Eglė Petrošiūtė brings translated lyrics to her Lithuanian audiences

Eglė Petrošiūtė does not leave the meaning of every song to the listener’s imagination. “I write a Lithuanian translation of some songs,” she told Ieva Pakalniškytė in a 2024 interview for 7 meno dienos. Describing concerts in Lithuania, she recalled the surprise of listeners who associated a song with the beach, only to discover that its words were about heartbreak.

No notes need to change for that discovery to alter the song. Hopeful music and painful words can coexist; understanding the lyric lets a listener notice the distance between them. Calling the whole thing cheerful would lose part of what is being sung.

On her album Bird’s Notes, another route into the music matters to her: melody. Her official presentation describes a wish for audiences to sing along with interweaving lines. A complicated arrangement need not make every part difficult to follow. One singable line can give a listener a way through it, just as a translation can provide a way into an unfamiliar lyric.

Brazilian music had been part of her childhood listening at home. Bird’s Notes combines her own songs with arrangements of Brazilian compositions. She co-produced it with bassist Matheus Nicolaiewsky, and drummer Kiko Freitas appears on the recording. Writing, arranging and leading the ensemble are part of her work alongside singing.

The track linked here is her own Bird’s Notes, whose release presentation connects it with creative freedom. The interview does not identify the song in the heartbreak example. Her account is no reason to search for hidden sadness beneath every bright melody. It is a reason to find out what the words say before deciding what story the song tells.