„Living Happy”
Beer is bitter; it makes us woozy
Mead* is sweet refreshes our hearts
When the music starts we dance happily
And dancing happy makes us live that way
Beer is bitter; it makes us loopy
Mead* is sweet refreshes our hearts
The young, the old we all are happy here!
** Mead is an alcoholic drink fermented from honey
(Alus kartus svaigina mus visus
Midus Saldus gaivina sirdi mus
Kai muzika uzgroja mes sokame smagiai
Ir sokio sukury gyvename linksmai
Alus kartus svaigina mus visus
Midus Saldus gaivina sirdi mus
Jauni seni visi mes cia linksmi!)
Antanas Sabaniauskas Lithuania’s leading pop tenor, whose music was played throughout Europe, a wonderful and big-hearted man who died in obscurity, reviled by his government. The tragedy of Sabaniauskas life, parallels the tragedy of Lithuania. Occupied by the Russians with the collaborator Lithuanian government, Lithuania’s greatest talents were judged by their love of freedom, rather than talent. When the war ended, Sabaniauskas was able to work as a singer in the Lithuanian National Opera chorus. In 1947, when the Communists found out who he was, he was fired. For the rest of his days he eked out a living doing menial jobs barely able to support himself and his family. In the 70s he was finally allowed to sing in clubs. Like so many things in our lovely little country, who knows how his life would have turned out, and how many people in the world might have enjoyed the singing of this amazing vocalist, had Lithuania remained free.
