Singer on 40-year marriage: Both patience and keeping one's mouth shut key
Near-legendary singer Anne Veski says the key to the success of her marriage, which reaches its 40th anniversary this summer, is an ability to be both patient and to shut up at the right time, ERR's Menu portal reports.
Appearing on Sunday morning magazine show "Hommuk Anuga" ahead of a new song also dedicated to her husband, Benno Beltšikov, Veski, 64, said that while she has no secret formula for staying together all that time, looking before you leap was certainly one component.
"It's difficult. It's terribly difficult. Everyone who has been in this situation knows it's not a mess all the time. There are better and worse times. The key is surely patience and being able to close your mouth in time. Pause, before you say anything in response."
As to the new song, entitled ""See, mis meid kokku viis"" ("This, which brought us together"): "It fits in very well with this year, because this summer I will have been 40 years with my husband. Of course, the song is dedicated to him, but also to everyone who has someone to celebrate their married years with, and in general, those who love someone – a beautiful song for everyone."
Shedding more light on some of the past 40 years of marriage, Veski told "Hommik Anuga" that she was far from the perfect housewife or hostess.
"My husband has been cooking for a lifetime, while I have been quietly learning things from the sidelines, and then he will go and say: 'Good God, you haven't learned how to do such and such so far.' But I try," Veski went on, reiterating a folk belief that, while the man is the head in the relationship, the woman is the neck – and the head only turns when the neck wants it to.
The new song (see video below) was originally written in English, she said, though she recorded an Estonian version.
Igor Krutoi, one of the two songwriters, had worked with U.S. producers and songwriters during the number's birth, with one of these coming up with the original lyrics, while noted poet, translator and children's writer Leelo Tungal translated the words – which have also seen a Russian version translated – into Estonian.
"I thought it was time to do the song in Estonian, because he has a timeless quality to it. Leelo also created words in a way that the heart begins to tremble, and the hands too," Veski went on.
Veski is no stranger to performing in Russian as well as her native Estonian, having had a career lasting around the same length of time as her marriage, which saw her become a star across the Soviet Union, continuing in Russia following the union's collapse.
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