How I Sowed the Flax lyrics and meaning

This dvejinė sutartinė with the refrain "siūdi liūdi linelis, šalavijo šakelė" can be understood as a work song depicting the whole process of flax preparation. The lines name the actions in sequence: sowing, growing, pulling, tying handfuls, beating, laying out, gathering, breaking or treading, spinning, weaving, and cutting the cloth. The list can be read as the complete chain of work from seed to finished textile.

Each action ends with the formula "this is how I ... and finished ...." This emphasizes the completion of work. It can also be understood as rhythmic singing that accompanied labor, where repeated structure helped maintain pace and remember the order of tasks.

A second reading treats the flax's path from sowing to cloth as also the path of a girl's life. Flax processing was women's work in Lithuanian culture, and the finished cloth became part of a bride's dowry. The whole sutartinė can therefore be read as an image of a young woman's maturation and preparation for marriage: as the flax grows, ripens, and is made ready, so the girl is prepared. Sage in the refrain is a wedding herb, supporting this reading. The very form of the dvejinė, two voices aligning, seems to echo the monotony of work while transforming it into a ritual, almost charm-like action.