Shto mi e milo
(Macedonian / Bulgarian traditional song)
The Pennywhistlers
Yale Women's Slavic Chorus
De Visa
University College Maastricht
Rainbow Swingers
Euphorica
Die Irrlichter
Rosica Pejcheva
Dance
Sto mi e milo
Sto mi e milo, milo i drago
Vo struga grada mamo, duk'an da imam
Lele varaj mome, mome Kalino
Vo struga grada mamo duk'an da imam
Na k'epencite, mamo, da sedam
Struzkite momi mamo momi da gledam
Lele varaj mome, mome Kalino
Struzkite momi mamo moni da gledam
Koga na voda, voda mi odat
So tija stomni mamo, stomni sareni
Lele varaj, mome, mome Kalino
So tija stomni, mamo, stomni sareni
Na ovoj izvor, izvor studeni
Tam da se zdruzki, mamo, zdruzki soberat
Lele varaj, mome, mome Kalino
Tam da se zdruzki, mamo, zdruzki soberat
English translation:
How I would like to have a shop
In the town of Struga
Hurry, young Kalino
To sit by the door
And watch the young girls of Struga go by
Hurry, young Kalino
As they fetch water
With their brightly colored jugs
Hurry, young Kalino
And meet with their friends at the well
Hurry, young Kalino
Pronounciations:
Here's a brief guide to the pronounciations of the Balkan gypsy songs.
The easiest way to learn them, however, is to hear someone actually singing them.
There are lots of great recordings of Balkan music out there. We recommend Kitka
a = wAnt
c = caTS
c with a check-mark over it (a "hocheck") = CHop
e = pEt
g = Go
h = BaCH
x = BaCH
i = EAch
j = Yard
l before e or i = light "l" as in Lip, or Little
l before a, o, or u = hard "l" as in goLd or you'LL
o = Orange
s = Sad
s with a hocheck = SHip
u = pOOl
u with a hocheck = fUn
z = Zoo
z with a hocheck= viSIon
Special Pronunciations:
r's are rolled briefly
n's, d's, and t's are pronounced forward, (think Russian accent); the tongue
should nestle comfortably in the roof of your mouth up against your front
teeth.
All vowels should be "pure"; no diphthongs. (for example, "o" should be
just the "o" sound, not "uhoow", "i" should be the "ee" sound, not "eeuh")
Other versions:
Shto mi e milo, milo i drago,
Vo Struga grada mamo, dukan da imam. / x2
/Lele varaj varaj, mome Kalino,
Vo Struga grada mamo dukan da imam. / x2
/Na kepencite mamo da sedam,
Struzkite momi mamo, momi da gledam. / x2
/Lele varaj varaj, mome Kalino,
Struzkite momi mamo, momi da gledam. / x2
/Koga na voda, voda mi odat,
So tia stomni mamo, stomni sareni. / x2
/Lele varaj varaj, mome Kalino,
So tia stomni mamo, stomni sareni. / x2
/Na ovoj izvor, izvor studeni,
Tam da se s druzki mamo, s druzki soberat. / x2
/Lele varaj varaj, mome Kalino,
Tam da se s druzki mamo, s druzki soberat. / x2
English translations:
1-
How pleased and happy I would be,
To have a shop in the town of Struga.
Hey, Kalina.
To sit in front of my shop,
And watch the girls of Struga.
When they go for water,
With their bright colored jugs.
To that cold well,
To meet there with their friends.
2-
How I would like to have a shop
In the town of Struga
Hurry, young Kalino
To sit by the door
And watch the young girls of Struga go by
Hurry, young Kalino
As they fetch water
With their brightly colored jugs
Hurry, young Kalino
And meet with their friends at the well
Hurry, young Kalino
3-
How I dear it is to me, how dear it is to me
In the town of Struga, oh dear mother, to own a shop
Oh hurry young girl, Kalino (Kalina is a girl's name)
In the town of Struga, oh dear mother, to own a shop
When they go to fetch water
With these water-jugs, oh dear mother, brightly colored water-jugs
Oh hurry, young Kalino
With these water-jugs, oh dear mother, brightly colored water-jugs
It doesn't really make sense in English but it makes sense in Bulgarian. That's just the benefit of knowing the language, I guess. You can't really translate the real meaning of poetry (songs in this case). This, I beleive, is not the whole song. There is a verse or two more....
cheers
4-
How I would like to have a shop
In the town of Struga
Hurry, young Kalino
To sit by the door
And watch the young girls of Struga go by
Hurry, young Kalino
As they fetch water
With their brightly colored jugs
Hurry, young Kalino
And meet with their friends at the well
Hurry, young Kalino