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User Name Thread Name Subject Posted
Felipa Lyr Req: Rom Song about Holocaust (15) Lyr Add: Les Bohemiens 24 Jan 23


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GJ5yItOCSEM

The song about the blackbird sung in the film Lacho Drom
Sung by Romani holocaust survivor Margita Makulová.

the notes below the video give these lines (translation, I suppose)

O the black bird went into my heart and stole it.
Here I live in Auschwitz
Here in Auschwitz I'm hungry, there isn't a piece of bread to eat. there isn't nothing to eat here
its all my bad luck. at one time I had my home.
I'm so hungry I could kill. oh oh Jesus. OH OH.

note from US Holocaust Museum: "The lament Aušvits (Auschwitz) was first recorded in the 1960s by Ružena Danielová, a survivor from the Czech town of Mutenice, and was later featured in a documentary on Gypsy music, Latcho Drom (Safe Journey). Sung in the Romani language, Aušvits draws on themes common to the repertoire of Roma folk laments, notably the singer's feelings of isolation and despair, and the symbolic image of a dark bird bearing a message from the land of the dead." Includes a recording of Aušvits sung by Roma ensemble Khanci Dos, with translation on screen.

Soundtrack album for "Latcho Drom": https://www.allmusic.com/album/latcho-drom-mw0000626960

There must be relevant songs also in another Tony Gatlif movie, "Korkoro" aka "Liberté", set in France during Nazi occupation. One of the songs in Korkoro is in French, so more accessible to me.

LES BOHEMIENS
by Tony Gatlif and Delphine Mantoulet (Sung by Catherine Ringer)

Si quelqu'un s'inquiète de notre absence,
Dites-lui qu'on a été jeté
Du ciel et de la lumière,
Nous les seigneurs de ce vaste univers

Ils ont laissé leurs chaussures
Au bas des murs
Baxtalo les autres
Les bohémiens, les bohémiens,
Nous les seigneurs de l'univers

Si quelqu'un s'inquiète de notre absence,
Dites-lui qu'on a été jeté
Du ciel et de la lumière,
Nous les seigneurs du vaste univers

Hier, demain, n'existe pas
Deja la deja la
Ni les anges, ni dieu, n'existent plus

Si quelqu'un s'inquiète de notre absence,
Dites-lui qu'on a été jeté
Du ciel et de la lumière,
Nous les seigneurs du vaste univers

A force de leur limer la peau
Ils sont partis pieds nus là-bas,
Là où les anges, les dieux n'existent plus

Si quelqu'un s'inquiète de notre absence,
Dites-lui qu'on a été jeté
Du ciel et de la lumière,
Nous les seigneurs du vaste univers

TRANSLATION

f anyone is worried about our absence
Tell him that we were turfed out
From the sky and the light
We, the lords of this extensive universe

They left their shoes
At the bottom of the walls
Lucky, the others
The gypsies, the gypsies
We, the lords of this extensive universe

If anyone is worried about our absence
Tell him that we were turfed out
From the sky and the light
We, the lords of this extensive universe

Yesterday, tomorrow, don't exist
Already there, already there
Neither angels nor god exist anymore

If anyone is worried about our absence
Tell him that we were turfed out
From the sky and the light
We, the lords of this extensive universe

xxx
They have gone there barefoot
Where the angels and the gods don't exist anymore

If anyone is worried about our absence
Tell him that we were turfed out
From the sky and the light
We, the lords of this extensive universe

https://lyricstranslate.com/en/les-bohemiens-gypsies.html

"baxtalo" is Romani for lucky, says the translator "clockworkdashe", who also provides a translation to Turkish.
video featuring this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B6fMZbtXFk

a scene from Liberté - Korkoro

a different French song which may be relevant, speaking of a "dark future"
https://lyricstranslate.com/en/bohemiens-en-voyage-travelling-bohemians.html


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