The song “Fifth Lion” was written by Miltos Paschalidis during his years as a mathematics student in Heraklion. The fifth lion is a reference to the famous Four Lions of the Venetian Morosini Fountain of Heraklion.
Far from the shadow of the castle
It turns its back on the harbour
It hides buried secrets
And always does as it pleases
This city that torments me
This city that confuses me.
Ten years ago I came here
With a suitcase full of numbers and notes
I found a hole to hide in
But my crazy verses
Didn’t fit into the equations
And so I said I’ll come out and sing
To this city that enchants me.
And when the customers went home
Mute, I gazed at the moon
Like a statue in the square
I, its fifth lion.
Here on the brink of thirty
– God, what a number that is –
Nothing lasts forever
My other self beckons
In this city that torments me
In this city that confuses me.
Now my friends are scattered
And like a wild animal I hide deep in my den
Here nobody knows me and if they’ve learned my surname
They’ve forgotten my name
In this city that enchants me.
And when the concert is over
I wink at the moon
Like a statue in the square
I, its fifth lion.
Lyrics, music and first performance by Miltos Paschalidis
LINKS:
- Heraklion today, thoughts about the Heraklion of today and its future