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We Had Three Brothers, Leliumoj lyrics and meaning

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Buvo mūsų, leliumoj Trys broliukai, leliumoj. Visi trys jau, leliumoj Kalvelėj kala, leliumoj. Nukals jau man, leliumoj Aukso žirklalas, leliumoj. Aš užlipsiu, leliumoj Viršum medelio, leliumoj. Aš nukarpysiu, leliumoj Visas viršūnėlas, leliumoj. Aš pamatysiu, leliumoj Tėvelio dvarelį, leliumoj. Tėvelio dvarelis, leliumoj Sidabru išlietas, leliumoj Sidabru išlietas, leliumoj Gonteliais dengtas, leliumoj. An tėvelio dvaro, leliumoj Saulelė tekėjo, leliumoj. An tėvelio dvaro, leliumoj Mėnulis ritėjo, leliumoj. An tėvelio dvaro, leliumoj Žvaigždės šokinėjo, leliumoj. Aš pamatysiu, leliumoj Anytos dvarelį, leliumoj. Anytos dvarelis, leliumoj Žaliu variu lietas, leliumoj. Anytos dvarelis, leliumoj Šiaudeliais dengtas, leliumoj. Ant anytos dvaro, leliumoj Debesėlis stovėjo, leliumoj. Debesėlis stovėjo, leliumoj Lietutis lijo leliumoj

Meaning

This song, with the sutartinė-like refrain "leliumoj," can be understood as a bride's song contrasting her native home with the mother-in-law's manor. At the beginning three brothers are mentioned, forging golden shears in the smithy. These wondrous shears are the means by which the narrator can reach what she longs to see.

After climbing into a tree and clipping off its tops, she sees her father's manor: poured in silver, roofed with shingles, with the sun rising over it, the moon rolling, and the stars leaping. This bright image, surrounded by heavenly bodies, can be read as an idealized vision of the native home and unmarried youth.

By contrast, the mother-in-law's manor is poured in green copper, roofed with straw, and above it stands a cloud and rain falls. This darker image can be understood as the fate of a married woman in another household. The brightness of the father's manor and the rain over the mother-in-law's manor form a contrast between the birth home and the condition of marriage. That is one possible reading, but the contrast between home and an unfamiliar fate is clear in the song.

Symbols

"Leliumoj"
A sutartinė-like refrain accompanying each line. It gives the song an archaic, ritual sound.
Golden shears
Wondrous shears forged by smiths, used to cut the tops of trees. They become a means of seeing distant manors.
Father's manor
A manor poured in silver and surrounded by sun, moon, and stars. It marks the idealized birth home and youth.
Mother-in-law's manor
A copper-poured, straw-roofed manor with cloud and rain above. It marks a married woman's fate in another household.

History

"We Had Three Brothers, Leliumoj" belongs to wedding songs whose basic motif is the opposition between the birth home and the mother-in-law's home. The sutartinė-like refrain "leliumoj," repeated after each part of the line, gives the song an archaic, ritual sound characteristic of old ceremonial wedding and sutartinė songs. The narrative develops through images: three brothers forge golden shears in the smithy; after climbing onto a tree, the narrator clips the tops and so sees two manors.

No exact recording place or date is given on this page, so the song is presented through genre features. The father's manor is shown as bright - poured in silver, with the sun rising over it, the moon rolling, and stars leaping - while the mother-in-law's manor is poured in copper, roofed with straw, with cloud and rain over it. This opposition of light and darkness is a traditional way for bride songs to express the fear of leaving the birth home and anxiety about fate in a stranger's family.

Sources