Αττική Οδός [Attiki Odos] [English translation]

I take my deep blue car1 into the darkness of the night.

I took nothing that was yours, I said nothing as I left, not even good-bye.

I departed all alone, no one tried to hold me back,

I bottled up my tear drops, so none appeared upon my mask.

I’m weeping as I drive down this Attic2 highway.

Here beneath my jacket, I still have on my nightie.

I know I love you deeply, I know our love got lost.

Passing exit seven, "the two of us" I toss.

I’m weeping as I drive down this Attic highway.

Here beneath my jacket, I still have on my nightie.

I would like to die, I would really like to survive.

Passing exit eight, I accelerate to be saved.

Even in your embrace, I always felt so alone,

So as soon as you were sleeping, I came to a decision and fled to the unknown.

This is the best I’m able to do in my current state.

One scrap of dignity seems better than nothing3. Soon enough, I’ll arrive at my next mistake.

I’m weeping as I drive down this Attic highway.

Here beneath my jacket, I still have on my nightie.

I would like to die, I’d like to end my sorry life.

Passing exit nine, my dreams punch me in the face.

I’m weeping as I drive down this Attic highway.

Here beneath my jacket, I still have on my nightie.

I know I love you deeply, I know our love got lost.

By exit sixteen, I’m already someone you forgot.

On this mega-highway, I still have on my nightie.

Do I dream? Perhaps I’ll awake in the place I just came from.

1. αυτοκίνητο obviously translates to "car." Since my goal was to have each line of the translation have the same number of syllables as the Greek original, I had to inject a few additional words because many Greek words have more syllables than their English equivalent. For instance, αυτοκίνητο is five syllables, and "car" is only one.2. This looks very much like the English word "attic" with a lower-case "a," meaning "space just below the roof of a house." But here the upper-case "A" indicates this word is the adjectival form of "Attica," the heavily populated region in Greece surrounding the capitol city of Athens. Highways in this region are large multi-lane affairs, and probably lonely places to drive late at night when there's no traffic, as I imagine the speaker of this song is doing.3. Here the speaker seems to be inverting the Greek addage that 'Το λίγο είναι χειρότερο από το καθόλου" / "A little is worse than nothing." By contrast, the speaker here is ready to settle for a small scrap of dignity rather than having nothing left at all.

• Artist:Eleonora Zouganeli
• Album:Έξοδος 2, 2010