My Father Has lyrics and meaning

Tur mano tėvelis
Du vyšnių sodelius
Vienam čiulba paukštužėliai,
Antram lakštingalėliai.

Lakštingalužėlis,
Gražus paukštužėlis,
Ei, nelek sakalužėli,
Nebaidyk lakštingalos.

Lakštingalužėlis,
Gražus paukštužėlis,
Jis čiulba per naktužėlę,
Tėvelį budindams.

Kelkis tėvužėli,
Mano sengalvėli,
Seniai gieda giedužėliai,
Aušta balta aušrelė.

O aš atsikėlęs,
O ir pažiūrėjau,
Negied kiemo gaidužėliai,
Neaušt balta aušrelė.

Kelkis tėvužėli,
Mano sengalvėli,
Prikelk savo sūnužėlius,
Siųski laukelių arti.

Kelkis sūnužėli,
Mano dobilėli,
Junkit šėmus jautužėlius,
Eikit laukelių arti.

Tėvužėli mano,
Sengalvėli mano,
Kas mums taisys žagružėles,
Mums jauniems artojužiams?

Sūnytėli mano,
Dobilėli mano,
Kaldykit kiemo draugalėlius,
Taisys naują žagrelę.

Tėvužėli mano,
Sengalvėli mano,
Graudi mano širdužėlė,
Kad ne mano tėvelio.

My Father Has: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a song about early waking for work. At the beginning, the father has two cherry orchards: in one little birds sing, and in the other nightingales. The falcon is asked not to fly and frighten the nightingale. This image can be read as a peaceful orchard and a singing bird.

The nightingale sings through the night, waking the father and saying that singers have long been singing and the white dawn is breaking, although when he rises he sees that the roosters are not yet crowing and dawn has not yet come. These images can be understood as an urging to raise the sons in time to plough the fields with grey oxen and the plough.

The closing line, that the heart is sorrowful because it is not my father, can be interpreted as a note of longing or orphanhood. This is one possible reading, but the motifs of waking for work and the nightingale's song are clear.

A second interpretation is possible. The song can also be read as a family song about generational continuity on the farm, where ploughing frames the more important matter: the relationship between father and sons. The nightingale waking the father, the tender addresses "old white-haired one" and "my clover," and the question of who will repair the ploughs for the young ploughmen form a dialogue in which the older generation passes work and care to the younger. The final line about a sorrowful heart, "because it is not my father," then sounds less like a ploughing detail than an ending of loss and longing, perhaps sung by someone left without a father. This remains a hypothesis, but it explains why the work images are filled with such warm, personal feeling.

My Father Has: symbols and phrases

Two cherry orchards
The father's orchards with birds and nightingales signify the parental home.
Nightingale
The nightingale singing through the night and waking the father signifies the herald of awakening.
Falcon asked not to fly
The falcon that could frighten the nightingale signifies a threat to the singer.
Grey oxen and plough
The oxen yoked for the field and the repaired plough signify practical farm ploughing work.

My Father Has: song history

"My Father Has" belongs to work songs: its axis is the early rising to plough the field. The nightingale, singing through the night in the father's orchard, wakes the household for work; the father wakes the sons, the grey oxen are yoked, and the plough is repaired. This naming of family tasks - rising, yoking oxen, repairing the plough - and the spring-like background of orchard and birdsong are characteristic of ploughing and farm-work songs.

The exact recording place and time are not given on the page, so the song is presented through genre features. Alongside the work motif, the family layer is strong: the addresses "father, old white-haired one" and "little son, my clover" create a picture of several generations in the farm household, while the last line about a sorrowful heart adds a note of longing.

sources

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

My Father Has: sources