Wedding Guests From That Side, Rigaila lyrics and meaning

Ano šono svotuliai, rigaila,
Suėdė ėdė, rigaila,
Kiaulelę šeriuotą, rigaila,
Jautelį raguotą, rigaila.

Ano šono Jonas, rigaila,
Gyrės, kad bagotas, rigaila,
Papečy aruodas, rigaila,
Viena avižėlė, rigaila,
Ir tą pelės nešta, rigaila.

Wedding Guests From That Side, Rigaila: song interpretation

This song can be understood as a teasing wedding song in which one side mocks the other. The refrain "rigaila" follows every line and creates a rhythmic, almost dance-like sound. The lines about the wedding people "from that side," who have eaten a bristly pig and a horned ox, are probably an exaggerated, comic accusation of greed, typical of wedding songs in which the bride's and groom's parties taunt one another.

The second part turns toward Jonas, who boasted of being bagotas, wealthy, but whose wealth proves miserable: by the stove stands a grain bin with a single little oat in it, and even that has been carried off by mice. This image can be read as a contrast between boasting and reality, comically cutting down a person who is puffed up with pride.

The whole song was likely sung at weddings or feasts as a playful contest of words between two sides. Without additional sources, the exact meaning of "rigaila" is difficult to establish, so it is best treated as a ritual refrain.

Wedding Guests From That Side, Rigaila: symbols and phrases

Svotuliai
Wedding participants and intermediaries in matchmaking and marriage rites. In the song they become targets of the teasing typical of wedding custom.
Rigaila
A repeated refrain whose exact meaning is unclear. It most likely has a rhythmic, ritual function and gives the song a dance-like quality.
Grain bin
The storage box for grain in a granary or house. Here the almost empty bin with one little oat becomes a sign of poverty and vanity.
"One little oat, and even that carried by mice"
A hyperbolic phrase that comically diminishes Jonas's boasting about wealth. It stresses the mismatch between bragging and reality.

Wedding Guests From That Side, Rigaila: song history

"Wedding Guests From That Side, Rigaila" belongs to wedding songs, one of the richest groups of Lithuanian folk songs, and more specifically to their mocking or teasing songs. During weddings, the bride's side and the groom's side would playfully compete and ridicule one another. Here the svotai from "that side" are accused of greed, having eaten a pig and an ox, while Jonas is mocked for empty boasting about wealth.

The repeated refrain "rigaila" is a ritual vocable whose precise meaning is unclear; it maintains the rhythm and gives the song a dance-like character. The page gives no exact recording data, so the song is discussed by genre.

sources

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

Wedding Guests From That Side, Rigaila: sources