Along That Street lyrics and meaning

Tuojuo ulyčiuo
Puo juovarieliu
Verki jaunas bernelis,
Verki jaunas sūnel(is)

Vuoj, cit neverk,
Jaunas bernel,
Ont atvažio tetušis,
Ont atvažiù senas(is).

Vuo kas mun is tuo
Sena tieveli,
Kad nier muna panelis,
Kad nier muna jaunuo(sis)?

Tuojuo ulyčiuo,
Puo juovarieliu
Verki jauna paneli,
Verki jauna jaunuoj(i).

Vuoj, cit neverk,
Jauna panel,
Ont atvažiù matuši,
Ont atvažiù senuoj(i).

Vuo kas mun is tuos
Senuos matušis,
Kad nier muna berneli,
Kad nier muna jaunuo(ji)?

Along That Street: song interpretation

This Samogitian-dialect song can be understood as a song about longing for the beloved. At the beginning, along that street, under the sycamore maple, a young man weeps. When he is comforted with the promise that his father will arrive, the old one, he answers: what good is that old father to me when my girl is not here? This answer can be interpreted as the thought that the father cannot replace the beloved.

The same structure is then transferred to the girl: she weeps, she is comforted with the promise that her mother will arrive, but she answers: what good is that old mother to me when my young man is not here? These images can be understood as equal longing on both sides.

The irreplaceable place of the beloved can be interpreted as the central idea. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of longing is clear in the song. The song is close to another variant beginning with the same words.

Along That Street: symbols and phrases

Street and sycamore maple
The street and tree under which the lovers weep. They mark the song's place of action.
Weeping young man and girl
The young pair weeping under the tree. They signify longing for the beloved.
Arriving father and mother
The offered comfort of parents. They signify kinship closeness that is not enough here.
"What good is the old father if the girl is absent"
The beloved whom parents cannot replace. It signifies the irreplaceability of the loved person.

Along That Street: song history

"Along That Street" is a Samogitian-dialect love song in which two parallel stanzas show a young man and a young woman weeping under a sycamore maple. When the weeping person is comforted with the promise that father or mother will come, the answer is that the comfort of old parents does not replace the lost beloved. This question-answer structure, comparing parents and beloved, is characteristic of love and longing songs.

The exact place and time of this recording are not given on the page, so the song is presented by genre traits; it is close to another variant beginning with the same words. Dialect forms such as ulyciuo, juovarieliu, and muna show Samogitian origin, while the repeated two-stanza structure highlights equal longing in the young man and the young woman.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

Along That Street: sources