Sweet to Drink lyrics and meaning

Tai gardu gerti, kaip myli,
Gražu važiuoti, kaip lydi.

Tėvas motulį mylėjo,
Brolis sesulį lydėjo.

Ketino mane išduoca,
Ir pasogėlių atduoca.

Palšų jautelių ariamų,
Porą žirgelių kinkamų.

O dabar mane išdavė,
Ir pasogėlio nedavė.

Sweet to Drink: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a song about a promised and withheld dowry. At the beginning, it says that it is sweet to drink when one is loved, and beautiful to ride when one is escorted, while the father loved the mother and the brother escorted the sister. These images can be interpreted as a picture of family love and accompaniment.

The song then says that they intended to give the speaker away and hand over the pasoga, the dowry: gray oxen for plowing and a pair of horses for harnessing. These images can be understood as the promised dowry and the expectation of being sent off properly.

At the end, the speaker says that now they have given her away and given no dowry. This turn can be interpreted as disappointment when promises are not fulfilled and a young woman is married off without her dowry. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of a promised and withheld dowry is clear in the song.

Sweet to Drink: symbols and phrases

"Sweet to drink when loved"
Sweetness when one is loved and accompanied. It marks the affection of close kin.
Oxen and horses
The promised dowry: plowing oxen and harness horses. They mark marital property.
"Intended to give me away and hand over the pasoga"
The promise to send the girl with a dowry. It marks the expectation of being properly given in marriage.
"Gave me away and gave no dowry"
Marriage without the promised dowry. It marks disappointment in unfulfilled promises.

Sweet to Drink: song history

"Tai gardu gerti" belongs to wedding songs that sing of the dowry, or pasoga: the opening rejoices that it is "sweet to drink when loved, beautiful to ride when escorted," then lists the promised dowry, gray oxen for plowing and a pair of harness horses. Such listing of dowry property, especially animals and horses, is a common motif in wedding songs, reflecting the real practices of marriage negotiations and sending off a daughter.

The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented according to genre features. The song's turn, "but now they gave me away and did not give the dowry," expresses disappointment when the promised dowry is not provided; it lays bare the vulnerable position of the marrying girl and her dependence on promises made by parents and kin.

sources

  • Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, t. 1–23, Vilnius 1980–2011 (LLTI)
  • A. Juška. Lietuviškos svotbinės dainos, 2 t., Vilnius 1955
  • Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 t., Vilnius 1972–1986

Sweet to Drink: sources