The Little Sun Is Setting lyrics and meaning
Saulutė laidzias /x2
Bus vakarėlis /x2
In motinėly /x2
Tolus kelalis /x2
Dai ir užpuolė /x2
Gaili raselė /x2
Gaili raselė /x2
Dėl anytėlės /x2
Saldzi raselė /x2
Dėl motinėlės /x2
The Little Sun Is Setting: song interpretation
This short song can be understood as the song of a married daughter. At the beginning, the little sun is setting, evening is coming, and the road to the mother is long. This image can be interpreted as separation after marriage, when the way home is far.
Then a painful dew falls. The dew here can be understood as a sign of feeling or tears.
At the end, the painful dew is assigned to the mother-in-law, while sweet dew belongs to the mother. This opposition can be interpreted as the difference between a harsh mother-in-law and a beloved mother. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of the married daughter's longing is clear in the song.
The Little Sun Is Setting: symbols and phrases
- Setting little sun
- The sun setting toward evening. It marks the end of the day and a melancholy mood.
- Long road to the mother
- The long way back to the mother's home. It signifies separation after marriage.
- Bitter dew for the mother-in-law
- Painful dew associated with the mother-in-law. It signifies a harsh in-law relation.
- Sweet dew for the mother
- Sweet dew associated with the mother. It signifies love and longing for the birth home.
The Little Sun Is Setting: song history
"The Little Sun Is Setting" belongs to family songs about the lot of a married daughter, one of the most frequent themes in Lithuanian lyric song. The short dialect text (laidzias, raselė, saldzi) is composed of repetitions and a strict contrast: bitter or painful dew is given to the mother-in-law, sweet dew to the mother, so the epithets of dew become a measure of the daughter-in-law's feelings in the husband's family.
The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented by genre traits, above all by the motif of the daughter-in-law's longing and the images of evening, a far road, and dew. The setting sun and the long road to the mother create a mood of separation typical of family songs sung after marriage.
sources
- Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, vols. 1-23, Vilnius 1980-2011 (LLTI)
- Catalogue of Lithuanian Folk Songs, 6 vols., Vilnius 1972-1986
The Little Sun Is Setting: sources
The Little Sun Is Setting: frequently asked questions
What kind of song is this?
It is a short family song about a married daughter's longing and her lot in another household.
Why is dew assigned to two women?
Painful or bitter dew is associated with the mother-in-law, while sweet dew is associated with the mother. Through dew, the song contrasts a harsh in-law with the beloved mother.
What does the long road to the mother mean?
The long road signifies separation after marriage: the daughter-in-law lives far from her birth home and longs for her mother.
What does the setting sun symbolize?
The evening sun creates a mood of day's end and sorrow, matching the daughter-in-law's longing.