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The Paths Have Closed lyrics and meaning

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Užgriuvo kelaliai, Užžėlė takeliai, Nebegaliu aš atrasti Motinėlės dvarelio. /2×2 Aisiu į girelę, Pas raibąją gegulę Paprašysiu aš plunksnelių Ir raibųjų sparnelių. /2×2 Paprašysiu plunksnelių Ir raibųjų sparnelių Ir nulėksiu į sodelį Ties močiutės langeliu. /2×2 Išeikie, močiute, Išeikie, senoji, Klausyk balso sesutėlės, Žaliam vyšnių sodely. /2×2 Iš raibų plunksnelių Būt raiba geguti, O iš skambiojo balselio Būtų mano dukrelė. /2×2 Sugrįžki, dukrele, Sugrįžki, jaunoji, Sugrįžk mano dukružėle, Puse dvaro žadėsiu. /2×2 Negrįšiu, močiute, Negrįšiu, senoji, Nebegrįšiu motinėle, Kad ir visą žadėsi. /2×2

Meaning

This song can be understood as a song of longing by a married daughter. At the beginning, it says that the roads have collapsed, the paths have overgrown, and the speaker can no longer find the mother's estate. This image can be interpreted as separation from home after marriage.

The daughter then goes into the forest to the speckled cuckoo to ask for feathers and wings, so she can fly to her mother's window. These images can be understood as the desire to become a cuckoo and visit the mother, since in folk songs the cuckoo is often associated with longing and the married daughter.

At the end, the mother invites her to return, promising half the estate, but the daughter answers that she will not return even if the mother promised the whole estate. This refusal can be interpreted as the irreversibility of marriage. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of longing for home is clear in the song. The song is close to another variant built on the same imagery.

Symbols

Blocked roads and overgrown paths
The paths leading to the mother's home, now overgrown. They mark separation after marriage.
Speckled cuckoo, feathers, wings
The cuckoo whose wings are requested. It marks the desire to become a bird and visit home.
Mother's window and cherry orchard
The mother's home and garden. They mark the longed-for native place.
"I will not return, even if you promised all"
The daughter's refusal to return even for the whole estate. It marks the irreversibility of marriage.

History

"Užgriuvo takeliai" belongs to family songs about the separation of a married daughter from her mother. The genre is shown by the main motifs: roads and paths to the natal home overgrown or blocked, the request for cuckoo feathers so the daughter can fly to the mother's window, and the daughter's final refusal to return. This text is a close variant of the same image cluster, compare "Užaugau kaimely," showing that the song circulated widely in several forms.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented according to genre features. The dialogue between mother and daughter, the promise of half the estate and the reply "I will not return, even if you promised the whole," gives meaning to the irreversibility of marriage, a frequent theme of family songs.

Sources