Brother Went Wandering lyrics and meaning
Išei brolis mandravoti,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Bagotos pačios ieškoti,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Parsivedė mergužėlį,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Iš bagotos tėviškėlės,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Trečią dieną po veseilės,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Statė mani prie ratelio,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Statė mani prie ratelio,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Aš nežinau ką jam daro,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Vedė mani rugių pjauti,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Aš nemoku kaip prislankti,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Vedė mane bulvių kasti,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Aš nežinau kur jį rasti,
Oi čiuk čiuk, ū-ka-ka.
Vedė mani grikių rauti,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Aš nežinau kaip pagauti,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Mauk pirštines ir žiedelį,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Gyk avelas ir paršelį,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Aš avelas ganydama,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Gromatėlį rašydama,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Gromatėlį rašydama,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
In motułį nusiųsdama,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Kai motułė žinių gavo,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia,
Šešiais žirgais atvažiavo,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Šešiais žirgais atvažiavo,
Sidra sidra sidra lia lia.
Manį jaunų išvadavo,
Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū---ka---ka.
Brother Went Wandering: song interpretation
This song with playful refrains can be understood as a humorous song about a rich daughter-in-law who does not know how to work. At the beginning, the brother goes mandravoti, wandering or traveling, to look for a wealthy wife, and he brings home a young woman from a rich parental home. Marriage for wealth immediately points toward the joke to come.
On the third day after the wedding, the young daughter-in-law is set at the spinning wheel, but she does not know what to do with it. She is taken to cut rye and does not know how to bend down; to dig potatoes and does not know where to find them; to pull buckwheat and does not know how to catch it. These scenes can be interpreted as mockery of a pampered young woman who does not know village labor.
Finally she is told to take off her gloves and ring and herd sheep and a piglet. While herding, she writes a gromatėlę, a little letter, to her mother, who receives the news, arrives with six horses, and rescues her daughter. This ending can be understood as a joke about marriage for wealth, where the rich daughter-in-law proves unfit for work. This is one possible meaning, but the humorous character of the song is obvious.
Brother Went Wandering: symbols and phrases
- Rich wife
- The wealthy wife the brother goes looking for. She marks marriage for property rather than for industriousness.
- Spinning wheel, rye, potatoes, buckwheat
- Village tasks that the daughter-in-law cannot do. They reveal her unsuitability for peasant life.
- Gloves and ring
- Signs of pampering and wealth that she is told to take off. They emphasize the gap between gentility and village labor.
- Six horses
- The horses with which the mother arrives to rescue her daughter. They mark the mother's wealth and the comic rescue.
Brother Went Wandering: song history
"Išei brolis mandravoti" belongs to humorous, or joke, songs that mock an unsuitable marriage choice, here a rich but farm-work-ignorant daughter-in-law. The whole song is built on a chained list of tasks: spinning wheel, rye harvest, potato digging, buckwheat pulling, animal herding. Each stanza is accompanied by nonsense refrains, "Sidra sidra sidra lia lia" and "Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk, ū-ka-ka," which sustain a comic, circular rhythm.
The exact recording time and place are not given on this page, so the song is presented according to genre features; its motif of a pampered daughter-in-law who cannot work is widespread in Lithuanian humorous songs. The ending, where the mother comes with six horses to "rescue" her daughter, sharpens the satire of marriage made for wealth.
sources
- Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, t. 1–23, Vilnius 1980–2011 (LLTI)
- Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 t., Vilnius 1972–1986
Brother Went Wandering: sources
Brother Went Wandering: frequently asked questions
What kind of song is this?
It is a humorous, joke song mocking a rich daughter-in-law who does not know how to do village work.
What do the refrains "Sidra sidra" and "Oi čiuk čiuk čiuk" mean?
They are sound-based nonsense refrains. They create a comic rhythm and sustain the song's circular structure.
Why does the daughter-in-law not know how to cut rye or dig potatoes?
The song uses this to mock a pampered girl raised in a rich home and unused to peasant labor. It is a typical motif in humorous songs.
What does the ending with six horses mean?
After receiving her daughter's little letter, the mother comes with six horses and "rescues" her. This strengthens the joke about marriage for wealth.