Oh, Far Away lyrics and meaning

Oi toli toli
toli tolumėla
Toli mano giminėla
Už debesėlių /2×2

Sirsciau paslalį
Ir mielą tarnelį
Kad pribūtų tevutėlis
Šį vakarėlį /2×2

Nėr man paslalio
Nei mielo tarnelio
Nepribuvo tėvutėlis
Šį vakarėlį /2×2

Oh, Far Away: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a song of longing for distant or dead kin. At the beginning, it says that far away, beyond the little clouds, is the family. That distance beyond the clouds can be interpreted either as a great physical distance or as a hint of death.

The singer then wishes to send a messenger and a dear servant so that the father might arrive this evening. This wish can be understood as longing to call the father home.

At the end, there is no messenger and no dear servant, and the father does not arrive that evening. This image can be interpreted as unfulfilled longing and loneliness, perhaps in relation to a dead father. That is one possible meaning, but the motif of longing for distant kin is clear.

Oh, Far Away: symbols and phrases

Kin beyond the clouds
Family located far beyond the clouds signifies either great distance or a premonition of death.
Messenger and servant
The desired envoy to be sent for the father marks the means of calling him home.
"So that father would arrive"
The wish for the father to come expresses longing for a close family member.
Father who does not arrive
The absent father signifies unfulfilled longing and loneliness.

Oh, Far Away: song history

"Oh, Far Away" belongs to family songs that sing of longing for distant or already dead kin. The distance formula - the family "beyond the little clouds" - and the wish to send a messenger and servant so that the father might come are familiar images of this genre, joining longing across distance with a sense of loss. The repeated ending "this evening" and the "/2x2" mark show the order of stanza repetition in singing.

The exact recording place and time are not given on the page, so the song is presented through genre features. The last stanza, where there is no messenger or servant and the father does not arrive, gives the song a tone of unfulfilled longing and solitude; the distance "beyond the clouds" allows both a reading of great distance and a reading of death.

sources

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

Oh, Far Away: sources