Thanos Mikroutsikos (Greek: Θάνος Μικρούτσικος) (1947- ) was born in Patras… Read Full Bio ↴Thanos Mikroutsikos (Greek: Θάνος Μικρούτσικος) (1947- ) was born in Patras, Greece and is one of the leading composers of popular and classical music in his home country. He studied music theory and piano at the Patras Philharmonic Society and at the Greek Conservatory and continued under Yiannis A. Papaioannou. While studying music he graduated with a degree in Mathematics from the University of Athens.

He blends a lot of musical traditions in his work, from popular to electronic. He has composed a lot of songs based on poems by Greek and foreign poets, such as Euripides, Aristophanes, Constantine P. Cavafy, Giorgos Seferis, Yannis Ritsos, Odysseas Elytis and Nikos Kavvadias as well as Bertolt Brecht, Nazim Hikmet, Wolf Biermann and Maurice Maeterlinck. He has also written operas, symphonic music, chamber music and music for the theatre and cinema.

One of his most popular works was the setting to music of poems by Nikos Kavvadias in his albums Grammes Orizonton (Horizons' Lines) and Stavros tou Notou (Southern Cross). Some of the music was originally written for a TV series, the theme of which was marine. The songs were liked and he went on to the studio to record some more many of which were included in the aforementioned albums.

Thanos Mikroutsikos has also been involved in Greece's political life since the 60's. During the turbulent years of the military junta (1967-1974), he was persecuted by the regime for his anti-dictatorial activities and ideas. When the junta collapsed he continued being actively involved in politics as a member of the maoist EKKE, especially in the first years after the restoration of democracy.

After the elections of October 1993 he was appointed by the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) which formed the new government, as Alternate-Minister of Culture with late Melina Mercouri as minister. In 1994 after the death of the latter he was appointed minister of culture. He remained at this position until 1996. His brother is the popular TV host and musician Andreas Mikroutsikos.

Erotiko
Thanos Mikroutsikos Lyrics

Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴

Με μια πιρόγα φεύγεις και γυρίζεις
τις ώρες που αγριεύει η βροχή
στη γη των Βησιγότθων αρμενίζεις
και σε κερδίζουν κήποι κρεμαστοί
μα τα φτερά σου σιγοπριονίζεις

Σκέπασε αρμύρα το γυμνό κορμί σου
σου 'φερα απ' τους Δελφούς γλυκό νερό

στα δύο είπες πως θα κοπεί η ζωή σου
και πριν προλάβω τρις να σ' αρνηθώ
σκούριασε το κλειδί του παραδείσου

Το καραβάνι τρέχει μες στη σκόνη
και την τρελή σου κυνηγάει σκιά
πώς να ημερέψει ο νους μ' ένα σεντόνι
πώς να δεθεί η Μεσόγειος με σχοινιά
αγάπη που σε λέγαμ' Αντιγόνη

Ποια νυχτωδία το φως σου έχει πάρει
και σε ποιο γαλαξία να σε βρω
εδώ είναι Αττική φαιό νταμάρι

κι εγώ ένα πεδίο βολής φτηνό
που ασκούνται βρίζοντας ξένοι φαντάροι

Overall Meaning

The lyrics of Thanos Mikroutsikos's song "Erotiko" describe a lover who leaves on a boat during stormy rain to the land of the Visigoths where gardens hang. The lover's wings are slowly being sawed off, and they cover their body with salt. The singer brings sweet water from Delphi to the lover who announces that their life will be cut in two. Before the singer can deny them thrice, the key to paradise rusts.

The caravan runs through the dust, chasing the lover's madness like shadows. The singer wonders how their mind can be brightened by a sheet, and how the Mediterranean can be tied with ropes, love calling them Antigone. The singer asks which night has taken the lover's light and in which galaxy they can be found. Here is Attica, brown barren land, and the singer is a cheap shooting field where foreign soldiers swear.

Overall, the lyrics of the song describe the agony of love: the physical distance, the emotional separation, and the all-consuming passion. The lyrics also play with the concepts of time, space, and social hierarchy, with the lover traveling to a land of Visigoths, and the singer reduced to a cheap shooting field.

Line by Line Meaning

Με μια πιρόγα φεύγεις και γυρίζεις
You leave and return on a boat

τις ώρες που αγριεύει η βροχή
During the hours when the rain becomes wild

στη γη των Βησιγότθων αρμενίζεις
You wander in the land of the Visigoths

και σε κερδίζουν κήποι κρεμαστοί
And you are won over by hanging gardens

μα τα φτερά σου σιγοπριονίζεις
But you saw away your own wings

Σκέπασε αρμύρα το γυμνό κορμί σου
Salt covers your naked body

σου 'φερα απ' τους Δελφούς γλυκό νερό
I brought you sweet water from Delphi

στα δύο είπες πως θα κοπεί η ζωή σου
You said your life will be cut in two

και πριν προλάβω τρις να σ' αρνηθώ
Before I could deny you thrice

σκούριασε το κλειδί του παραδείσου
The key to paradise has rusted

Το καραβάνι τρέχει μες στη σκόνη
The caravan runs through the dust