It is well-known that the Greeks of Smyrna were an eloquent people who openly expressed their feelings about life and love in general, and this was especially evident through the lyrics of the songs which they produced. This particular song, sung by renowned Greek singer Glykeria, expresses the disenchantment of Greek refugees from Smyrna with their treatment in Greece, encompassing the discrimination which the Greek Smyrnaeans faced from the Greek Hellenes, who were painted as being a people who, by and large, lacked compassion and consideration for the Greek Smyrnaeans.
The main message of the song is that the Greek Smyrnaeans sought acceptance in Greece as being equally as Greek, and were actually even more so, than the Greek Hellenes themselves in the vast majority of instances, and that their place of birth, being either Smyrna, Cordelio or elsewhere in Asia Minor, was no reason to label them as being less Greek than the Greek Hellenes. It was also no reason for them to be subjected to discrimination on the basis of where they were born.
The song also emphasises a longing on the part of the Greek Smyrnaeans for their ancestral homelands, where everything was familiar for them, and they were treated vastly differently before their forced departure. I hope you enjoy viewing this clip which says so much about the experience of Smyrnaean Greeks and other Asia Minor Greeks in a poignant, subtle, and bittersweet manner.
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