Antis

Antis

Published: April 11, 2017

Antis is a Lithuanian postmodernist rock band that’s been around since 1984. The name literally translates as “duck,” but in Lithuanian it also refers to… fake news!—or more accurately, “a false mass media sensation,” as the band puts it. This had a lot of resonance when the band first formed, at the end of the Soviet era.

In 1986, during perestroika, alternative and rock music was just becoming more openly available in Lithuania. Drawing on the fervor, architect Algirdas “Pablo” Kaušpėdas invented Antis as a joke, hoping to draw attendees to a New Year’s party. The joke spun wildly out of proportion, as the band’s performance at the party led to its becoming one of the most popular Lithuanian rock bands of the late Soviet and early independent era. The band was always politically motivated and highly anti-Soviet, which is reflected in their lyrics.

Antis picked up speed and popularity in 1986, the year that’s often credited with the band’s formation. At that point it consisted of Kaušpėdas (lyrics, vocals), Arūnas Blūšius (guitar), Gediminas Simniškis (bass guitar), Petras Ubartas (trumpet, guitar), Arūnas Povilauskas (keyboards), Pavelas Kovaliovas (saxophone), Artūras Luckus (trombone), Vytautas Kublius (tuba), and Gintautas Kažemėkas (percussion). They began performing at underground and then more major music events, including the Lituanica ’86, where they joined wildly popular Russian rock bands Aquarium and Bravo. Their popularity continued to grow and spread all over the world after this.

Antis released two albums between 1986 and 1990, after which they took a very long hiatus, although their record label continued to release collections of their music. But the band returned to the scene in 2007 and have released several new albums that sold much better than expected (according to the band’s website). In 2016 the band disbanded again, supposedly for good, after releasing a best-of-30-years collection.

The band has also been featured in several documentaries, including the 2011 How We Played the Revolution (Kaip mes žaidėme revoliuciją), about Antis and the Lithuanian Singing Revolution.

 

“Alyvos” (“Oil”)—this is a song from Antis’s first album, shown in a live recording from their farewell concert in 2016:

 

Lyrics for “Alyvos”:

Pražydo pražydo pražydo
Prie kelio begėdės alyvos
Nuraudo nuraudo nuraudo
Kvepėdamos ilgisi draugo

Vaikšto vaikšto po vieną po du
Laukia laukia meilės kartu
Nemyli myli buria ratu
Ieško ieško laimingų žiedų

La la la la la la la la la la la
Alyvos

Vėlyvos vėlyvos vėlyvos
Pavasarį tavo alyvos
Nespėja žydėti nespėja
Ruduo pirma laiko atėjo

Vaikšto vaikšto po vieną po du
Laukia laukia meilės kartu
Nemyli myli buria ratu
Ieško ieško laimingų žiedų

Pradingo pradingo pradingo
Pavasario krūmas spalvingas
Kas žino kas žino kas žino
Kur mūsų svajonių alyvos

Vaikšto vaikšto po vieną po du
Laukia laukia meilės kartu
Nemyli myli buria ratu
Ieško ieško laimingų žiedų

La la la la la la la la la la la
Alyvos
La la la la
la la la la la la la la la la
La la la la la la la la la
Alyvos

 

“Abejingas Dievas” (“Indifferent God”), from the group’s 2013 album:

 

Lyrics for “Abejingas Dievas”:

Viešpatie aš abejingas
Viešpatie aš abejingas
Viešpatie aš abejingas
Viešpatie aš abejingas

Darau nuodėmes ir aplaidžiai, neprincipingai
savo Sazina ydingoj nefiksuoju endless.

Viešpatie aš abejingas
Viešpatie aš abejingas
Viešpatie aš abejingas
Viešpatie aš abejingas

Krentu žemės ant, ant pagalvės.
Esu amžinai pavargęs.
Mano maldos tuščios, nuobodžios.
Bet here atleidi, nes tokių, kaip aš – begalybė, bevardė.

Gal tau mielesni tie žmonės,
kurių gyvenimai vienodi,
be iššukių ir nešvarių paklodžių?

Gal here vertini romiuosius ir Pagonis
nesuprantančius tavo Malones?

Viešpatie aš save apleidau.
Tik tavo dėmesys beliko.
Padek kaip kapstytis nors
iš mano režisuoto ir tik man skirto
neprognozuojamo realybės Cirko.

Viešpatie aš abejingas
Viešpatie aš abejingas

Kodėl nematau taves?
Esu Akmenine Tvirtove.
Pasigailėk manęs!
Įsileisk į savo tikrovę!
Mano širdis atlaikys.
Aš išstovėsiu ant koju.
Pažvelk į mano Akis!
Aš tavo dėmesio noriu!

About the author

Julie Hersh

Julie studied Russian as a Second Language in Irkutsk and before that, Bishkek, with SRAS's Home and Abroad Scholarship program, with the goal of someday having some sort of Russia/Eurasia-related career. She recently got her master’s degree from the University of Glasgow and the University of Tartu, where she studied women’s dissent in Soviet Russia. She also has a bachelor’s degree in literature from Yale. Some of her favorite Russian authors are Sorokin, Shishkin, Il’f and Petrov, and Akhmatova. In her spare time Julie cautiously practices martial arts, reads feminist websites, and taste-tests instant coffee for her blog.

Program attended: Home and Abroad Scholar

View all posts by: Julie Hersh