Dārdi

Eight young people founded Dārdi in 2011. Several of them were born during the Third Awakening of the late 1980s and early 1990s, into families that were active in the folklore movement. The members of Dārdi continue this interest in folk music, adding their own personal touch to arrangements, which are oſt en infl uenced by the blues. They also pay close attention to the song texts and the symbolism included therein, which is why they named their debut album Stipri vārdi (Powerful Words). They are inspired by the many diff erent layers of meaning they discover, as adults, in the songs they learned as young children. “I wandered in the forest for two days” has a mythological text. The singer wanders in the forest for two days but sees nothing. On the third day he sees a golden oak tree and a silver river, on the banks of which God’s sons prepare a sauna for the Sun, who bathes in it with her maids. “Song of the rising sun” is the only original composition on the album, but like folk songs, it draws inspiration and strength from nature: “Earth my body and water my blood / Air my breath and fi re my spirit.”