In My Father's Homeland lyrics and meaning

Mano tėvo tėvo tėviškėlėj (x2)
Klevo lentom grindužės išklotos (x2)

Klevo lentom grindužės išklotos
Pipirėliais gražiai išbarstytos

Pipirėliais gražiai išbarstytos
Miruonėliais lubos iškaišytos

Padarykit aslužei raimužį
Tai aš aisiu su brolaliu šokt

Kai aš šokau su savo brolaliu
Mani jaunų un rankelių nešė

Mani jaunų un rankelių nešė
Šalia eidams vainikėlį taisė

Padarykit aslužei raimužį
Tai aš aisiu su berneliu šokti

Kai aš šokau su savo berneliu
Mani jaunų in šalalas blaškė

Mani jaunų in šalalas blaškė
Pentinėliais žiurstelį sudraskė

In My Father's Homeland: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a dance song contrasting the brother and the young man. At the beginning, the father's homeland is shown with floors laid in maple boards, beautifully scattered with peppercorns and decorated overhead. These images can be read as a festive, richly prepared dance space.

The singer asks that a circle be made on the earthen floor for dancing, and she goes to dance with her brother. As he dances with her, the brother carries her on his hands and, walking beside her, sets her wreath right. This image can be understood as brotherly tenderness and care.

Then she goes to dance with the young man, who tosses her from side to side and tears her apron with his spurs. This contrast can be interpreted as an opposition between the brother's love and the young man's roughness, perhaps a warning hint about a future husband's behavior. That is one possible reading, but the brother-young man opposition is clear.

A second interpretation is also possible. The song can be read as a symbolic prophecy of marriage and of the passage from the parental home into a husband's authority. The decorated home space - maple floors, the sprinkled earthen floor, greenery overhead - resembles a wedding or festive room, while the wreath the brother "sets right" while dancing is a sign of maidenhood and chastity. The two dances then become two stages of life: the safe, protective world of the brother and the unpredictable married world, where the torn apron marks the end of maidenhood. This remains a hypothesis, but it explains why the song so sharply contrasts the gentle and the rough dancer.

In My Father's Homeland: symbols and phrases

Maple floors and peppercorns
The decorated dance space in the parental home signifies festivity and domestic warmth.
Circle on the earthen floor
A place is made in the room for dancing. It marks the beginning of the dance.
Dance with the brother
The brother carries her and sets her wreath right. This signifies brotherly tenderness and care.
Dance with the young man
The young man tosses her about and tears her apron with spurs. This signifies roughness opposed to the brother's love.

In My Father's Homeland: song history

"In My Father's Homeland" belongs to dance and round songs closely connected with youth and game repertoires. The structure rests on contrast: the same dance is repeated twice, first with the brother and then with the young man, while the chained repetition of lines is typical of round and dance songs that could be acted out.

The exact recording place and time are not given on the page, so the song is presented through genre features, while Dzūkian forms such as "un rankelių" and "in šalalas" point to southeastern Lithuanian dialect. The song's core is the contrast between the brother's tenderness - carrying her in his arms and setting her wreath right - and the young man's roughness - tossing her about and tearing her apron with spurs. Beneath the scene of the dance lies a warning hint about a future husband's behavior.

sources

  • Lithuanian Folk Songbook, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • P. Jokimaitienė, Lithuanian Folk Children's Songs, Vilnius 1970
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

In My Father's Homeland: sources