Πάμε στο τεκέ μου

The first time I heard this song, on an album by the group Kompania, I thought it was a modern piece reacting to the early 2000s economic crisis in Greece.

But this was written and recorded in 1933 by the great singer Kostas Roukounas. It’s not clear from the lyrcis but I suspect it refers to the Depression, which started in the U.S. in 1929.

Roukounas started singing on the island of Samos. He moved to Athens, where he was discovered by Panayiotis Tountas and wound up performing and recording with many of the leading musicians and singers of the day. He had a long career, recording successfully through almost five decades, before his death in 1984.

Roukounas recorded many traditional songs, but is probably best known for his many rebetiko sides and for his own compositions.