooperation with others who were not meant to be informed.

Lyrics:

Από το βράδυ ως το πρωί με πρέζα στέκω στη ζωή
Και όλο τον κόσμο κατακτώ, την άσπρη σκόνη σαν ρουφώ
Όλος ο κόσμος είναι κτήμα μου, σαν έχω πρέζα και ρουφάω
Κι οι πολισμάνοι όταν με δουν, μελάνι αμολάω

Σαν μαστουρωθείς, γίνεται ευθύς
Βασιλιάς, δικτάτορας, θεός και κοσμοκράτορας
Πρέζα όταν πιεις, ρε θα ευφρανθείς
Κι όλα πια στον κόσμο ρόδινα θε να τα δεις

Τα πρέζα αδελφέ μου μέχρι ανάσταση

δική μου είναι η Ελλάς που στην κατάντια της γελάς
της λείπει το’να της ποδάρι, βρε και τα παίξαμε στο ζάρι
εγώ θα είμαι ρε δικτάτορας κι ο κόσμος στάχτη αν θα γίνει
ο ένας θα μ’ανάβει το λουλά κι ο άλλος θα τον σβήνει

Σαν μαστουρωθείς, γίνεται ευθύς
Βασιλιάς, δικτάτορας, θεός και κοσμοκράτορας
Πρέζα όταν πιεις, ρε θα ευφρανθείς
Κι όλα πια στον κόσμο ρόδινα θε να τα δεις

Transliteration:

Apo to vradi os to proi
Me preza steko sti zoi
Kai olo ton kosmo katakto
Tin aspri skoni san roufo
Olos o kosmos einai thima mou
San ekho preza kai roufao
Ki oi polistmanoi otan tha me doun
Melani amolao

Man mastourotheis, ginesai efthis
Vasilias, diktatoras, theos kai kosmokratoras
Preza otan pieis, vre tha efrantheis
Ki ola pia ston kosmo rodina the na ta deis

Diki mou einai i Ellas
Pou stin katandia tis gelas
Tis leipei to na tis podari
Vre kai ta paiksame sto zari
Ego tha eimai vre diktatoras
Ki o kosmos stakhti an tha ginei
O enas tha m anavei to loula
Ki o allos tha ton svinei

San mastourotheis, ginetai efthis
Vasilias, diktatoras, theos kai kosmokratoras
Preza otan pieis, vre tha efrantheis
Ki ola pia sto kosmo rodina the na ta deis

English:

From dusk till dawn, my whole life is a pinch.*
I can conquer the world when I snort that white powder.
The whole world is mine when I have a pinch to snort;
But when the police sees me, I disappear fast.

When you get high, you become a king,
a dictator, a god, and ruler of the world.
When you snort a pinch, you experience euphoria,
because everything in the world suddenly seems rosy.

Greece is mine; you can laugh at her plight.
She’s missing one of her legs; man, they played dice for it.
Man, if I were a dictator, the world could turn to ashes for all I care;
as long as I’ve got someone to light my hookah
and someone else to put it out.

*: The Greek word used here is πρέζα, which is literally a “pinch”, however it refers to drugs in this context.

Special thanks to Kostas Ladopoulos, a.k.a “elkibra”, for sharing essential information about this song. He has a blog on rebetiko, one that is much more thorough and profound, and you should definitely take a look if you’re interested in reading on this subject: http://elkibra-rebetiko2.blogspot.com/