I Grind, I Grind lyrics and meaning

Malu malu aš viena,
Pasižiūriu jau diena.
Dzūkit girnelės,
Linksminkit jūs mani.
Dzūkit dzūkit girnelės,
Linksminkit jūs mani.

O jūs mano rankelės,
Vis prie sunkių darbelių.
Dzūkit dzūkit girnelės,
Linksminkit jūs mani. /2×2

O jūs mano kaselės,
Vis po šiaurų vėjelį.
Dzūkit dzūkit girnelės,
Linksminkit jūs mani. /2×2

O jūs mano akelės,
Pridulkėję miltelių.
Dzūkit dzūkit girnelės,
Linksminkit jūs mani. /2×2

O jūs mano kojelės,
Vis po gilų purvelį.
Dzūkit dzūkit girnelės,
Linksminkit jūs mani. /2×2

Malu malu aš viena,
Pasižiūriu jau diena.
Dzūkit dzūkit girnelės,
Kad ateitų bernelis. /2×2

I Grind, I Grind: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a quern work song about a young woman grinding alone. At the beginning, she grinds alone and, when she looks, sees that it is already day. The little querns are urged to buzz and cheer her. This address to the querns can be interpreted as a companion to loneliness in hard work.

The marks of labor are then listed: hands always at heavy work, braids in the north wind, eyes covered with flour dust, feet in deep mud. These images can be understood as reflections of fatigue and hardship.

At the end, she is again grinding alone, and the querns are urged to grind so that the young man may come. This desire can be interpreted as the girl's longing, which would brighten the monotony of work. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of quern labor and loneliness is clear in the song.

I Grind, I Grind: symbols and phrases

Grinding alone
Solitary grinding with hand querns until daybreak. It signifies hard, monotonous work and loneliness.
Little querns
The hand millstones being addressed. They are both the work tool and a companion in solitude.
Marks of work
Hands worn by heavy labor, dusty eyes, and muddy feet. They signify fatigue and hardship.
"So that the young man would come"
The wish for the beloved to arrive. It signifies the girl's longing to brighten the monotony of labor.

I Grind, I Grind: song history

"I Grind, I Grind" belongs to work songs, more precisely to milling or quern songs sung while turning hand querns. The steady rhythm of the querns dictated the flow of the song, and the repeated refrain "Dzūkit dzūkit girnelės, linksminkit jūs mani" seems to coincide with the buzzing of the querns and helps endure hard, monotonous work. Dzūkian forms such as mani and dzūkit show that the song comes from southeastern Lithuania.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented by genre traits. The piece is arranged as a sequential listing of signs of weariness: hands at heavy work, braids in the wind, eyes in flour dust, feet in mud. The final stanza turns the work complaint into longing for the young man to come; variants of such milling songs have been recorded in different regions.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

I Grind, I Grind: sources