I received an email a couple of days ago about a Serbian film, The Time of the Gypsies, asking about the song Ederlezi Avela. I thought I would just post our conversation to help out other people interested on the topic:
Here is the video clip that the reader sent me to find out more about the song and were to find it online:
Okay, so I talked to my Roma friends from Bulgaria and I think I know this song. My friend told me that it became famous from the movie, but i'm not really sure. As a United States Peace Corps volunteer, I definitely listened to this song at parties and gatherings. From all my music I have, I wasn't able to find an MP3 to share (but most of the music I have is poorly labeled from my Bulgarian friends) so sorry about that. Someone called Nela Trifkovic from Australia has written extensively about this topic and I encourage you to read it:
http://bradmilo.tripod.com/research/Articles/balkan_as_a_metaphore_chapter3.htm
There are at least two variations of the song, one that is a roma folk song for Ederlezi (St. George's Day, which I can say from personal experience, that the celebration is amazing). The other is based off of goran bregovic. The lyrics are different, as is the sound. Don't confuse this with the more traditional style. So the traditional name of this song is
ALO MANGE LILORO or Ederlezi Avela (spellings will be different)
Goran Bregovic(traditional version): http://www.youtube.com/watchv=Cy0wo4NZ_go&feature=related
From the movie "Time of the Gypsies": http://www.youtube.com/watchv=FPNrmXRarIw&feature=related
An update "Rock" Version: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPNrmXRarIw&feature=related
More traditional renditions:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEXrtUJhde0 This clip has the lyrics on the side
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRxaWi9iT3s Erdjan is from Bulgaria and a great Roma musician (but definitely with more of a Bulgarian/Turkish style of roma music)
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Goran Bregovic also has a song that is similar:
Erdelezi (By far the most famous, +2 million views): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DwA_Zg_zFI&feature=related
Beriut (US indie band): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7cCnazx1bdM&feature=fvw
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I hope that answered some questions about the Time of the Gypsies and the song Alo
I have stopped blogging because I've started working full time and I've had to focus on other commitments. I also am not living in Bulgaria anymore, so it is more difficult to be in touch with my friends in Bulgaria and know the music that's popular these days. As you can tell, I'm still pretty interested in the music and culture so maybe some day i'll get around to writing some more.
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