Black Heart, I need your interpetation more than ever :)))

Hi again. )) If I say that I understand even a single word in these lyrics, I would be strongly exaggerating. )) Would you help me please?

ΜΙΑ ΠΙΣΤΑ ΑΠΟ ΦΩΣΦΟΡΟ
Στίχοι: Λίνα Νικολακοπούλου
Μουσική: Θάνος Μικρούτσικος
Πρώτη εκτέλεση: Χαρούλα Αλεξίου

Αν ήτανε το έδαφός σου πρόσφορο
θα σου 'φτιαχνα μια πίστα από φώσφορο
με δώδεκα διαδρόμους
δώδεκα τρόμους
με βύσματα κι εντάσεις φορητές
με πείσματα κι αεροπειρατές

αν ήτανε η αγκαλιά σου όαση
θα σου 'φερνα δισκάκια για ακρόαση
στο λίκνισμα της άμμου
στάλα η καρδιά μου
κι η διψασμένη μου ψυχή στρατός
και πάνω της ζωής ο αετός

Όνειρα - όνειρα
φλόγες μακρινές μου
Του φευγιού μου όνειρα
κι άγνωστες φωνές μου

Κοιμήσου εσύ κι εγώ θα ονειρεύομαι
σαν ήσυχος θεός θα εκπορεύομαι
απ΄τ΄άσπρο σου το χιόνι
δίχως σεντόνι
στα νύχια του κακού τη νύχτα αυτή
κι ο θάνατος λυπάται να κρυφτεί

Yes I can, but it will take a while, please hold the line, don't hung up Don't except too much though, I'll just write down what I percieve from the song, perhaps Amethystos or any other native Greek could contribute as well.

BTW, it's Bleak, not Black ;D Black is a colour, bleak is a mood, a sad, melancholic one.

This is the translation of the lyrics, courtesy of Maria!! (Link)



Now, since you want to touch the meaning, I 'll try line by line, except where obvious:

Mia pista apo fosforo - A dance floor from phosphorus
^What it says.

an itane to edafos sou prosforo - your ground was suitable
^"πρόσφορο έδαφος" literally means suitable ground, but actually stands for "the right conditions". Also, "Πρόσφορο" (in neuter) is the consecrated bread offered in churches. Not the case here!

tha sou ftiahna mia pista apo fosforo - I would made for you a dance floor from phosphorus
^What it says.

me dodeka diadromous dodeka tromous - With twelve corridors, twelve fears
^What it says, literally. There must be a reason for the corridors and fears being 12 and also for the horrors following the corridors, but I really can't tell...

me vismata ki entaseis forites - With plugs and portable intensities
^What it says. "Plugs" refers to harnesses connecting sound equipment at a dance floor.

me peismata ki aeropeirates - With spites and high jackers
^What it says. It's interesting that in these two lines we find both internal and end-rime. Makes a strong sound effect.

an itane i agkalia sou oasi -Your embrace was oasis
^What it says, except that there is an "If" missing before "Your".

tha sou ferna diskakia gia akroasi - I would brought you disks in order to hear them
^What it says.

sto liknisma tis ammou stala i kardia mou - In the sway of the sand, my heart (is) drop
^What it says. Sand is not really swaying, is it? No, except when one sees illusions. In a desert, one sees illusions when he/she is thirsty, ie has desire for smth. So, I think she says that within her desire she feels her heart so small and insignificant, like a small drop of water (στάλα). A reference to an unfulfilled love maybe? I can't tell.

ki i dipsasmeni mou psihi stratos - And my thirsty soul (is) army
^What it says. So, while her heart is as weak and small as a drop of water, her thirstyness (desire) is the exact opposite, strong as an army.

kai pano tis zois o aetos - And over life’s eagle
^What it says, except that the concept is that the eagle is flying over her, but it is not obvious. It could also mean that the eagle is rising. Also what is that life's eagle? I can only think of it as an allusion for a death angel, thus meaning that here she sees death as relief. But perhaps I go too far.

oneira oneira floges makrines mou - Dreams dreams, my distant flames
^What it says.

tou fevgiou mou oneira, ki agnostes fones mou - Dreams of my escaping, and my unknown voices
^What it says.

koimisou esi ki ego tha oneirevomai - Sleep and I’ll dream
^What it says, except that there is duration ->I'll be dreaming

san isihos theos tha ekporevomai - Like a silent God I’ll emanate
^What it says. εκπορεύομαι is only used in modern Greek in religious context. Here it stands for a God who is originating from her dreams. Morpheus?

ap to aspro sou to hioni dihos sentoni - From your white snow without sheet
^What it says. But what is tha white snow that has no sheet?

sta nihia tou kakou ti nihta afti - In the evil’s nails this night
^What it says, except perhaps "claws" fits better than "nails".

ki o thanatos lipatai na kriftei - And death feels sorry to hide himself
^What it says.


Don't know if I helped, as I still have a few questions myself. Anyway at least hopefully you now have a picture.

Best regards,
Alexander

P.S. You will find another, slightly better version in English here:

Dearest Alexander, thank you very much!!!!!
First of all, sorry for renaming you. My English is just a bit better than my Greek (which is disastrous) and soon my sight will be worst than both my Greek and my English due to days and nights spent in front of the computer.
I had given up translating this song but a friend of mine asked me to yesterday and although I told him that these lyrics go far beyond my understanding, I will eventually do this favor to him (and try not to ruin my reputation of a brilliant Greek translator ). Although in this particular case I will be translating from English and not from Greek.

Originally Posted by BleakHeart

me vismata ki entaseis forites - With plugs and portable intensities
^What it says. "Plugs" refers to harnesses connecting sound equipment at a dance floor.

I was wondering what plugs is she talking about so your explanation helped me here. How one transports intensities (if not in his head) is a mystery to me. If this is some term from the physics, pls, excuse my ignorance.

Originally Posted by BleakHeart

me peismata ki aeropeirates - With spites and high jackers

What are the high jackers doing on the dance floor is another mystery. Having fun while waiting for the next flight?

Originally Posted by BleakHeart

[B][COLOR=Red] an itane i agkalia sou oasi -Your embrace was oasis

This is the only line in the song which meaning I'm sure of.

Originally Posted by BleakHeart

[COLOR=Red][B]sto liknisma tis ammou stala i kardia mou - A reference to an unfulfilled love maybe? I can't tell.

A beautiful metaphor though. Or perhaps a reference to the duration of our life?

Originally Posted by BleakHeart

kai pano tis zois o aetos - And over life’s eagle
^What it says, except that the concept is that the eagle is flying over her, but it is not obvious. It could also mean that the eagle is rising. Also what is that life's eagle? I can only think of it as an allusion for a death angel, thus meaning that here she sees death as relief. But perhaps I go too far.

I was thinking about vultures circling above a battle field. Kind of "I may be an army, but death is circling over me." But perhaps I go too far. )))

Originally Posted by BleakHeart

ap to aspro sou to hioni dihos sentoni - From your white snow without sheet
^What it says. But what is the white snow that has no sheet?

Haha! )) The connection between sheets and snow is the biggest mystery of these lyrics to me.

Originally Posted by BleakHeart

sta nihia tou kakou ti nihta afti - In the evil’s nails this night
^What it says, except perhaps "claws" fits better than "nails".

Uhhh... who is in evil's claws? She? Her beloved one who is sleeping without sheets?

Anyway, apart from this last question (and the sheets) I believe I understood enough with your help to give it a try.
Thank you very much!!!!

Originally Posted by BleakHeart

perhaps Amethystos or any other native Greek could contribute as well.

Thanks my friend!

Well as I've already written in another post:
DO NOT TRY TO LEARN GREEK BY TRANSLATING Nikolakopoulou.

Well after A LOT of thinking here is my contribution:

Firstly we have to say that
Πίστα is a word used either as "dancing floor" or as "runway"

And now let's go to my "attempt of explaining"

1)If your ground was suitable
I would made for you a dance floor from phosphorus
With twelve corridors, twelve fears
With plugs and portable intensities
With spites and high jackers

If the man she wants to we with, had the same feelings for her
then she would have been able to create for him a glowing dance floor
with a 12 channel sound console plugs and "intensities"
(as you can see it's not only a matter of the sound intensity but also
the "intensity" of feelings).
And this intensity underlines the last lyric, when she uses the "high jackers"
to "play" with πίστα (in the meaning of runway this time) and with spites.
She just fantasizes the way she would act if they were a couple.
The way she would pray him and tyrannize him.

2)If your embrace was an oasis
I would brought you disks in order to hear them
In the sway of the sand, my heart (is) a drop
And my thirsty soul (is) an army
And above (us) life’s an eagle

Here is the "coupling" time of the song.
I have nothing more to add to what bleakheart has already written
rather than the last lyric.
She makes an image of the flying eagle around the oasis just to underline
that during "coupling" she feels that life or nature or whatever you may say....
is being present and overlooking.

3) You may sleep and I’ll dream
Like a silent God I’ll emanate
From your white snow without sheet
In the evil’s nails this night
And death feels sorry to hide himself

She fantasizes him, in her dreams, continuing to sleep after coupling,
and she will protect his sleep leaving the pale body (white snow) -that she
has already loved- like if she was a silent god, of course there will be no sheet
cause all this is actually happening in her dreams.
But because she realizes the truth in the middle of the night (in her dream),
this is a night of evil that drives her crazy, so crazy that even death feels sorry
for herself and may or may not come to find her and "save" her..... (suicide)
Brrrrr Pretty scary!


4) Dreams dreams, my distant flames
Dreams of my escaping, and my unknown voices

Her dreams include desired situations that she can't approach
Her dreams are ways to escape from reality and also to reveal her true self.

Conclusion: This is a song that speaks about her dreams, but especially
about the dreams she might had had while she had fall for someone who didn't
show the interest she hoped.
At the same time she expresses her reactions if she had the chance to live that
affair. To protect him, serve him and simultaneously tyrannizing him via her
feminine nature.
But well, there is also sexuality in those dreams, sexuality guided by nature itself.
And finally she describes how desperate she feels while she wakes up.
The more powerful the dream, the biggest the disappointment.

With all these in mind, I feel that either Alexiou's singing was a complete
failure OR this happened caused of the intended misinterpretation that the
producers wanted to reveal. After all, even nowadays is pretty shocking for
someone to understand that he sings about a woman's sexual dream!!!!!!!

Originally Posted by Amethystos

Well as I've already written in another post:
DO NOT TRY TO LEARN GREEK BY TRANSLATING Nikolakopoulou.

))) Let me try to explain. As I said, I am a huge fan of Haroula's. As you can imagine, I used to know her songs almost by heart even before I started to understand them bit by bit. The words I learn by translating her lyrics are the easiest to remember because I hear them over and over again when listening to her music. And as you know many of her songs are written by Lina Nikolakopoulou. That is why I'm unwisely learning Greek by translating Lina Nikolakopoulou.

Anyway, it all begins to make sense now...

Originally Posted by Amethystos

With all these in mind, I feel that either Alexiou's singing was a complete
failure OR this happened caused of the intended misinterpretation that the
producers wanted to reveal. After all, even nowadays is pretty shocking for
someone to understand that he sings about a woman's sexual dream!!!!!!!

You are talking about misinterpretation but although your interpretation is very beautiful and it does make sense, I believe that a poem, especially when it comes to poetry so abstract, doesn't have just one interpretation, what's more one right interpretation. It's all very objective and the reader always "cooperates" with the author, finishes writing the story, creates it in his mind according to his experience, sensibility, cultural background and so on. For example I personally find that your interpretation of the last two lines - the sense of evil coming from the realization that it was all a dream (if I got it right, of course) is quite daring and takes a great leap of fantasy. )) I don't have an alternative interpretation but I'm sure that a reader more experienced than me would have his version and what's more, several readers more experienced than me would have each of them his own different version.
Apart from all this, thank you very, very much for giving me your version because I had no clue at all. And now, let me say it for a third time, it does make sense.