Eftychia Papayiannopoulou

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Eftychia Papayiannopoulou

Eftychia Papayiannopoulou was a Greek writer of - mostly laika - song lyrics.

She was born Eftychia Hadjigeorgiou in Aydini, Asia Minor, in 1893 and left for Greece in 1922 after the Asia Minor Disaster.

Though possessing a teacher's diploma, she never taught in Greece. From 1926 until 1942 she tried her hand in acting and afterwards, from 1949 until her death in January 1972, she wrote poems, many of which became mega-hit songs.

Unfortunately, as an "amateur" in a world of professionals, Eftychia Papayiannopoulou was often robbed of credit for her lyrics. Many composers, singers, song writers would buy her poems for a few hundred drachmas - the equivalent of a week's wages for low-paid labourers - and present them as their own.

Still, the songs we know she wrote, present a very impressive list:

  • Δυό πόρτες έχει η ζωή - Life has two doors
  • Είμαι αητός χωρίς φτερά - I'm an eagle without wings
  • Τα καβουράκια - The little crabs
  • Σε τούτο το παλιόσπιτο - In this run-down house
  • Γυάλινος κόσμος - Phoney world
  • Στ' Αποστόλη το κουτούκι - In Apostoli's bouzouki joint
  • Αντιλαλούνε τα βουνά - The mountains resound
  • Είμαστε αλάνια - We're wanderers
  • Πετραδάκι - πετραδάκι - Stone by stone
  • Πάρε το δάκρυ μου - Take ny tears
  • Ηλιοβασιλέματα - Dusks
  • Πήρα τη στράτα κι έρχομαι - I took the road and I'm coming
  • Περασμένες μου αγάπες - Old loves
  • Μου σπάσανε τον μπαγλαμά - They broke my Baglama
  • Γκουλμπαχάρ - Gulbahar
  • Απ' τα ψηλά στα χαμηλά - From the high to low
  • Ρίξε στο γυαλί φαρμάκι - Throw some poison in my glass