If I Had Many Daughters lyrics and meaning

Kad aš dukrelių daug turėčia,
O ma žentelių užderėtų.

Mane ženteliai tai mylėtų,
Per dvarelį einant palydėtų.

Eikie, uošvele, kad nepultum
Ir mane jauną, kad mylėtum.

Kad aš sūnelių daug turėčia,
O ma martelių užderėtų

Mane martelės tai mylėtų
Per dvarelį einant pastūmėtų

Pulk, anytėle, kad nekeltum
Ir mane jauną kad nebartum.

If I Had Many Daughters — second version lyrics

Kad aš dukrelių daug turėčia,
Tai man žentelių užderėtų.
Mane ženteliai tai mylėtų ---
Per dvarelį einant palydėtų.
Eik, anytėla, kad nepultum
Ir mani jaunų, kad mylėtum.

Kad aš sūnelių daug turėčia,
Tai man martelių užderėtų.
Mane martelės tai mylėtų
Per dvarelį einant pastūmėtų *
Pulk, anytėla, kad nekeltum
Ir mani jauną, kad nebartum.

Kitoje versijoje antras stulpelis baigiasi, kaip ir pirmas.

If I Had Many Daughters: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a song about unequal kinship relations with sons-in-law and daughters-in-law. At the beginning, the singer imagines having many daughters so that many sons-in-law would come. The sons-in-law are imagined as loving the mother-in-law and escorting her through the manor. This image can be interpreted as a warm relation between son-in-law and mother-in-law.

In contrast, the singer imagines having many sons so that many daughters-in-law would come. But the daughters-in-law are imagined not as escorting the older woman, but as pushing the mother-in-law through the manor. This contrast can be understood as the tense relation between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, common in folk songs.

The phrases "go, mother-in-law, so you do not fall" and "fall, mother-in-law, so you do not rise" sharpen the opposition between love and lack of love. The song can be understood as a reflection on the different behavior of sons-in-law and daughters-in-law toward the older woman. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of kinship tensions is clear in the song.

If I Had Many Daughters: symbols and phrases

Sons-in-law
The imagined husbands of daughters, loving and escorting the mother-in-law. They signify a warm kinship tie.
Daughters-in-law
The wives of sons, shown pushing the mother-in-law. They signify a tense relation with the older woman.
Mother-in-law roles
The older woman appears as mother-in-law to a son-in-law and to a daughter-in-law. The song contrasts these different kinship fates.
Escorting and pushing
Opposite actions while passing through the manor. They mark the contrast between love and lack of love.

If I Had Many Daughters: song history

"If I Had Many Daughters" belongs to family songs that consider marriage kinship ties: relations between son-in-law and mother-in-law, daughter-in-law and mother-in-law. The song is built on a strict opposition: an imagined loving son-in-law escorts the mother-in-law through the manor, while an unloving daughter-in-law pushes her. Such binary enumeration in parallel stanzas is characteristic of family-lot songs.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented by genre traits. Tension between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law is one of the most frequent motifs in Lithuanian family songs; here it is expressed through a brief, ironic comparison with the relation between son-in-law and mother-in-law.

sources

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

If I Had Many Daughters: sources