Issaris

Rembetiko - Stou Thoma

Artist: Stavros Xarchakos Recording: 1983 Performer: Stavros Xarchakos Collection: Rembetiko 1983 Tags: Rembetiko , Film Performed for the 1983 film Rembetiko

Έλα απόψε στου Θωμά να σου παίξω μπαγλαμά
να κατέβουν οι αγγέλοι να χορέψουν τσιφτετέλι
κι αν μερακλωθείς πολύ και σ' αρέσει το βιολί
με βιολί σαντουροβιόλι θα χορέψουν οι διαβόλοι

Στου Θωμά το μαγαζί θα φτιαχτούμε όλοι μαζί
μα στο νόημα για να 'μπεις θα σου εξηγήσει ο Μπάμπης
του Γιωργάκη η δοξαριά θα σου κόψει τη μιλιά
κι η Μαρίκα με το ντέφι θα γελάει και θα σου γνέφει

κι αν μερακλωθείς πολύ και σ' αρέσει το βιολί
με βιολί σαντουροβιόλι θα χορέψουν οι διαβόλοι

Come tonight to Thomas's place, let me play the baglamas for you
so the angels come down to dance the tsifteteli
and if you really get carried away and you like the violin
with violin and santouri-violin the devils will dance

At Thomas's joint we'll all get high together
but for you to get the vibe, Babis will spell it out
Yorgakis's bow stroke will leave you speechless
and Marika with the tambourine will laugh and beckon you on

and if you really get carried away and you like the violin
with violin and santouri-violin the devils will dance

Historical context

By the 1930s, the teke and the taverna had become the institutional homes of rebetiko. After the 1922 Asia Minor catastrophe, more than a million refugees settled in Piraeus and the working-class districts of Athens and Thessaloniki, bringing the café-aman tradition with them. The σαντουροβιόλι duet — santouri plus violin — was its signature sound; it dominated rebetiko recordings before the bouzouki took over later in the decade.

A μπαγλαμάς in someone’s pocket and a σαντουροβιόλι on the platform were the two ends of the same world: the small, secret instrument of the prison and the teke, and the formal ensemble of the night-out. This song imagines a venue — Thomas’s — where both meet, and where the named regulars (Babis, Yorgakis, Marika) hold court.

In the 1983 Ferris film Rembetiko, the song sets the joyful counterweight to the film’s darker arcs: a celebratory invitation into the music-room itself, the place that gives the genre its name.

Reading

Stou Thoma is, on the surface, the simplest of all the Rembetiko songs: an invitation card. Come tonight. We’ll play. The angels will dance. Underneath that lightness, though, is a precise sociology of the rebetiko scene.

The first verse calls the angels down to dance the τσιφτετέλι — and then warns that if you really fall into meraki, with santouri-and-violin in the mix, it won’t be angels dancing anymore but διαβόλοι, devils. The hierarchy is deliberate: the angels respond to the rhythm, the devils respond to the real music. Meraki is what flips the switch.

The second verse takes you inside Thomas’s joint and introduces the regulars. Φτιαχτούμε όλοι μαζί — we’ll all get high together — sets the register; this is a hashish room as much as a music room. Then come the figures by name:

Μπάμπης — the one who explains the meaning; the inside-out interpreter, the elder who knows the codes.
Γιωργάκης — the violinist whose δοξαριά (a single bow stroke) is enough to silence you.
Μαρίκα — the tambourine player who laughs and gestures, the social pivot of the room.

Each is a stock figure of the rebetiko teke — the wise old hand, the virtuoso, the woman who runs the floor — and naming them is what makes the song an invitation. We will be there. They will be there. Come.

Notes

στου Θωμά: Έλα απόψε στου Θωμά να σου παίξω μπαγλαμά; to Thomas's place; A rebetiko taverna or teke, real or composite. The genitive "στου + name" is the everyday Greek way of naming a hangout by its owner.
μπαγλαμά / μπαγλαμάς: Έλα απόψε στου Θωμά να σου παίξω μπαγλαμά; baglamas; A small, high-pitched cousin of the bouzouki, easy to hide. It became symbolic of underground rebetiko culture because it could be smuggled into prison or hashish dens (tekedes) and played out of sight.
τσιφτετέλι: να κατέβουν οι αγγέλοι να χορέψουν τσιφτετέλι; tsifteteli; A solo, often improvised dance in 4/4 with strong Anatolian and Romani roots. Sensual and serpentine — the joke is that even the angels come down to dance it.
μερακλωθείς: κι αν μερακλωθείς πολύ και σ' αρέσει το βιολί; really get carried away; From μεράκι — the state of passionate, savoring immersion in something (a song, a meal, a craft). "Μερακλώνομαι" is the verbal form: to fall into that state.
σαντουροβιόλι: με βιολί σαντουροβιόλι θα χορέψουν οι διαβόλοι; santouri-and-violin ensemble; The classic Smyrnaic duet — hammered dulcimer (σαντούρι) paired with violin. The signature sound of Asia Minor rebetiko and café-aman repertoire, brought to Greece by refugees after 1922.
θα φτιαχτούμε όλοι μαζί: Στου Θωμά το μαγαζί θα φτιαχτούμε όλοι μαζί; we'll all get high together; φτιάχνομαι in rebetiko/mangas slang means to get high (originally on hashish). Literally "to get fixed up" — i.e. tuned in, set right.
δοξαριά: του Γιωργάκη η δοξαριά θα σου κόψει τη μιλιά; bow stroke; From δοξάρι (the violin bow). A δοξαριά is one stroke or one phrase of bowing — the violinist's signature.
θα σου κόψει τη μιλιά: του Γιωργάκη η δοξαριά θα σου κόψει τη μιλιά; will leave you speechless; Idiomatic: literally "will cut your speech". Used for anything that strikes you dumb — beauty, shock, or in this case a virtuoso phrase.

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