Dogs Are Barking lyrics and meaning

Šunys loja, čia vėruoja.
Žiūrėk, merguž, kas atjoja.
Žiūrėk, merguž, kas atjoj?

Atjoj atjoj ans bernelis,
Po jam šoka bėrs žirgelis,
Po jam šoka bėrs žirgas.

-Labas vakaras, uošveli,
Ar namėje mergužėlė,
Ar namėje mergužėlė?

-Dėkui dėkui, žentužėli,
Yr namėje mergužėlė,
Yr namėje mergužėlė.

Naujoj svirnoj, pas skrynelę,
Ten ji rėžo plonas drobes,
Ten ji rėžo plonas drobes.

-Eikš jį klausti, motinėle,
Ar bagotas bernytėlis,
Ar bagotas bernytis.

-Ei dukryte dukrytėle,
Tai bagotas bernytėlis,
Tai bagotas bernytis.

Jis apskaitė stalužėlį
Vienais rundais dorelėliais,
Vienais rundais doreliais.

Nei stokojo šeštokėlių,
Nei stokojo trečiokėlių,
Nei stokojo dorelių.

Dogs Are Barking: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a courtship song about a rich young man riding in. At the beginning, dogs bark, and the maiden is asked to look at who is arriving; it is the young man on a prancing bay horse. The barking dogs can be interpreted as the sign of a matchmaker's or groom's arrival.

Then the young man greets the father-in-law and asks whether the maiden is at home. The father answers that she is in the new storehouse by the chest, cutting fine linen. These images can be understood as the bride's preparation and the beginning of courtship.

At the end, the mother is asked to find out whether the young man is wealthy, and it becomes clear that he is rich: he has counted out coins across the table and lacks neither šeštokėliai nor trečiokėliai. These images can be interpreted as the checking of a suitor's wealth, important in choosing a son-in-law. That is one possible meaning, but the courtship and suitor-wealth motif is clear.

Dogs Are Barking: symbols and phrases

Barking dogs
Dogs announcing the arrival of a guest. They mark the arrival of a matchmaker or groom.
Young man on a bay horse
The mounted suitor arriving. He marks the matchmaker.
Maiden cutting fine linen
The bride cutting cloth in the storehouse. She marks a young woman preparing for marriage and dowry.
Table counted out with coins
The table covered with dorelės, šeštokėliai, and trečiokėliai. It marks the suitor's wealth.

Dogs Are Barking: song history

"Dogs Are Barking" belongs to wedding or courtship songs, identifiable by its figures: the arriving son-in-law, the father-in-law who receives him, the bride cutting fine linen in the storehouse by the chest, and the dialogue that develops the courtship scene. The barking dogs at the beginning function as a sign that a guest, matchmaker, or groom has arrived, while the repeated final lines sustain the ritual rhythm of the song.

The exact recording place and date are not given on this page, so the song is presented through its genre features. The ending motif - the checking of the groom's wealth, when he counts coins across the table and lacks neither šeštokėliai nor trečiokėliai - reflects the real theme of wedding negotiation and dowry, common in svotbinės or wedding-party songs.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • A. Juška. Lietuviškos svotbinės dainos, 2 vols., Vilnius 1955
  • Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

Dogs Are Barking: sources