Brother, Why Do You Not Feed the Horse? lyrics and meaning
Oi brolalia brolalia
Ko nešarai žirgelio
Oi oi, ko nešarai žirgelio
Ko nešarai žirgelio
Nebalnojai balnelio
Oi oi
Nebalnojai balnelio
Ko nejojai an vainos
Oi oi
Oi sasula sasula
Slaunas Rygos miestelis
Oi oi
Aina vaiskas kai vanduo
Krenta galvos kai bitės
Oi oi
An petelių ranyčia,
Tai ta mano motułė
Oi oi
Prie šonelio šoblałė,
Tai ta mano sesułė
Oi oi
Brother, Why Do You Not Feed the Horse?: song interpretation
This dialect song can be understood as a soldier's song about war and separation from family. At the beginning the sister asks her brother why he does not feed the horse, saddle the saddle, and ride to war. These questions can be interpreted as a call to prepare for war.
The brother answers with the famed town of Riga, where the army flows like water and heads fall like bees. These images can be understood as a picture of the horror of war and many deaths.
At the end the brother says that the ranyčia on his shoulder is his mother, and the šoblelė at his side is his sister. This image can be interpreted as a painful separation of the soldier from his family, when weapons replace loved ones. That is one possible meaning, but the motif of war and separation from kin is clear.
Brother, Why Do You Not Feed the Horse?: symbols and phrases
- Feeding and saddling the horse
- Preparing to ride to war. It marks the beginning of departure.
- Famed town of Riga
- The city near which the battle takes place. It marks the battlefield.
- "Army like water, heads like bees"
- The flowing army and falling heads. They mark the horror of war and mass death.
- Weapons instead of kin
- The ranyčia as mother, the šoblelė as sister. They mark the soldier's separation from family.
Brother, Why Do You Not Feed the Horse?: song history
"Brother, Brother" belongs to military-historical songs about riding out to war and separation from loved ones. The song begins with a chain of questions - why do you not feed the horse, saddle the saddle, ride to war - and this stepped question-and-answer structure with the refrain "Oi oi" is characteristic of the genre. The battlefield image - the city of Riga, the flowing army, the falling heads - connects the song to the memory of historical battles.
The song is recorded in a strong dialect (brolalia, sasula, vaiskas, šoblałė), and the exact place and time of recording are not stated on the page, so it is presented by genre features. The final image, in which weapons - ranyčia (a firearm or gun) and šoblelė (a saber) - become the soldier's mother and sister, is a powerful formula of the genre, conveying the soldier's loneliness and separation from family.
sources
- Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, t. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
- D. Krištopaitė. Lietuvių karinės-istorinės dainos, Vilnius 1956
Brother, Why Do You Not Feed the Horse?: sources
Brother, Why Do You Not Feed the Horse?: frequently asked questions
What kind of song is this?
It is a military-historical song about riding to war and separation from loved ones, with the refrain "Oi oi."
What do feeding and saddling the horse mean?
They mean preparing to ride to war. The questions about why the brother does not feed and saddle the horse mark the start of departure.
What does "army like water, heads like bees" mean?
It is a formula of war horror: the army is compared to flowing water, and falling heads to a swarm of bees, conveying many deaths.
Why are weapons called mother and sister?
The ranyčia on the shoulder becomes the mother, and the šoblelė at the side becomes the sister. The image conveys the soldier's loneliness, where weapons replace loved ones.