Gkatsos - Hadjidakis - Mitsias : O Yiannis o fonias

Title: O Yiannis o fonias
Lyrics/Poetry: Νiko Gkatsos
Μusic: Mano Hadjidakis
Firstly sung by Manoli Mitsias
Lp: Athanasia (Columbia 1975)
Track no: 02 (side A)

[vPC_M9gej-g]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPC_M9gej-g[/video]

Ο Γιάννης ο φονιάς, παιδί μιας Πατρινιάς
Yiannis the murderer, (is) a child of a woman from Patra
κι ενός Mεσολογγίτη
and of a man from Messologi
Προχτές την Κυριακή μετά απ' τη φυλακή
Sunday, the day before yesterday, after leaving prison
επέρασ' απ' το σπίτι
he visited our house

Του βγάλαμε γλυκό, τού βγάλαμε και μέντα
We treated him some compote, we treated him some mint beverage
μα για το φονικό δεν είπαμε κουβέντα
but nobody spoke about the murder.

Μονάχα το Φροσί, με δάκρυ θαλασσί
Only Efrossini, carrying a light blue tear ****
στα μάτια τα μεγάλα
on her big-shaped eyes
Τού φίλησε βουβά τα χέρια τ' ακριβά
She silently kissed, those precious hands of his
και βγήκε από τη σάλα.
and she left the parlor.

Δεν μπόρεσε κανείς τον πόνο της ν' αντέξει,
There was noone to stand her suffering,
Κι ούτε ένας συγγενής να πει δεν βρήκε λέξη .
and no relative was able to find something to say.

Κι ο Γιάννης ο φονιάς στην άκρη της γωνιάς
And Yiannis the murderer, sitted in corner,
με του καημού τ' αγκάθι
carrying the thorn of the suffering,
Θυμήθηκε ξανά φεγγάρια μακρινά και τ' όνειρο που εχάθη
he remembered again, moonlights from the past and the dream that got lost.

**** The tear is coloured light blue cause of her eyes' colour.

Bravo Amethystos wonderful hassapiko music and lyrics. Thank you for posting it.

Will we ever know the secret of Yiannis 'O fonias' or is that the magic of the poetry, always wondering what was in the mind of the poet.

Originally Posted by catherini

Bravo Amethystos wonderful hassapiko music and lyrics. Thank you for posting it.

Will we ever know the secret of Yiannis 'O fonias' or is that the magic of the poetry, always wondering what was in the mind of the poet.

Hi Catherini!

I always wonder why people ask about the actual facts of Yiannis.
Gkatsos seems to have prescribed a moment of a love story.
The lyrics are: "δεν μπόρεσε κανείς τον πόνο ΤΗΣ ν'αντέξει".
So it was a personal feeling of pain.
But eitherway I will buy a book that will propably make things more clear and
I'll pm you about what I found.
Άντε καληνύχτα!

I got the feeling that he killed someone who had been threatening Efrossini in some way and she couldn't speak about it. I look forward to hearing about it