Dionysis Savvopoulos: The “Nionios” who sang about Greece is gone

He passed away at the age of 81 Dionysis Savvopoulosthe great songwriter, lyricist and performer, who left a deep mark on Greek song and the cultural life of the country. Savvopoulos contained us all. He sang a song for each of us, so his death is not just a loss, but an orphan.

The beloved Phoebus Delivorias notes about “Nionio” who “sang” Greece: “If some people felt betrayed by him, it was because they were so sure that he was singing for them only – and, to their surprise, the next day, they would discover that his next song was also about their next door, their opposite”. And indeed, this was Dionysis Savvopoulos. He was the melodious storyteller who captured our national psyche with his songs.

Born in Thessaloniki in 1944, Savvopoulos grew up in a Greece that was searching for an identity after the civil war. The “Truck” (1966) was the first sample of his different outlook: a music that combined the Greek folk sound with American folk and rock, in lyrics that spoke directly about society.

With the “Mad Orchard”, “Ball” and “Dirty Bread” established himself as the preeminent voice of allegorical resistance to the dictatorship. Without always resorting to the direct political message, he managed to convey the feeling of oppression and the need for freedom with poetic allusions. He was politically active throughout his music career. During the Junta he was imprisoned twice for his political beliefs, in August and September 1967.

“I have been in a cell for too long. I may have been depressed, but a light inside me was writing songs. The song “Demosthenous lexis” was written there. In fact, the first title of the song was “Passport for a temporary prisoner”. I shuffled Demosthenes after the fact to fool the censors. I worked them normally! I was not affected by narrowness or restriction, I was flying within myself. I always brought what happened then and lived it in the now. I wasn’t going to the past. I was bringing the past into the present”.

His work was decisive. His interpretations and arrangements are considered unique and unsurpassed, while his songs such as “Truck”, “Ball”, “Spare wheel” and “Tables outside”no matter how many years pass, they remain incorruptible and always relevant. He also chose from the beginning of his career to direct his performances himself, which became reference points both for their theatricality and for the venues where they were presented.

A self-taught and gifted creator, amazing performer and storyteller, Savvopoulos has released 14 song cycles on vinyl and radio, as well as live recordings of his performances. All his records are released abroad, everywhere there is Hellenism. For Dionysis Savvopoulos, the absolutely trivial phrase “about a great loss” applies in its entirety, says the Minister of Culture, Lina Mendoni.

“Because Dionysus was not only the inspired bard, with the inexhaustible poetic vein, nor the unsurpassed performer”as he explains.

“With his music, his lyrics, his stage presence, but also his captivating narrative, live or on paper, he expressed, throughout time, our individual searches, our collective tendencies, but also the upliftment we need. He did not remain, in their expression, as a meteoric and rare creator. He mapped our homeland and its people. He shaped us with his songs, his poetry, his riveting social and political interventions.”

“I cast aside the shadow of sickness”

Dionysis Savvopoulos had spoken publicly and with admirable honesty about the battle he fought with lung cancer through his autobiography, “Why the years fly by”released in early 2025.

“I had some discomfort and, since I had time, I went to the doctors. The tests revealed lung cancer. I was all goohoo-goohoo. I’ve been smoking for over 50 years and I’m telling you this to be careful. And if – the unborn – happens to you, don’t be afraid. Deal with it. God has”he had written.

Despite the treatments and reasonable exhaustion, Savvopoulos did not retreat from the public space. Instead, he tackled important artistic projects: from concerts for the 21st Revolution, to the exhibition for the 100th anniversary of the Asia Minor Disaster, which he also presented in Cyprus. “I cast aside the shadow of sickness”he writes. But this shadow came back more heavily, when in a vulnerable immune phase, he was infected with a corona virus.

“While I was doing my normal immunotherapy at the hospital, they asked me from Cyprus to give some concerts… I couldn’t refuse. I always wore a mask… And as soon as I came back, I fell into bed with a high fever… I was loaded with corona virus. I was when I was weak from the treatments, I also caught the virus on the plane…”.

In the pages of the book, the strongest image is perhaps not medical, but deeply human. It is the moment when the well-known songwriter comes face to face with the nakedness of his body and soul, in a hospital room. “I wake up one night soaking wet. I had wet underwear, pajamas, sheets… Now? Should I call the nurses? Do they have to see me like this? I am… Savvopoulos. It’s not possible. It’s happening!…”.

The cloud and the birds of misery, the airplanes and the steamers and the motorcycle roar in our minds, on the waterfront sparklers and choirs, the children with hair and in black clothes bring messages even he, a stranger to his joy, don’t, don’t say it, our old friend is gone forever. And as Dionysis Savvopoulos himself had said, “anyway, in the end everyone will judge you not by what you know, but by what you were able to do”. Have a nice trip…