Old Rioni

Old Rioni, or The Old Rioni River, is a traditional Syaran folk song that first originated in Galania sometime between the 18th and 19th Century. It became prominent among barge-tenders and riverine workers along the Rioni River and has since entered into Syara folklore and musical history.

Origin

The Rioni River flows through the Realm of Galania via Ruvelka, where it originates in the Kurilla Mountain Range. It flows westward through central Ruvelka into Zemplen and into Galania, splitting in south-west direction into Hayreniky and ending in the Nuandan Ocean. The Rioni has been used by Syarans and Ruvelkans for millennia as a means of transporting supplies up and down the river, made possible by the relatively gentle flow rate. The Rioni also seasonally floods, making it a major source of nutrients for agriculture in Galania.

Many different traditional folk songs have originated around the Rioni by barge-tenders and riverine mariners who make use of the river, some of them dating back to Classical Syara. It was after the end of the Rioni Union and the formation of the Syaran Successor States that it became prominent for Galanian merchants and businesses to sail barges full of grains and produce down the Rioni to ports like Vyerzhany on the coast.

The origin of "Old Rioni" is uncertain; as a traditional folk song it most likely did not have a single clear origin point, but was compiled by various contributors over the course of time. Some researchers have suggested a 18th Century origin point, but most historians point to a more recent 19th Century origin.

The song deals mostly with the seeming never end struggle of hard work among the Rioni, persisting despite the massive social changes that the river has been witness to.

Lyrics

As a traditional folk song there exists numerous different variants and alternate versions based on locale, time, and the nature of those singing. The most commonly accepted translation is posted below:

There's a big river called the Old Rioni;
That's a name that means much to me!
Does it even care for how we heave?
Why would it care if we never leave?

Old Rioni,
The old Rioni
The changes it's seen
Yet stays so serene
There's no ford or dam
Across all the land
That could stop it from flowing along

It's seen the Empire
The steppe men set fire
The Realms all as one
Before it came undone
But the Old Rioni
It just keeps flowing along

Day to day, I feel the strain
Body is broken and racked with pain
Sail this ship!
Heave that bale!
You try to keep grip
But you still might fail.

I get weary
And sick of trying
I'm tired of living,
but scared of dying!
But old Rioni
It just keeps flowing along.