Fragosyriani, lyrics by Markos Vamvakaris

Markos Vamvakaris wrote Fragkosyriani in 1935, but the song became a huge hit starting in 1960, after Grigoris Bithikotsis performed it.

Born on the island of Syros, Markos Vamvakaris, the most famous of the rebetiko singers, wrote Fragkosyriani in 1935. He left home at age 15 to work as a dockworker at the port of Piraeus, but ended up becoming a popular bouzouki player in the taverns of Piraeus and Athens. In the summers, he returns to his island, where he plays in taverns near the beaches. “When I played and sang, I always looked down; it was impossible for me to look at the crowd—I’d lose my nerve,” he writes in his autobiography. “But while I was playing there, I looked up for a moment and saw a beautiful girl. Her eyes were black. I didn’t lift my head again; I just thought about her all night, thought about her… So I took a pencil and jotted down:
- A burst of passion, a flame
I have inside my heart
It’s as if you’ve cast a spell on me
Sweet Frangosyriani...”
Upon returning to Piraeus, Vamvakaris finished the lyrics and recorded the song on a 78-rpm record. Much later, in 1960, the song became a huge hit when Grigoris Bithikotsis performed it. Since then, Frangosyriani has been a classic piece of the folk repertoire. At that time, the Catholic residents of the island were called Frangosyriani, as Syros has maintained a significant Catholic community ever since the Franks and Venetians ruled the island from the 12th to the 16th century. Vamvakaris himself was born into a Catholic family.