Manolis Rasoulis

Εδώ στη γιορτή του πόνου
Ντύνομαι να μην κρυώνω
του Ουλιάνωφ το μειδίαμα
Σαντάλια του Χριστού, φορώ στα πόδια μου
Πραίτορες, βράχοι πάνω μου σωρό
μα ‘γω θα αναστηθώ

My whole life is one responsibility
it takes everything from me and gives nothing
my whole life is a furnace
into which I have fallen and it slowly cooks me

My whole life is a bit of foolishness
and my only property
my whole life is a sacrifice
the purpose of which does not even have any meaning

My whole life is a cigarette
which I don’t really enjoy but smoke anyway
and when it becomes a butt, it will be bought for Charon (Death) to consume
when the hour arrives and I run into him

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Η ζωή μου όλη είναι ένα τσιγάρο
που δεν το γουστάρω κι όμως το φουμάρω
κι όταν γίνει γόπα κέρασμα στο χάρο
όταν έρθει η ώρα και τόνε τρακάρω

Indescribable, they say is the poverty of Istanbul
Hunger mows down the people
They are drowning in the misery
And the young girls, they say,
In the theory of the cinema and in ruin

The news is bad about my far away city
The city of honorable and hardworking people
And of poor people
About my true Istanbul
The city where you live, my beloved
The city which I carry
On my shoulders
In my sack
From exile to exile
From jail to jail
The city which I have in my heart
Like a knife like your picture
In my eyes

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Άσχημα τα νέα για την μακρινή μου πολιτεία
Την πολιτεία των τίμιων τω εργατικών
Και των πτωχών ανθρώπων
Για την αληθινή μου Ισταμπούλ
Την πολιτεία που μένεις πολυαγαπημένη μου
Την πολιτεία που κουβαλάω
Πάνω στους ώμους μου
Μες στο σακί μου
Από εξορία σε εξορία
Από φυλακή σε φυλακή
Την πολιτεία που’χω στην καρδιά μου
Σαν ένα μαχαίρι σαν την εικόνα σου
Μέσα στα μάτια μου

“Manos Loizos always had the wish to put music to and to produce a record of “Letters to the Beloved” from the poetry of the Turkish poet Nazim Hikmet in translation by the Greek poet Yiannis Ritsos.However he was prevented from doing so by his death in 1982. A year later, though, his close friend Leftheris Papadopoulos found demos of these songs, sung by Loizos himself, and realized Loizos’ wish; “Letters to the Beloved” was produced and we all loved it. After many years, more recordings of these poems in song came to light:this time interpreted by Manolis Rasoulis under the direction of Loizos, apparently recorded during the beginning of the 1970s. Naturally at that time, because of the junta, it was not the right time for the circulation of these songs, and the project did not go forward.However it is very likely that if Manos had decided finally to produce the record, as intended, it would have been with the voice of Manolis Rasoulis. These demos were found forgotten in the cupboards of the Columbia Record Company and were published by Rasoulis himself on his site.”

Many times I deeply wondered
the people all around, if they love me
for what I appear to be or truly
what I am, they live near me.

But however it is I don’t know
who I am, and I suffer
feel for me, save me
and whatever you want I offer to you.

There are moments of silence where I analyzed myself
the vows I made, my sweet, to you
and with my words about myself I convinced myself
now I have no more fears.

But however it is I don’t know…

Many swore that they loved me
because they supposedly understood who I am
and when I believed them they abandoned me,
they just needed me, only that.

(translation: Eva Johanos)

Πολλοί ορκίστηκαν πως μ’ αγαπήσανε
γιατί κατάλαβαν ποιος είμαι τάχα
και σαν τους πίστεψα μ’ εγκαταλείψανε,
ανάγκη μ’ είχανε, αυτό μονάχα.