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.
On The Greek Side Of My Mind
Demis Roussos Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And lo ... A tree was taught to speak ...
There is a tree .... And there is an island ...
On the greek side of my mind ...
On the Greek side of my mind ...
Storm uprooted the tree ...
And it lay dead on the sand ...
Come with me, come with me and have no fear ...
And to its stories lead an ear...
For the tree spoke about ways that walk ...
On the Greek side of my mind ...
It dreamed about a godness ...
dyin'on a star ridin'high ...
It roamed up the mountains beyond,
Where you may see ...
You may see people shall be as masters free ...
On the Greek side of my mind ...
I've drawn signs on the sand ...
And through the pebbles...
A light was streaming...
I do not know whence came the gleaming ...
Who lives within' ... ?
Devils that sleep sound below the seven seas ... ?
A prisoner ... ? A man set free ... ?
A part of you ...
Somethin' ... just somethin' of me ...
Those may you find ....
Those may you find ...
On the Greek side of my mind.
The lyrics to Demis Roussos's song On The Greek Side Of My Mind evoke imagery of the mysterious and mystical Greek islands. The forest is portrayed as alive and in constant motion, with a symbolic tree that was taught to speak. The tree is a representation of Greece itself, with its rich history and stories to tell. The storm uprooting the tree signifies the struggles and hardships that Greece has faced throughout its history, but the fact that it did not die suggests that Greece is resilient and can withstand any obstacle that comes its way.
Line by Line Meaning
At night the forest does not sleep ...
The forest is not quiet at night.
And lo ... A tree was taught to speak ...
Surprisingly, a tree was able to talk.
There is a tree .... And there is an island ...
There is a tree and an island in this story.
On the greek side of my mind ...
This story takes place on the Greek side of the songwriter's mind.
Storm uprooted the tree ...
A storm knocked down the tree.
And it lay dead on the sand ...
The tree fell on the sand and appeared to be dead.
But in truth it did not die ...
The tree was not actually dead.
Come with me, come with me and have no fear ...
Join me and don't be afraid.
And to its stories lead an ear...
Listen to what the tree has to say.
For the tree spoke about ways that walk ...
The tree talked about different journeys.
On the Greek side of my mind ...
These stories are happening in the songwriter's mind.
It dreamed about a godness ...
The tree dreamt about a goddess.
dyin'on a star ridin'high ...
The goddess died on a star while flying high.
It roamed up the mountains beyond,
The tree wandered through the mountains.
Where you may see ...
Where one could witness.
You may see people shall be as masters free ...
People can be free and feel like a master here.
On the Greek side of my mind ...
These stories are happening in the songwriter's mind.
I've drawn signs on the sand ...
The songwriter left marks on the sand.
And through the pebbles...
The signals are visible through the pebbles.
A light was streaming...
There was a light shining.
I do not know whence came the gleaming ...
It is not clear where the light came from.
Who lives within' ... ?
Who is living there?
Devils that sleep sound below the seven seas ... ?
Are there devils sleeping under the seven seas?
A prisoner ... ? A man set free ... ?
Is there a prisoner or someone who has been freed?
A part of you ... Somethin' ... just somethin' of me...
Maybe this place is a part of you and something of me.
Those may you find ....
You may find those things here.
Those may you find ...
You may find those things here.
On the Greek side of my mind.
These stories are happening in the songwriter's mind.
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, ALLO MUSIC EDITIONS
Written by: Boris BERGMAN, DEMIS ROUSSOS
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Margo Aly
Lovely. Love gregorian chants and Greek creativity as well as the old greek music. Thank you.
Fredo Joaquim
Poetic and lovely.
Bushra Bardo
I love it
luria31356
So beautiful beyond description. Congratulations to the creator of this clip. I m from Alexandria Egypt , and I hope to correspond by email.شكرًا
Elena Pricop-Luca
Don`t use religious to make War .There is only a Tree(the World).Love it !
renzo stellini
questo bellissimo video ,mi piace tantissimo pare di essere in grande paradiso e io do la mia valutazione di questo video 120 lode dalla parte di RENZO STELLINI
mati51
Un antesignano della musica Chill-out excellent young Demis I love You FOREVER and always thank you Mohammed for thi video good job 👍
Mohamed AbdulKareem
Thank you so much, my pleasure
Paul S
this is so far out . i want to go to greece
renzo stellini
ciao a te amico PAUL S io ti ringrazio tanto che tu mi hai mandato a me il tuo comento ma PUTTROPO io non ho mia capito niente che cosa tu hai scritto per me . Per favore mi mandi un comento in italiano che cosa tu hai scritto per me dal mio canale su YOUTUBE poi io ti rispondo grazie da
RENZO STELLINI