Little Currant lyrics and meaning

Serbenteli ar ne uogeli
Sirateli ar ne paneli
Ralylia ralylia ralylia lylia lia-a
Lia-a-a ralylia ralylia lia uo lylia lia

Serbenteli saldi uogeli
Sirateli slauni paneli
Ralylia ralylia ralylia lylia lia-a
Lia-a-a ralylia ralylia lia uo lylia lia

Serbenteli aš pats nuskuobsiu
Sirateli aš pats paims(-iu)
Ralylia ralylia ralylia lylia lia-a
Lia-a-a ralylia ralylia lia uo lylia lia

Little Currant: song interpretation

This song with the refrain "ralylia lylia" can be understood as a courtship song comparing a currant with an orphan maiden. At the beginning it asks whether the currant is not a berry and the orphan not a young lady. This pairing can be interpreted as likening the girl to a sweet berry.

Then the song says that the currant is a sweet berry and the orphan is a fine young lady. These words can be understood as raising up the beauty and worth of the orphan girl despite her lot.

At the end, the young man says he himself will strip the currant and take the orphan himself. This resolve can be interpreted as his decision to marry the orphan, as one plucks a sweet berry. That is one possible meaning, but the parallel between currant and orphan maiden is clear.

Little Currant: symbols and phrases

Currant, sweet berry
The girl compared with a sweet berry. It marks a desired, beloved young woman.
Siratėlė, fine young lady
A beautiful orphan girl. She marks the beloved despite her poor orphan's lot.
"I will pluck it myself, I will take her myself"
The young man plucks the berry and takes the girl himself. This marks a decision to marry the orphan.
Refrain "ralylia lylia"
A repeated melodious refrain. It marks a lyrical, dance-like mood.

Little Currant: song history

"Little Currant" belongs to love and courtship songs in which a girl is compared with a sweet berry. The song is composed through consistent parallelism: every currant line is answered by a line about the orphan girl, while the long melodious refrain "Ralylia ralylia" sustains a lyrical, dance-like mood, so the song may also have been performed as a ring dance.

The exact place and date of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented through its genre features, above all the parallel between the currant and the orphan maiden. The question-and-answer sequence - is the currant a berry, is the orphan a young lady; the currant is sweet, the orphan is fine - ends with the young man's resolve to pluck the berry himself and take the girl himself. Beneath the playful surface, a decision to marry a poor orphan becomes visible.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
  • Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986

Little Currant: sources