In 2023, a musical bench with a life-size sculpture of Antanas Saulyns was installed in the square of Alytus Sakurai Avenue (Žalioji St.). It was donated to the city by the Alytus Dzūkija LIONS club. Antanas Saulynas (1927-1993) was a poet, pedagogue, and author of the words of the anthem of the city of Alytus. He was born, grew up, and spent most of his life in Alytus. Over 100 of his poems have become popular songs, including "Piene", "Pašauki", and "Žalioj stopelė", which is also played on the musical bench. Composer Mikalojus Novikas shared in an interview how he created the melody and mentioned that he immediately felt that the song would be popular. He recalled, "It was November 6th. That day I had a few guests over, and we had a 'white party'. I didn't let the guests go home because the next day, we had to go to the demonstration together. After drinking coffee, I couldn't sleep, and that's when the melody came to my mind. Since my notes and all writing instruments were in the room where the guests slept, I had to write the notes with my wife Irutė's lipstick on the newspaper."
Author Rūta Jankevičiūtė
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