George Dalaras

George Dalaras His life, his work and commentary Click here for a Greek version

Author's Introduction

George Dalaras is a name often heard our days in Greece. Concerts,
Participations, Cyprus and Greece are a few of the words related to his name.
George Dalaras is a personality that has offered a lot ! I got to know him
through his songs for Cyprus, and loved him through them.
His voice managed to answer all my questions, and liberate all the angst I
had regarding the Cyprus situation..

I know that this article may cause a great deal of controversy among those who, based on rumors, have formed a negative image about George Dalaras. However, I believe it is my duty as a human being and as a Greek to talk about the Cyprus issue, in general, but also in accordance with Dalaras’ concerts.

From discussions I’ve made, I have noticed that those who accuse Dalaras for the matter of Cyprus actually believe that Cypriots are not Greeks, or that they are in a better position than the Greeks who live in the mainland.

However, anyone who is familiar with some history knows that Cyprus is an inseparable part of Greek civilization and Greek history, and those who live there are our brothers, the same way that a person from Athens and a person from Crete or someone from Corfu or Thessalonica are brothers as well. Cyprus and Greece are two countries, but they are one Nation. It doesn’t matter if Cyprus wants or not to be united with Greece, it is of no importance.

The only thing that matters is that at this moment half the island is an occupied territory and that my brothers down there, when they look to the east, they see red flags instead of blue-white and that they cannot return to their homes.

George Dalaras, as a singer does all he can to fight this injustice.

A teacher could, for example, send his books for free to Cypriot students, a director could uphold some shows and donate the revenues to the Defense of Cyprus. A merchant could sell his products at low prices in Cyprus, or a magazine owner could give a part of its sales revenues to the refugee families in Cyprus. But Dalaras happened to be a musician and with his songs as weapon, he fights injustice and stands by the Greeks of Cyprus in his own way.

Concerning those who accuse him for his interest in the Cyprus issue, I would say that it is either ignorance and naivety or envy and complete lack of sensitivity for the Cyprus matter. To those who remain indifferent for the Greeks of Cyprus, it seems outrageous and inexplicable that someone wants to help them selflessly.

Certainly for (mister) Panousis the Cyprus issue is nothing more that an opportunity for satire and sarcasm. And him, who insists on satirizing Cyprus, which for half a millennium fights for its freedom, the Cyprus of the heroes Evagoras Palikaridis and Grigoris Ayxentiou, the Cyprus of 1974 and of the 200.000 refugees, the Cyprus of Solomos Solomou and Tassos Isaak, he can not call himself a leftist! And I am saying this, because there are many “leftists” like Panousis, who not only don’t care about the matter of Cyprus, but also laugh at it. And before the naïve audience laughs with the “joke”: “I have a pool in the shape of Cyprus.” they should think about all the dead people, the heroes, the refugees and the pain and grief of all Cypriots, during all these years.

Dalaras’s songs are a strong answer to those who compromise, and to those who believe that fighting for your ideals leads you nowhere. However no matter how much analysis you ‘ve read, no matter whatever you have been told, nothing will convince you for the purity of Dalaras’ effort, other than his performance of the songs.

Historical facts
Summer of 1974. Turkish invasion in Cyprus. Exactly as the Nazi invaded Tsechoslovakia in 1939 pretending that they wanted to protect the oppressed German minority, the fascist regime of Turkey took the chance, and despite the United Nation’s (oral) objections took over the 40% of the island.

Results: Thousands of dead Greeks, 1619 missing, many people entrapped and 200.000 refugees in their own country. The junta (dictatorship) of the 21st of April actually betrayed Cyprus. However, I believe that today everyone who ignores the Cyprus issue is actually a participant in this betrayal.

George Dalaras since his early years as a singer has shown his liberal spirit, when during the bloom of junta he sings songs like “Ah, helidoni mou”(Ah, my swallow), “O thanatos tou poiiti”(The poet’s death), “Eho enan kafene”(I have a coffe-shop), “Mana den fytepsame”(Mother we didn’t plant). It is worth mentioning that in his very early steps, only a few months after the imposition of junta, he records the song “Prosmoni”(Longing), which was cut by the censorship of the dictatorial regime. And that happened because its lyrics were clearly political:

“When the people’s bell
the one of old Makrigiannis
will ring telling that there is
free land and sky for everyone”

After the fall of junta, Mikis Theodorakis recorded “Ta 18 lianoutragouda tis pikris patridas”(18 small songs of the bitter homeland), with lyrics by Giannis Ritsos. George Dalaras is only 25 years old, yet his voice has the strength and the passion of a fighter who has been fighting for freedom for his whole life.

“Don’t cry for Greece
When she’s about to bent
Having the knife in her bones and the lease around her neck
There she goes, stands up from the beginning, shows courage and grows strong
It harpoons the beast using the spear of the Sun!”

From the above, we can see that Dalaras from his early steps fights for his country’s freedom of and the people’s freedom in general. Eventually, he would be sensitive and moved by the Cyprus matter as well.

Concerts and albums for Cyprus
In 1992 we have his first album for Cyprus by the name “Es gin enalian Kypron”(In the marine land of Cyprus) with music by Mihalis Hristodoulidis and lyrics written by Cypriot poets. It’s an amazing record with the thrilling performance of George Dalaras. I personally started to be interested in Dalaras when I listened to a song from this record and wept. It was the song “Logariasate lathos”(You thought wrongly), which actually is a tribute to freedom, struggle and the country. Deeply moving are the lyrics that are addressed to the conquerors:
“The country is a mother, she has a memory - she remembers
from her sainted breast which lips were nursed.
And our sweet Cyprus was, is, will remain
for her children a mother, but for you always a stranger!”

As well as the lyrics that are addressed to the “merchants” of freedom:
“You thought wrongly with your minds, merchants
you cannot measure a country, nor freedom with the yardstick”

In the booklet of this record there are a few words written by Dalaras:

“Our voice will be half and our singing unfinished, until it will be heard in Keryneia, in Ammohostos, in Salamina. I dedicate my song to the student that pulled down the Turkish flag from the Green Line, to the Cypriot patriot who returned to his home, passing secretly to the occupied territory to water his rose bush and to the 8 year old little girl who shocked me some time ago, asking me: ‘When will we go back?’”

Dalaras tried to make the songs for Cyprus known widely. He gave concerts everywhere around the world, with the concerts in the Wembley Theatre in London and the Chicago Theatre Arena, which holds 25.000 people, being the most important ones. For his effort, he was given the Kennedy award in 1994.
During a concert tears blurred his eyes, he apologized and stepped away from the stage.

In 1994 the second album for Cyprus was out, titled “Ton Athanaton”(Of the immortals). It was a record dedicated to all the heroes who died fighting for freedom.

“The wine of the immortals
you found it and you ‘re drinking it
death is life for you
and immortals you shall remain.”

In 1997 in the album with Bregovic, a song written by Haris Katsimichas is included, named “Ena tragoudi gia tin Eleni F.”(A song for Eleni F.) It is referring to Eleni Foka, a teacher that stayed in the occupied territory after the Turkish invasion to teach Greek to the few Greek children that had remained there.

“Eleni, you carry all our burden on your shoulders…”

In 1998 the last album for Cyprus is published, titled “Foni Patridas”(The country’s voice) with music by Marios Tokas and lyrics of Cypriot poets and one Turkish Cypriot who expresses the paradox of the occupation:

“ They say that a person has to love his homeland
and so does my father often says…
My homeland is divided in two,
which of the two parts do I have to love?”

The same year there is a concert in Cyprus in the honour of the two young men that were killed the summer before, Tassos Isaak and Solomos Solomou.

In this concert, which is deeply moving, Dalaras says that there were some things he had heard and didn’t like:
“For example, we should never tell again the students of Cyprus not to pull down the Turkish flags. We should never say that again.”
And that way, he reminded everyone that Cyprus is still occupied by the Turkish military forces and that the Turkish flag has no place in Cyprus until it is liberated.

I didn’t want to write the closing of this article myself. Therefore I quote some words of Dalaras written in his autobiography in the music box in 1996.

“What makes me to be engaged in Cyprus is the indifference I see around me from the government but also from the people. It’s a matter that because of the long time it has remained in abeyance, it is now treated conventionally. I think it was fair to devote five years of my work and my life to it. And something came out from all this. Many thousands of signatures for the issue of the entrapped were sent to the White House after the concert in New York. I couldn’t believe it! It was worth the anxiety and the labour, even the complaint and the mud that was thrown because of these efforts.
I regret for nothing, you know, and I will continue to do what I ‘ve been doing. From the Kennedy award, I wasn’t impressed either by the ceremony, the publicity, or the honours. Only by this text: ‘Don’t ask what your homeland does for you, but what you can do for your homeland’.”

These photos are taken from the "Musical Box"

On April 25th 1969 he was drafted, in Sparta.

While in Sparta, in 1970, his first great album ("Natane to '21" composed by
Stavros Kougioumtzis) circulates, and becomes an immediate success. The
most well-known songs from this album where
"Pou'ne ta Chronia" , "O Ouranos Fevgei Varys" and "Natane to '21".