I posted a note on Ieva Narkuté’s Facebook page, thinking a reader there might explain the mysterious lyrics of the Lithuanian songs I inquired about in an earlier post.
Ieva responded herself, saying this:
Hi,
first of all, let me say how surprised I am by your enthusiasm to understand Lithuanian songs. This is really amazing and I wish you good luck
Secondly, I have to explain something to you. By some stupid mistake made years ago the songs you are mentioning (Aš pabudau žiemoj, Negrįšiu) are thought to be mine, but they are not. It’s just that the girls who are singing them are from the same school as I am, therefore we got mixed. Their names are Domantė Urmonaitė and Ieva Vaserytė, in case you want to find them.All the best,
i.
So: I think the actual Ieva Narkuté tunes are the ones with keyboard accompaniment. Her voice is lower and smokier than the voices on the mysterious tunes I’ve been trying to track down. Her songs are beautiful, too.
This one, I think, is Ieva Narkuté (Jieva), performing Raudoni Vakarai. (Whatever that may mean in English……)
Other songs attributed to her, but with guitar accompaniment and softer, interwoven voices, are possibly performed by Domantė Urmonaitė and Ieva Vaserytė. I can’t find them by name anywhere.
Meanwhile, a kind reader offered a translation of one of the mysterious tunes I mentioned in the first post, Aš pabudau žiemoj :
I woke up in winter,
Blindfolded, from an alien thought,
I woke up in winter,
And the snow scent like the nights long lost.I woke up in silence,
Though I still could have clung
To the darkness,
To the sound that’s gone,
But I woke up in winter…I woke up in winter,
When man’s fate prayed on top of the dome,
I woke up in winter,
Hoping that the sins will soon be undone.I woke up in light,
Though my sight had dissolved in a filthy thought
How to kill the wind,
That had the scent
Of a night that’s forgotten…
Lovely.
Meanwhile, who’s this, singing Bûno?
Based on the theory worked out above, I’m guessing it’s Domantė Urmonaitė and Ieva Vaserytė. Two voices. No keyboards.
I don’t understand a word of the lyrics, but it’s another gorgeous tune.
Negrįšiu remains a puzzle, though Google auto-translation suggests it has to do with not going back. Quite often a good plan, in any situation in any country.
Beautiful songs. Translations appreciated.
