Phoenix is the best romanian rock-band, and this is one of their best songs, it's about the time the band was in exile during communism. I translated the lyrics as best as I could, hoping to share some romanian great music.
Transsylvania Phoenix or, more commonly, just Phoenix, is one of the most prominent Romanian Rock and Roll bands of the latest decades, and also the first one to take musical inspiration from ancient Romanian folk themes.
Formed in the 1960s, it began by doing covers of Beatles songs. However, they soon had to change their style since the Romanian communist regime disliked any form of western culture. The communist regime suggested that all rock oriented bands should look for inspiration within the Romanian culture. These restrictions made the band's leader Nicolae Covaci search within the Romanian folklore, which gave them a unique sound.
By this time, the popularity of Phoenix had grown huge; people loved their songs not only for what they were, but also because they contained thinly-veiled allusions to the Communist regime. The band members, especially Nicu Covaci, found themselves increasingly harassed by the Securitate. Covaci married a Dutch woman and left the country in 1976. He returned in 1977, bringing in relief aid for those struck by the powerful earthquake on March 4. After two grandiose concerts in Constanta and Tulcea, Covaci surprisingly left the country again, this time with all the band members (except Baniciu) hidden inside their Marshall speakers - a huge undertaking, since in Communist Romania it was extremely difficult to obtain approval to travel abroad, and illegal border crossing carried the death penalty. (source: www.wikipedia.org)
Better translation of lyrics:
I stand alone and ask myself why I left home -
Could it be the age-old curse that lies upon us?
For I've done nothing wrong, but I've suffered so much,
I've been slandered for no reason by those I loved.
Sunset after sunset -- how quickly time passes!
And the dawn is gone -- how cold the wind blows!
I waited fervidly to come back,
You all judged me, sentenced me -- but who are you?
Your time has passed in the shadow of the Great Bear,
But your claws are still there in any embrace,
Today the kiss on the cheek from you hurts.
Give me my life back, the life I've lost for you,
Forgetting the yearning, and the two years of wandering,
It wonʼt be long now, the thousand years are almost through.
The leaves have fallen, the storm has scattered them.
Where are the hopes? None remains.
A sudden, unvoiced thought stills me in my tracks:
Of all I waited for, all I dreamed of, nothing has changed.
Give me my life back, the life I've lost for you,
Forgetting the yearning and the hardships,
My drunken friends, out of a thousand, how many are left?
And your time has passed in the shadow of the Great Bear,
But your claws are still there in any embrace,
Today a kiss on the cheek from you hurts.
Loading...
78 videos
All Comments