Alytė lyrics and meaning

Žygiuoja kareiviai pora paskui porą
Ginti brangią žemę, šalį Lietuvos.
A-ly-te!
Pulkas paukštelių mėlyname ore
Čiulba ir skraido viršum jų galvų. /3×2

Sūnelis išeina, močiutę ramina,
Prašė neliūdėti, kolei jis sugrįš.
A-ly-te!
Su Dievu močiute, sudiev sengalvėle,
Gal pasimatysim po žiaurios kovos. /3×2

Ten prie tėvo kapo, ten prie koplytėlės,
Prisiekiau aš būti sūnus Lietuvos.
A-ly-te!
Kartą prisiekęs daugiau nekartosiu,
Ginsiu brangią žemę, šalį Lietuvos. /3×2

Eisiu į tą šalį, į vakarų šalį,
Ten kur žūsta broliai kovos laukuose.
A-ly-te!
Ten aš paaukosiu savo jaunas dienas
Už tėvų žemelę, kurioj aš gimiau. /3×2

Neateis prie kapo mylima mergaitė,
Nekaišys kapelio žydinčiom gėlėm.
A-ly-te!
Apkaišys kapelį plieninėm kulkelėm,
Ramins mane jauną, žemėj gulintį. /3×2

Alytė: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a military-historical song, or a fighter's song, about a young man leaving to defend Lithuania. The marching soldiers, the oath beside the father's grave and the chapel, and the farewell to the mother create a mood that is patriotic and sorrowful at once. Songs of this kind are often associated with the spirit of the independence struggles or the partisan period.

The refrain "A-ly-te!" is not fully clear. It could be a place-name, recalling Alytus, or a cry addressed to a beloved girl named Alytė. Since the exact context is unknown, this should be treated only as a possible assumption.

The final stanza is especially forceful: the beloved girl will not come to the grave or deck it with blooming flowers; instead, the little grave will be covered, as it were, with "steel bullets." This image may be read as the fate of a soldier killed in battle, accompanied not by flowers but by the glint of weapons. The whole song conveys sacrifice for the homeland, although its precise origin cannot be confirmed without additional sources.

Alytė: symbols and phrases

Roadside chapel
A sacred structure by a road or homestead, where people prayed and gave oaths. In the song it becomes a place where homeland and faith meet.
Steel bullets
A metaphorical image that decorates the soldier's grave in place of flowers. It suggests that the fallen man is accompanied by struggle and weapons rather than peace.
Gray-headed mother
A tender, pitying address to the aging mother. It emphasizes the pain of farewell and the difference between generations.
"Son of Lithuania"
A phrase for a man devoted to his homeland. It intensifies the song's patriotic theme of sacrifice for the country.

Alytė: song history

"Alytė" belongs to the military-historical song tradition, but by its language, realistic details, and patriotic mood it should be regarded as a late, newer song of the genre, most likely connected with the twentieth-century independence struggles or the spirit of armed fighters. Older, classic military songs tend to present the departure for war and mourning for the fallen in more generalized images; later songs such as this one mention more concrete details and express devotion to the homeland more directly.

The refrain "A-ly-te" is uncertain: it may be a place-name, associated with Alytus, or an exclamation. The page gives no exact data on the song's origin or recording, so it is discussed through genre features; no specific claims about authorship or date are made.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • D. Krištopaitė. Lietuvių karinės-istorinės dainos, Vilnius 1956

Alytė: sources