A Beautiful Little Bird Flew In lyrics and meaning

Atlėkė lėkė
Graži paukštužėlė
Iš toli, labai toli.

Atlėkė lėkė graži paukštužėlė iš toli, labai toli.

Atnešė nešė
Močiutei žinelę
Ale nelabai gerą
Kelkit, sūneliai,
Mano jaunieji,
Balnokit bėrus žirgus
O jūs nujosit,
O jūs nuvandruosit
Seselės pažiūrėti
O antai stovi
Mūsų seserėlė
Tarp kareivių pulkelio
Tarp tų kareivių,
Tarp tų kapliorėlių,
Kaip lelijužė žydi
Vai, skamba aida
Jos alasužėlis
Kaip aukselio varpelis
Vai, sliukso drikso
Josios kasužėlės
Kaip geltoni šilkeliai
Vai, krinta byra
Jos ašaružėlės
Kaip baltieji perlaliai

A Beautiful Little Bird Flew In: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a ballad-like song about a sister who has ended up among soldiers and about the sorrow of her family. At the beginning a beautiful little bird flies in from afar and brings the mother not very good news. The bird is a messenger, and the sadness of its news is emphasized by everything that follows.

The mother wakes her young sons, tells them to saddle their bay horses, and ride to look for their sister. When they arrive, they find the sister standing among a band of soldiers, among corporals. This image can be interpreted as the sister's loss or her entry into an alien military environment from which she can no longer return.

Although the sister blooms like a lily, her voice sounds like a golden bell, and her braids fall like silk, the tears dropping like white pearls reveal her grief. This juxtaposition of beauty and tears can be understood as a painful contrast between the charm of a young woman and her unhappy fate. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of loss and sorrow is clear.

A Beautiful Little Bird Flew In: symbols and phrases

Little bird
A bird flying in from afar with not very good news. It is the messenger that opens the song's sad story.
Band of soldiers
The soldiers and corporals among whom the sister stands. They mark an alien military environment and the sister's loss.
Lily
The sister is compared to a blooming lily. The image stresses her youth and beauty even in misfortune.
Tears like pearls
The falling tears are compared with white pearls. They reveal the sister's sorrow beneath outward beauty.

A Beautiful Little Bird Flew In: song history

"A Beautiful Little Bird Flew In" belongs to ballad-like military-historical songs about a sister who finds herself among soldiers. The song uses several genre-typical motifs: the bird as messenger bringing "not very good news," brothers saddling bay horses to ride and rescue their sister, and the pairing of beauty with tears: the sister blooms "like a lily," while her tears fall "like white pearls." Comparisons such as a voice like a golden bell and braids like yellow silk are traditional ornaments of folk song.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented through genre features. The bird messenger and the brothers' ride connect the song with the broader tradition of military-historical and family ballads about loss and entry into an alien, soldierly environment.

sources

  • Lithuanian Folk Songbook, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • D. Kristopaite. Lithuanian Military-Historical Songs, Vilnius 1956
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

A Beautiful Little Bird Flew In: sources