Remedios Silva Pisa-Naci en el Alamo. Extended interview in French with filmmaker Tony Gatliff following video.

Like many, I first became acquainted to this song through the movie Vengo. It plays a pivotal role in one of the scenes and the songs perfectly echoes the heartache and loss that permeates this film. After the movie was released, many folks became obsessed with finding out more information about the singer Remedios Silva Pisa. Unfortunately, not much was available except for the rumor she recorded this song at age 16. I’ve recently tried to do a bit more research on her but have had little luck beyond what others have uncovered.

I did discover the song is originally a Greek Romani song called O balamos , balamos and was originally sung in the Greek Gypsy dialect. The title of the song eventually became known as, “To tragoudi ton gyfton,” The song of the Gypsies.

Giorgos Katsaris – To tragoudi twn gyftwn(mpalamo)

Some claim the song was composed in 1992 by Dionysis Tsaknis and performed by many famous Greek singers such George Dalaras , Paschalis Terzis, Eleni Vitali , Manolis Lidakis and the composer himself. Others say the song was originally released by an unknown singer called Yorgos Katsaris.

Yasmin Levy-Naci en el Alamo

Another popular version is by the Sephardic singer, Yasmin Levy. Yasmin’s father was Itzhak Levi, director of the Judeo-Spanish program at Kol Israel (Israel National Radio) for many years. She is well-known for her bridge building work between Jews and Arabs.

Ο Mπαλαμός – Eλένη Βιτάλη/Haig Yazdjian

Another beautiful Greek version.

Lyrics:
No tengo lugar
Y no tengo paisaje
Yo menos tengo patria

Con mis dedos hago el fuego
Con mi corazon te canto
Las cuerdas de mi corazon lloran

Naci en alamo
Naci en alamo
No tengo lugar
Y no tengo paisaje
Yo menos tengo patria

Ay cuando canta(n), con tus dolores nuestras mujeres te hechizan

*Everywhere the title is “Naci en Alamo” but alamo could be the Gitano pronunciation of “Naci en el amor.”

This week I’m presenting a few clips from some of my favorite Romani* themed movies.

Clip from “Ko to tamo peva”

Ko To Tamo Peva (Who’s That Singing Over There?), 1980. Directed by Slobodan Sijan, filmed in Yugoslavia (Serbia)

From a youtube commenter: The two Gypsy musicians provide a running commentary through the film, like a Greek chorus. One of them plays an accordion and sings, while the other plays a Jew’s harp. The movie begins with them singing their recurring song, to which the refrain is “I’m miserable, I was born that way, I sing to sing my pain away, I wish Mama dear that I had but dreamt it all.” t’s about people taking a bus ride to Belgrade, just before the Second world war.

I have not seen this film and just came upon by chance when searching for other clips but it looks like the kind of film I’d be thrilled to see.
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Bazid şemame hip hop (müthiş video)

Last year I did a long post on Kurdish Halay, it was one of my favorite posts to work on. I included a few clips of Semame, a fusion of traditional Kurdish music with hip hop style dancing and beats. There’s a large Kurdish population in Germany and just like with Chicanos, bi-cultural influences trickle down into everyday popular culture – for instance, this awesome Kurdish beatboxing. It’s these two girls though, that I find most impressive. They have a style, a rhythm that is so natural and makes one think that hip hop and halay have always existed together. Notice too, the little sister that tries to run up and join the dancing! Not sure of the location of this clip, Turkey perhaps?

Here’s the girls again, dancing to traditional music in semame style: