Artemios Roussos was born on June 15, 1946 in Alexandria, Egypt, and died o… Read Full Bio ↴Artemios Roussos was born on June 15, 1946 in Alexandria, Egypt, and died on January 25, 2015 in Athens, Greece. As George and Olga’s first son, he was of Greek extraction. Three years later, his younger brother Costandinos, was born.

Throughout his childhood he was influenced by the musics that were coexisting in Egypt. The sound of Arabic music entered into his life at that time and has continued until today as one of his biggest influences. At the age of ten, he was intrigued by Jazz and learnt to play the trumpet. As a young boy he also attended the choir of the Greek Byzantine church of Alexandria and sang for five years as a soloist.

However, when Artemios reached the age of fifteen, his life changed. It was the time of the Suez Canal crisis. His family left Egypt and immigrated to their homeland Greece. Artemios then had to work to support his family. During the day he attended school and, at night, he played the trumpet in various clubs in Athens. Two years later, his first band, "The Idols" was formed. Artemios played the Bass Guitar and sang backing vocals as well. One day, as the lead singer needed to rest, he asked Artemios to replace him for a few songs. That night, when Artemios sang "The House Of The Rising Sun" and "When A Man Loves A Woman" the audience was amazed. From then on Artemios was asked to sing again and again.

Within a short period, Artemios was making a sound reputation. It was at this time that he met the man who would later become one of his most successful composer, Lakis Vlavianos. From that meeting a new band was born, the "We Five", with Artemios as the lead singer.

In 1968 Artemios’s journey crossed the road of two other top Greek musicians, Vangelis Papatanassiou and Loukas Sideras. Their associationbecame one of the biggest musical events of the seventies in the form of "Aphrodite’s Child". This ambitious band decided to travel to the United Kingdom for better commercial prospects. Artemios--who had now shortened his name to Demis--would be the singer and the bass player, Vangelis the main composer as well as the keyboard player, and Loukas would play the drums.

However, they were refused entry to the United Kingdom for lack of a work permit. Instead, Aphrodite's Child travelled to Paris, arriving just as the city was going through the May 68 revolution. After a few concerts in some trendy Parisian clubs, a major company offered to record a song of theirs, one that was inspired by Pachelbel‘s canon called "Rain And Tears". This first album of Aphrodite’s Child sold over a million copies in France alone.

Nine months later, as Demis first daughter, Emily, was born, "Rain And Tears" was the top single all over Europe and a top 20 single in the United Kingdom. The band experienced a huge success for three years.

They then released their legendary last album “666”, after which, for various reasons, Aphrodite's Child decided to split up.

Since Demis was one of the main elements of the band, the record company offered him a chance to recorded his first solo single, "We Shall Dance", which was released on the album "On the Greek Side of My Mind". This album and the single jumped into the top five of all the national hit parades of Italy, Spain, France, Holland, Germany and Scandinavia.

Some months later, Demis met with his old friend of the "We Five", Lakis Vlavianos. Lakis was then going through an inspired period and wrote many songs which Demis recorded; these turned into a string of number one hits all over the world, including: "Forever And Ever", "My Friend the Wind", and "Velvet Morning".

After his second child, Cyril, was born in 1975, Demis toured the globe for eight years with his second wife and child. In Brazil, he packed a stadium of 150 000 people--an event that was achieved in that particular stadium twice only. (The other previous artist was Frank Sinatra.) In fact, Demis sold enough records to gain a name in the Guinness Book of records among the personalities of show business in the 70’s and the eighties. He was awarded more than a hundred golden, platinum, and diamond albums and cassettes.

His unique dressing style was often considered eccentric but Demis was following his instinct which told him that the music he was performing should match with the combination of looks between the glorious Byzantine Empire and the Arabic Caftan.

In 1978 his instinct told him again that he should retire for a while, thinking of new things concerning his career and life. And so he took his family to an area of the world where he was unknown, Malibu Beach, California. There, Demis lost over 50 kilograms. He returned to Europe and lived a quieter life between England and Greece, alone with his son, Cyril.

On June 14 1985, wile he was travelling from Athens to Rome, a decisive event occurred. Demis’s TWA airplane was hijacked by terrorists. After two days in that plane praying, Demis was held three days in the prison of Beyrouth with his third wife. Like many other survivors, he went through the shock of a traumatic experience. After that, Demis said he had never understood so well the importance of the nations living in peace and how precious life is when you see death so close. He felt more than ever that his contribution for a better tomorrow could be via music and so decided to return to the recording and performance scene.

He recorded twenty songs and compiled an album called "The story of Demis Roussos". With this album, Demis started to world tour again and found a nostalgic audience who had missed his magic voice. In 1986 Demis toured the USSR for three weeks and was invited to join important scientists, writers and artists at the forum for peace and disarmament in Moscow, during February 1987.

Later that year, during a tight TV schedule in Chile, Demis insisted on fitting in a visit to the Earth summit in Rio to get a clearer picture of the environmental problems, which were a main concern for Demis.

Since then Demis had been a regular visitor of the charts with singles such as "Quand je t’aime" and "On écrit sur les murs", and albums such as "Voice and Vision" and "Immortel".

Since 2008, Demis had been living in Greece by the sea. After being one of the most talented singers of his century, Demis was still working on more magical offerings, with the blessing of music and God.

He died aged 68, on the Hygeia Hospital in Athens on January 25, 2015.

Names
Demis Roussos Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

NAMES

Each name reminds me of a smile,
A part of me I left behind,

The times I said goodbye,
The way love always dies,
But then again, I loved so many times.

Each name reminds me of a song,
The nights that fell apart at dawn,
When I had more to give than just a life to live,
But then again, I've had my share and even more.

The sound of every first hello,
The words I didn't know,
I learned with time the rhymes to every line.
And when I think of all the names,
The tender games I played,
I wonder if they still remember mine.

Each name reminds me of the past,
The memories that didn't last,
The one that counted more
than all I had before,
That went away one day to let me love again.

Choeurs:
Each name reminds me of a smile,
A part of me I left behind,
The times I said goodbye,
The way love always dies,
But then again, I loved so many times.

Each name reminds me of the past,
The memories that didn't last,
The one that counted more

than all I had before,
That went away one day to let me love again.

Overall Meaning

In Demis Roussos's song "Names," the singer reflects on past loves and the memories associated with them. Each name he hears brings back memories of a different time in his life, from the smiles they brought to the pain of saying goodbye. He also mentions the songs that remind him of those loves, and the nights that fell apart at dawn. The lyrics convey the idea that love comes and goes, but the memories remain, and the singer wonders if those former loves still remember him.

The chorus repeats the idea that each name reminds him of a part of himself that he left behind, and the times love has died, but also how he has loved so many times. The verse continues with the idea of past memories, and how one love stood out above all the others, but eventually went away, leaving him with the ability to love again.

The lyrics of "Names" explore the universal themes of love, loss, and memory. The song is a tribute to the power that past loves can hold over our lives, and the impact they can have on our present and future. Roussos's voice brings a sense of nostalgia to the lyrics, adding to the wistful quality of the song.

Line by Line Meaning

Each name reminds me of a smile,
Every name brings back memories of someone who made me happy and brought a smile to my face.

A part of me I left behind,
These people were once part of my life, but for some reason, I had to leave them behind and move on.

The times I said goodbye,
Leaving those people behind wasn't easy, and there were many moments when I had to bid farewell.

The way love always dies,
Love, like everything else in life, has a beginning and an end, and it always ends in one way or another.

But then again, I loved so many times.
Despite the heartbreak that comes with love, I still looked for it and found it many times.

Each name reminds me of a song,
Just as each name brings back a memory, it also reminds me of a specific song that was playing during that moment.

The nights that fell apart at dawn,
These songs bring back memories of the nights that didn't go as planned and ended badly as dawn broke.

When I had more to give than just a life to live,
I was young and felt like I had more to offer than just living life day by day - I wanted to give love and passion to someone.

But then again, I've had my share and even more.
Despite those bad nights, I had my fair share of love and romance, and sometimes even found more than I expected.

The sound of every first hello,
These songs and names also bring back memories of the first time I met these people and heard their voices.

The words I didn't know,
At first, I didn't know what to say to them, but eventually, I learned how to talk to them and find the right words to say.

I learned with time the rhymes to every line.
As I got to know these people better, I learned more about them and how to communicate with them.

And when I think of all the names,
As I reminisce on all of these memories, I think of every single name that comes to mind.

The tender games I played,
There were also moments when we played games with each other, but they were all done with tenderness and care.

I wonder if they still remember mine.
After all these years, I wonder if these people still remember me and the moments we shared together.

Each name reminds me of the past,
Ultimately, each name is a representation of my past and the people who played a part in it.

The memories that didn't last,
As much as I cherished these memories, some of them didn't last and faded away with time.

The one that counted more than all I had before,
However, some memories and people mattered more to me than anything else that happened before or after them.

That went away one day to let me love again.
Even though some people and memories didn't last, they had to leave so I could find new love and create new memories.

Lyrics © ALLO MUSIC EDITIONS
Written by: Robert CONSTANDINOS, Stylianos VLAVIANOS

Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind

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