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Alcaeus

by Old Songs

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1.
Castor and Polydeux 02:01
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Here comes the Dog Star again So flood your lungs with wine The season is hard to bear Thirst in burning heat Cicadas singing in the leaves Artichokes in flower Here comes the Dog Star again flood your lungs with wine The season is hard to bear Thirst in burning heat Now women lust But men are limp The Dog Star's fried them From head to knees Here comes the Dog Star again So flood your lungs with wine
2.
Dog Star 01:51
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DOG STAR Here comes the Dog Star again So flood your lungs with wine The season is hard to bear Thirst in burning heat Cicadas singing in the leaves Artichokes in flower Here comes the Dog Star again flood your lungs with wine The season is hard to bear Thirst in burning heat Now women lust But men are limp The Dog Star's fried them From head to knees Here comes the Dog Star again So flood your lungs with wine
3.
Miserable 02:23
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MISERABLE I'm miserable off by myself I wish I could hear the village assembly Oh, Agelasidas Like my father and my father's father grown old among people screwing each other over I am an outcast I'm an exile away from everybody like Onomacles I live by myself surrounded by wolves in the bushes There's war I'm not against rebellion The place of blessed gods I'm on the black earth trying to stay out of trouble Girls of Lesbos in fancy dresses judged for their beauty I am listening to the cries of holy women Gods of Olympos away from this away from all of this
4.
Drinking Party 02:57
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DRINKING PARTY (Alkaios 70) Strumming the lyre at a drinking party Eating a whole lot of food Goofin around with our companions That makes us feel good The guy who married into the House of Atreus devoured the city like he did with Myrsilus Ares made us fight All this anger we should forget Give up this heart-eating war within families that some Olympian has stirred up bringing our people devastation giving Pittacus the fame he loves
5.
People of Lesbos 02:43
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PEOPLE OF LESBOS The people of Lesbos built a common altar in a sunny place for 3 immortal blessed ones oh oh oh, 3 immortal blessed ones Zeus who answers prayers,glorious Aeolian goddess mother of us all, flesh-eating Dionysus oh, oh, oh, flesh-eating Dionysus Come with kindly heart listen to our prayer rescue us from hard times and exile oh, oh, oh, hard times and exile Let the Furies chase Pittacus son of Hyrrus. We made an oath never to leave a comrade oh, oh, oh, never to leave a comrade Wrapped in dirt killed by other men, or else we kill them, to save our people oh, oh, oh, to save our people Big fat Pittacus tramples on his promises speaks not to the heart eating up the city oh, oh, oh eating up the city
6.
Black Boat 01:53
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Black Boat – Alcaeus 208 I don't know which way the wind is blowing Waves going this way waves going that way We are in the middle Riding in a black boat This great storm is worrying me Water is rising inside the boat The sail is ripped so full of holes you can see right through it The anchor is slack the rudder is slack my feet are tangled in the rigging This might save me while all the cargo is slipping overboard
7.
River Hebrus 02:01
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RIVER HEBRUS Oh River Hebrus you beautiful river most beautiful river near Ainus Flowing forth through Thracian Earth Pouring into the purple sea And many pretty girls visit your water Pouring your water over their pretty thighs And they are enchanted by the ointment Of your water so divine
8.
Dog Star 2 01:49
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DOG STAR Here comes the Dog Star again So flood your lungs with wine The season is hard to bear Thirst in burning heat Cicadas singing in the leaves Artichokes in flower Here comes the Dog Star again flood your lungs with wine The season is hard to bear Thirst in burning heat Now women lust But men are limp The Dog Star's fried them From head to knees Here comes the Dog Star again So flood your lungs with wine
9.
Miserable 2 02:02
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MISERABLE I'm miserable off by myself I wish I could hear the village assembly Oh, Agelasidas Like my father and my father's father grown old among people screwing each other over I am an outcast I'm an exile away from everybody like Onomacles I live by myself surrounded by wolves in the bushes There's war I'm not against rebellion The place of blessed gods I'm on the black earth trying to stay out of trouble Girls of Lesbos in fancy dresses judged for their beauty I am listening to the cries of holy women Gods of Olympos away from this away from all of this
10.
People of Lesbos 2 02:39
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PEOPLE OF LESBOS The people of Lesbos built a common altar in a sunny place for 3 immortal blessed ones oh oh oh, 3 immortal blessed ones Zeus who answers prayers,glorious Aeolian goddess mother of us all, flesh-eating Dionysus oh, oh, oh, flesh-eating Dionysus Come with kindly heart listen to our prayer rescue us from hard times and exile oh, oh, oh, hard times and exile Let the Furies chase Pittacus son of Hyrrus. We made an oath never to leave a comrade oh, oh, oh, never to leave a comrade Wrapped in dirt killed by other men, or else we kill them, to save our people oh, oh, oh, to save our people Big fat Pittacus tramples on his promises speaks not to the heart eating up the city oh, oh, oh eating up the city

about

ALCAEUS by Old Songs.
The treasury of Andros, according to an ancient inscription, contained a triangular box holding the 10 books of Alcaeus: 2 scrolls each of hymns, political songs, and love songs, and 4 scrolls of drinking party songs. Only fragments remain. The poet was born around 620 BC, in Mytilene on the island of Lesbos. He took part in local political feuds and external wars without distinguishing himself. He spent time in exile, but was eventually pardoned by Pittacus, his deadly enemy. As a lyric poet,however, his fame was wide and lasting. The great Roman poet Horace, in his first book of Odes, invokes the Greek lyre, "first tuned by a citizen of Lesbos," to sing a Latin song. Horace describes souls in the afterworld crowding around and jostling to hear Alcaeus. We are proud to join that throng.

credits

released March 23, 2021

Liz Downing (voice and bowed banjo), Mark Jickling (voice, guitar, bass, banjo, mandolin, bouzouki), Chris Mason (voice, guitar, bass), Don Peyton (voice, ukulele, fiddle). Special thanks to Ian Jickling, guitar on track 1. and Terence Winch, button accordion on track 7.
Recording and mix by Mark Jickling, Spring, 2016.
Tunes and translations by Mark Jickling and Chris Mason, with scholarly assistance from the work of Sir Denys Page and David A. Campbell.
Cover painting of Alcaeus and Sappho by Lawrence Alma-Tadema.
Cover design by David Fair.

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Old Songs Baltimore, Maryland

Old Songs -- Liz Downing, Chris Mason, and Mark Jickling -- make singing versions of their own translations of ancient Greek poetry. Besides Corinna, they have made collections of Sappho, Alcman, Alcaeus, Hipponax, Archilochus, and Anacreon.

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