Trayiaskes Now girls wear the cap of the working-man They amble and stroll in the streets as they can. You see your chick wear a cap just the same As a mangas, she swaggers around without shame. The chicks strut about now dressed as men, They run off with the guys to the smoking den. You see those ‘dervish’ girls all trim With every trick, caprice and whim. I see one girl, I watch for an hour Then she sees me - I pull my cap lower. Hey little sister, I’m ready to say Shall we sneak to that dive? Smoke an arghile? Who's a mangas now? It’s hard for a chap To know now that ladies are sporting this cap. Us poor little dervishes, what’s to be done! They’ve taken our measure. They’re stealing our fun! | Τραγιασκες Και οι γκόμενες φορέσανε τραγιάσκες και στους δρόμους τριγυρνούν και κάνουν τσάρκες βλέπεις γκόμινα τραγιάσκα να φοράει και σα μαγκίτης αβέρτα περπατάει Και οι γκόμενες αντρίκια κουσουμάρουν Και με μάγκες τρέχουνε για να φουμάρουν Βλέπεις μάγκα μου ντερβίσικα κορίτσα Με ναζάκια με κολπάκια και καπρίτσα Βλέπω μια και μια ώρα την κοιτάζω Και σαν με βλέπει την τραγιάσκα κατεβάζω Είμαι φέρτε να της πω μωρ’ αδερφάκι Ζούλα πάμε στον τεκέ για τσιμπουκάκι Δεν μπορώ να καταλάβω ποιοι ‘ν’ οι μάγκες Και οι κυρίες κουσουμάρουνε τραγιάσκες Τι θα κάνουμε εμείς τα ντερβισάκια Μας ζυγώνουν και μας πιάνουν τα μεράκια |
A song about girls getting in on the act. People often associate the rebetiko look with the republica - a round brimmed hat, but that was not the style for Markos who was loading first coal and then heavy merchandize on and off cargo ships in Piraeus from the age of 15. Then he did flaying and slaughtering in the meat market for many more years before he started playing and recording songs on bouzouki and blossomed into the Bohemian life:
'Like all of them, I liked to dress well. I dressed in the mangas style, like a free spirit, you know, not flashy with a tie and a republica and all that. No. Sometimes I even wore the workingman’s cap. What I mean is I always dressed stylishly, especially later when I had money. English suits, yes, but I always looked a tad raffish. I mean, I might be wearing the finest suit that cost a thousand, maybe two thousand drachmas, but I’d still be wearing a flannel undershirt ...'
The word trayiaska apparently is the Roumanian for ‘Hurrah’.
When Roumanian students visited Greece at the beginning of the 20th century they used to throw their caps in the air and shout ‘Hurrah for Greece!’: 'trayiaska Grecia!' and so the cap took its name.
'Like all of them, I liked to dress well. I dressed in the mangas style, like a free spirit, you know, not flashy with a tie and a republica and all that. No. Sometimes I even wore the workingman’s cap. What I mean is I always dressed stylishly, especially later when I had money. English suits, yes, but I always looked a tad raffish. I mean, I might be wearing the finest suit that cost a thousand, maybe two thousand drachmas, but I’d still be wearing a flannel undershirt ...'
The word trayiaska apparently is the Roumanian for ‘Hurrah’.
When Roumanian students visited Greece at the beginning of the 20th century they used to throw their caps in the air and shout ‘Hurrah for Greece!’: 'trayiaska Grecia!' and so the cap took its name.