The Mudcat Café TM
Thread #84010   Message #1547926
Posted By: George Papavgeris
23-Aug-05 - 04:42 PM
Thread Name: Lyr Req: Yerakina / Gerakina (trad. Greek)
Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Yerakina (or Gerakina)
From memory:

Keeneese ee Gerakina
gia nero kryo na feri
droom-droom-droom, droom-droom-droom,
ta vrachiolia tis vrontoon

Eskypse mes sto peegadi
ki eniose zali megali
droom etc

ki eppese mes sto peegadi
ki evale fonee megali
droom etc

I don't remember the rest; but here's what I found with some research on the net (verbatim from a Greek website about the town of Serres in NE Greece):

"According to tradition, Gerakina lived around 1850-1870 in a house in Nigrita, in the picturesque area called Tsoukalades. She was extremely beautiful and so a coveted bride to be. Every man was trying to sweep her of her feet. However, Death was very jealous of her beauty.

One early afternoon while the table was set for lunch, Gerakina went together with her pitcher to bring water from the well. As soon as she threw her bucket into the well, she lost her balance and fell in the well, too.

According to the song's lyrics, on hearing her screams, «young and old rushed over» and among them a brave man, who didn't hesitate to climb into the well in order to rescue his beloved one. Some time later though, they pulled them both out of the well. The young man was almost dead and Gerakina dead. The well of Gerakina, which is still preserved in Nigrita (at the area of Tsoukalades) is the last witness of this tradition.

A few years later, in a coffee house in Nigrita, a poet and singer, made the story of Gerakina into a song. Since them, Gerakina as a song and dance passed over to eternity and didn't take her long to walk over the limits of Nigrita and become famous all over Greece.
"