Paroles: How Yesterday’s Songs Converse with Today

The musical performance Paroles: How Yesterday’s Songs Converse with Today by the music theatre ensemble Kata-Foni explores the institutional and social censorship of songs from 1930 to 1980. A modern musical ensemble meets a troupe “from the old days.” They discuss censorship, freedom of expression, and political correctness in songs.

The repertoire revolves around questions inspired by rebetiko songs, such as: What is a refugee girl thinking as she chews cinnamon blossoms? Why is there a black Ford waiting for Alexandra and Evlabia? How did malamatenia logia (“golden words”) sound during a night without a moon? Why will I close my eyes? How do operettas and rebetiko songs flirt with sexism, patriarchy, and surrealism? Lyrics, images, and sounds intertwine with live music and narration, filled with awkward silences and big talk (paroles). When rebetiko music composers Haskil, Vamvakaris, and Tsitsanis said “stop the big talk (paroles), I’ve made myself clear to you,” did they wonder if this big talk would ever be censored, altered, or remain intact, despite everything?

* Paroles: a word of Latin origin that is a synonym for “big talk” and “excessive talk.”