Let Us Go Caroling, Kalėda lyrics and meaning

Eikim, bernai, kalėdaut, kalėda,
Želk, želmuo, po žirgeliu, kalėda.

Katrie greiti-šunų vaikyt, kalėda,
Želk, želmuo, po žirgeliu, kalėda.

Katrie duži-terbų nešiot, kalėda,
Želk, želmuo, po žirgeliu, kalėda.

Katrie smielni-duonos prašyt, kalėda,
Želk, želmuo, po žirgeliu, kalėda.

Geria mergos saldų midų, kalėda,
Želk, želmuo, po žirgeliu, kalėda.

Moterukės-saldų alų, kalėda,
Želk, želmuo, po žirgeliu, kalėda.

O vyreliai-arielkėlę, kalėda,
Želk, želmuo, po žirgeliu, kalėda.

O berneliai smalą geria, kalėda,
Želk, želmuo, po žirgeliu, kalėda.

Let Us Go Caroling, Kalėda: song interpretation

This song with the refrain "kalėda" can be understood as a caroling song that portrays a band of mummers or young men and the festive refreshments they expect. At the beginning the young men are urged to go caroling, while the refrain "sprout, blade, beneath the horse" recalls a wish for the earth's growth and the new year's harvest.

The roles are then divided: the swift ones chase away dogs, the sturdy ones carry the sacks, and the bold ones ask for bread. This division can be read as a playful description of a caroling group, in which each person has a task during ritual house visiting.

At the end, drinks are listed according to people: girls drink sweet mead, women sweet beer, men vodka, and the young men, jokingly, drink tar. This comic ladder of drinks can be understood as festive humor, where the youngest receive a false, absurd refreshment. That is one possible reading, but the caroling and blessing motifs are clear.

Let Us Go Caroling, Kalėda: symbols and phrases

Kalėdojimas
The young men go caroling, visiting homes during the winter holidays. It is an old ritual custom with songs and blessings.
"Sprout, blade, beneath the horse"
A refrain that awakens growth and harvest. It expresses a wish for prosperity and fertility in the new year.
Terbos
Sacks carried by the carolers for gifts and food. They mark the ritual collecting that accompanies house visiting.
Ladder of drinks
Mead, beer, vodka, and joking tar create festive humor by assigning drinks according to age and gender.

Let Us Go Caroling, Kalėda: song history

"Let Us Go Caroling, Kalėda" belongs to calendar ritual songs, specifically the kalėdojimas or Christmas-visiting songs sung during Advent and Christmas, when bands of mummers or youths visited village homes with wishes, songs, and requests. The refrain "kalėda" and the growth-awakening line "sprout, blade, beneath the horse" connect the song with the old layer of calendar rites, in which festive visiting was meant to secure future harvest and prosperity.

The text divides roles among the carolers, with some chasing dogs, others carrying sacks, and others asking for bread, and ends by listing refreshments by group, from mead and beer to vodka and the tar jokingly assigned to the young men. The exact place and time of this version's recording are not given on the page, so the song is presented through genre traits; the custom of kalėdojimas is well known in Lithuanian ethnography.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • N. Laurinkienė, Mito atšvaitai lietuvių kalendorinėse dainose, Vilnius 1990
  • Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

Let Us Go Caroling, Kalėda: sources