Tuesday, May 23, 2006

Lejla

Look what I found!

Hari Mata Hari represented Bosnia & Herzegovina at Eurovision in Athens last week. Here is their performance of Lejla:



Or the official music video, which you can see here:



Lejla comes from the Arabic, meaning a dark night on which your fate or destiny will be determined. (Referring in this case to the definite win Mata Hari looked to have on the night!)

But I have a theory on some of the imagery in the music video. There is an old lady spinning wool and weaving in the middle - also a recurring motif is the floating golden thread.

I think it is an allusion to the Greek Fates who controlled Destiny, called the Moirae:
1) Clotho spins the thread of life with her distaff
2) Lachesis measures the thread of life with her rod
3) Atropos cuts the thread of life with her shears


Here is the English translation:

LAYLA

Wind rolls down the meadow,
Pain follows me like a shadow,
Do you still long for me,
Where have you gone, oh, sorrow.

Rosemary in your hair,
And a flower by the fountain,
Layla.

How could you ever love another.

My dove, lovely dove,
Not a song, bring her my tears.

When they ask for your hand,
My love, I won't be there,
Sorrow is easy to forgive.
But love is not forgiven, ever.

How could you ever love another.

My dove, lovely dove,
Not a song, bring her my tears.

Now I go, for I have loved,
The one who could never be mine.

My dove, lovely dove,
Not a song, bring her my tears.

Now I go, for I have loved,
The one who could never be mine.

Why did I love you,
Layla.



TEXT

16 comments:

panda_eyed said...

I thought Bosnia Herz's entry was v pretty. I'm not a big fan of rock at all, but I did love the originality of Finland's entry. How did they sing with those masks on?? They deserved to win just for that!

michelle said...

I like this song and I downloaded it...

Olivia said...

Dating Master - I guess you came over from Leilouta's!
Why get divorced? The cons are definitely against you.

You can't make such a terminal decision without trying to improve matters first. I read some of your blog. Why are you afraid to ask your wife what is bothering her? Can you both confront the problem and go to marriage counseling?

It's not going to go away if you spout about it online and do nothing to change the situation at home. Try to remember why you married her in the first place, and sort yourselves out.

Surely trying to fix it together first is better than the alternative.

Olivia said...

Panda - yep, as you already know how I feel about it: they did a good job, but why metal and it's not Euro per se.

I bet it took all night for those costumes to dry.

Olivia said...

Steli and JL - glad you both enjoyed the song. It is like so many of the Greek love songs!

Steli - do you want me to post links?

I have tried to find a whole streaming video of the entire event, but I can't. I may just have to post links to each performance.

:o

Leilouta said...

I can't watch videos at work, so I guess I'll have to wait until I get home :)
I am sure it is good though. You have great taste.

BHCh said...

Shalom, Olivia!

Thanks for standing up for me on Leilouta's site the other day :-)

I think it's a really nice poem, but can't say I enjoyed the song. Maybe you need the right surroundings...

You don't look 100% anglosaxon even though you are from London. Let me guess... Greek?

Prerona said...

hey girl! howve u been? thats a lovely song - would like to hear ...

Olivia said...

Leilouta - I hope you enjoyed it.

Steli - too late! I had done it already by the time I read your comment. This is the kind of thing I could do for a living!

Shlemazl - Shalom & welcome. You're quarter right, I'm quarter Greek.

Prerona - oh poo! Guess you're still on dialup?

MattJ said...

Lordi FTW!!!!!!! hehe.

can't listen til I get home sadly. I dunno about rock not being Euro to be honest. Nightwish are one of the biggest bands in mainland europe apparently, Blind Guardian also enjoy some popularity. Seems to me it's us in the UK that eschew the classic rock stuff. Having said that it is quite 80s but i just love the idea of Nightwish. Lead singer is a trained opera singer and for a couple of the tracks they get a roady to sing some of it lol!

Olivia said...

Steli - you will see +)

Matt - someone on TV said we in the UK tend to forget that hard rock never went out of fashion in the rest of Europe.

MattJ said...

It's true Liv, and the great thing about Nightwish is that every member of the band can sing and play their instruments phenomenally. Anyway, listed to the track now and you're right it's really good. Loved the music.

Olivia said...

Steli - oh, it would have made more sense if I remembered punctuation!

Matt - yay! another B&H convert :P

Leilouta said...

Thank you Steliano,Olivia and Shlemazl :)

OMG Olivia, I looooooooooooooooooooooove it.
I really really reaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaally love it.
Thank you so much. I am going to listen to it all night.

Olivia said...

WOW Leiloutaaaaaaaa!
I am impressed that you like it SOOOOO much!
And the cool thing is, it's like YOUR name!

Anonymous said...

That is a nice song. Nice break from the work day.

Vanessa