What Is Rumbling lyrics and meaning
Dai kas padunda, dobilia
Viešu kelaliu, dobilia
Atavažiuoja, dobilia
Manas tėvelis, dobilia
Dukrės lankytie, dobilia
Šešuro bartie, dobilia
Kam tu nuvarei, dobilia
Mano dukrelė, dobilia
Aš bat ne variau, dobilia
Tiktai pamakiau, dobilia
Tegul paduoda, dobilia
Laba rytelį, dobilia
Tegul palinkia, dobilia
Baltų galvelį, dobilia
Meaning
This song with the refrain "dobilia" can be understood as a song about a father's concern for his married daughter. At the beginning something rumbles along the public road, and it turns out that the father is coming to visit his daughter. His arrival immediately shows concern for a daughter married far from home.
The father also comes to scold the šešuras, the father-in-law, asking why he has driven his daughter away or worn her out. This reproach can be interpreted as the father's worry that his daughter is being overworked in another household. It reveals the difficult lot of a married woman.
The father-in-law excuses himself, saying that he did not drive her, but only taught her to say good morning and bow her white head. This answer can be understood in two ways: as an innocent explanation or as an allusion to the daughter's obedience and humiliation in an alien family. This is one possible meaning, but the motif of a father's concern and a married daughter's lot is clear in the song.
Symbols
- Public road
- The main road by which the father arrives. It marks his journey to the married daughter.
- Visiting the daughter
- The father's arrival at his daughter's new household. It expresses concern for her lot.
- Šešuras
- The father-in-law, the husband's father, whom the girl's father scolds. He represents the alien household where the daughter now lives.
- Bowing the white head
- The daughter's bow of greeting. It can mark courtesy, but also obedience and humiliation in another family.
History
"Dai kas padunda" belongs to family songs about the fate of a married daughter in another household. The song is made as a conversation: the father, arriving along the public road, scolds the šešuras, the father-in-law, asking why he has "driven away" his daughter, while the father-in-law defends himself by saying that he only asked the daughter-in-law to say good morning and bow her head. Each line is accompanied by the plant refrain "dobilia," clover, characteristic of sung family and work songs.
The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented according to genre features. The motif of a father's visit and concern for a daughter married far away is one of the most frequent in family songs; dialectal forms such as "atavažiuoja," "nuvarei," and "palinkia" show an Aukštaitian coloring, and variants of such songs about a daughter-in-law's lot have been recorded in various regions.
Sources
- Lietuvių liaudies dainynas, t. 1–23, Vilnius 1980–2011 (LLTI)
- Lietuvių liaudies dainų katalogas, 6 t., Vilnius 1972–1986
- Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia: Lithuanian folk songs
- Universal Lithuanian Encyclopedia: family songs
- LLTI: Lithuanian Folk Songbook
Common questions
What Is Rumbling: what kind of song is this?
It is a family song about a father's concern for his daughter, married far away, and about a daughter-in-law's lot in another household.
What does the refrain "dobilia" mean?
It is a plant refrain from dobilas, clover, accompanying every line. Such refrains are typical of sung family and work songs.
What Is Rumbling: who is the šešuras?
He is the father-in-law, the daughter's husband's father. The visiting father scolds him, asking why he is making the daughter suffer in the new household.
What does bowing the white head mean?
It is the daughter-in-law's bow of greeting. The image can be read as simple politeness or as a hint of her obedience in the alien family.