The Little Bird Sings lyrics and meaning

Čiulba čiulbutis,
Ulba ulbutis,
Ant pucino šakelės.
Čiulba čiulbutis,
Ulba ulbutis,
Ant pucino šakelės.

Gana tau čiulbėti,
Gana tau ulbėti,
O man jaunam reiks išjot. /3×2

Per tiltą jojau,
Nuo žirgo nupuoliau,
Purvynėly gulėjau. /3×2

Aš tam purvynėli,
Tris niedelėles,
Niekas mani nelankė. /3×2

Mindžiojo kojalas,
Mindžiojo rankelas,
Mindžiojo skaistu veidelį. /3×2

Atėjo mergelė,
Su šilko skarela
Šluostė skaistų veidelį. /3×2

Ne tiek ji šluostė,
Kiek gailiai verkė,
Mani jauno gailėjo. /3×2

The Little Bird Sings: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a ballad-like song about a young man's misfortune and the young woman who pities him. At the beginning a bird sings on a viburnum branch, and the young man tells it: enough singing, I must ride out while still young. The bird's song and the departure immediately create a sense of parting.

Riding across a bridge, the young man falls from his horse and lies in the mud. For three weeks no one visits him, and his feet, hands, and fair face are trampled. This image can be interpreted as the fate of a person struck by misfortune and abandoned, intensified by the image of being trampled.

At last the young woman comes with a silk kerchief and wipes his fair face. Yet she does not so much wipe as weep bitterly, grieving for the young man. Her action can be understood as a sign of faithful love and compassion standing out against general indifference. That is one possible reading, but the motif of misfortune and pity is clear.

The Little Bird Sings: symbols and phrases

Bird on the viburnum
The bird singing on the viburnum branch opens the song and creates the mood of riding away and separation.
Falling from the horse
The fall into the mud while crossing the bridge marks the sudden misfortune that strikes the young man.
Being trampled in the mud
The trampled feet, hands, and face reveal abandonment and injury.
Young woman with a silk kerchief
The young woman wipes his face and weeps. She signifies faithful love and compassion amid general indifference.

The Little Bird Sings: song history

"The Little Bird Sings" belongs to the ballad-like lyric layer of songs about a young man's misfortune and the young woman who pities him. The song opens with a little bird singing and cooing on a viburnum branch, while the young man replies that he must ride out; the bird voice and departure immediately create the foreboding of separation typical of this genre. The performance mark "/3x2" indicates repeated lines in singing.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented by genre. The central turn is that, riding over a bridge, the young man falls from his horse and lies three weeks in the mud, visited by no one, with feet, hands, and face trampled; only the young woman comes with a silk kerchief and, more weeping than wiping, shows faithful love and compassion amid general indifference.

sources

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

The Little Bird Sings: sources