dubitanda (ever in doubt)

only ⋮ outwardly

ALL DEAD INSIDE

Long ago, when you still loved me,
one early morning you asked me,
just in passing as we chatted:
what is life, what can it be…
So I turned to you and whispered:
wine for many is the key,
some seek glory, others riches
but my love, it’s you for me.

…some seek glory, others riches
but my love, it’s you for me…

Since your heart now loves another
and has turned its back on me
I am told you often wonder
how this heart of mine still beats.
Like there were not many of us,
many others just like me:
dead and buried on the inside,
only living outwardly.

…dead and buried on the inside,
only living outwardly…

Attik


ΑΠΟ ΜΕΣΑ ΠΕΘΑΜΕΝΟΙ

Τον καιρό που μ’ αγαπούσες
με ρωτάς ένα πρωί
στην κουβέντα μας απάνω:
τι ’ναι άραγε η ζωή…
Τότε γύρισα και σου είπα:
γι’ άλλους είναι το κρασί,
γι’ άλλους δόξα, γι’ άλλους πλούτη
μα για μένα είσαι εσύ.

…γι’ άλλους δόξα, γι’ άλλους πλούτη
μα για μένα είσαι εσύ…

Τώρα που άλλαξε η καρδιά σου
κι έναν άλλον αγαπάς
απορείς μου λεν ακόμα
η δική μου πώς χτυπά.
Μήπως τάχα σαν κι εμένα
δεν είν’ άνθρωποι πολλοί:
από μέσα πεθαμένοι
και απόξω ζωντανοί.

…από μέσα πεθαμένοι
και απόξω ζωντανοί…

Music and lyrics written in 1925 (or possibly 1917) by Attik (Kleon Triantafyllou) in Kislovodsk (Russia) and dedicated to a certain Nikos Kokólin.

 

Movingly (once again) used by Yorgos Lanthimos in his 2015 film The Lobster: loners hunted down in the Irish woods (shot in 2014) to the plaintive tones of Danae (recorded in 1965, accompanied by the Belarusian jazz pianist Lev).

 

See the dubitandum “hearts ⋮ touched” (in list below) for details on how Danae is further connected to this film.

 

The Lobster screenplay (written by Yorgos with Efthimis Filippou) was translated from the Greek to be shot in English (their English-language debut). Song lyrics translated for the love of it.

 
 

see also
fields ⋮ donkeys
fingers ⋮ dry
hearts ⋮ touched
stone ⋮ lobster

 
 

arkhæio
THE LOBSTER THE LOBSTER SCREENPLAY BOOK