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When I Was Growing Up lyrics and meaning

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O kad aš augau, Pas savo tėvelį, O kad aš augau, Pas savo tėvelį. Vygužėlėj vygiuodamas, Miego nenorėjau. /2×2 O kai aš augau Kaip žmonių berneliai, O kai aš augau Kaip žmonių berneliai, Po stainelę vaikščiuodamas, Žirgeliais gėrėjaus. /2×2 Tėvužėli mano, Širdužėli mano, Tėvužėli mano, Širdužėli mano, Katrą duosi man žirgelį, Mane išleisdamas? /2×2 Sūnužėli mano, Dobilėli mano, Sūnužėli mano, Dobilėli mano, Kuo gražiausia, kuo bėriausią --- Tai tavo žirgelis. /2×2 O kai mes jojom Per tėvelio lauką, O kai mes jojom Per tėvelio lauką, Mudriai bėga žirgužėlis, Galvelę lenkdamas. /2×2 O kai prijojom Mes uošvelės lauką, O kai prijojom Mes uošvelės lauką, Snigo, lijo, rasa krito Ant mano žirgelio. /2×2 O kai įjojom Į uošvelės dvarą, O kai įjojom Į uošvelės dvarą, Surūdijo padkavėlės, Aukso pažvangėlės. /2×2 Sūnužėli mano, Dobilėlis mano, Sūnužėli mano, Dobilėlis mano, Neduok jodyt žirgužėlio Jauniems švogerėliams! /2×2

Meaning

This song can be understood as a wedding-journey song about a son riding to his mother-in-law. At the beginning, the son tells how he grew up with his father: still in the cradle he did not want sleep, and later, walking through the stable, he admired the horses. These images can be interpreted as the beginning of youth and love for horses.

The son asks his father to give him a horse as he is being sent out, and the father promises the most beautiful, the bayest one. Riding across the father's field, the horse runs smartly, but when they reach the mother-in-law's field, snow begins, rain falls, dew comes down, and in the mother-in-law's yard the horseshoes and golden bells rust. This change can be understood as a sign of difficulties awaiting in an alien household.

At the end, the father warns the son not to let the young brothers-in-law ride the horse. This advice can be interpreted as a call to protect his property among new relatives. This is one possible meaning, but the wedding journey and caution motif is clear in the song.

Symbols

Growing up with father and admiring horses
Youth in the father's home and love for horses. It marks the son's coming of age.
Father's bay horse
The most beautiful horse, given as the son is sent away. It marks the father's gift and the groom's send-off.
Snow, dew, rusted horseshoes
The weather and rust that appear at the mother-in-law's estate. They mark difficulty in the alien household.
Warning about brothers-in-law
The father's instruction not to let young brothers-in-law ride the horse. It marks caution among new relatives.

History

"When I Was Growing Up" belongs to wedding songs that portray the groom's journey to his mother-in-law. The song begins with the young man's memory of growing up: in the cradle he did not want sleep, and after he grew, he walked through the stable admiring horses. It then moves to a dialogue between father and son about the horse given for departure and to the journey itself. The father-son forms of address, "tėvužėli – širdužėli" and "sūnužėli – dobilėli," and the gift of a horse are characteristic wedding-repertoire motifs connected with sending off the groom.

In the journey stanzas, the weather and signs change significantly: riding across the father's field, the horse runs nimbly, but on reaching the mother-in-law's field it begins to snow, rain, and dew falls; in the mother-in-law's yard the horseshoes and golden bells rust. The exact place and time of recording are not given on this page, so the song is presented according to genre features; the tension between the young people and the new kin is typical of wedding songs.

Sources