Gusta Mi Magla Padnala - Serbian Song

Kaval and gaida by @Dimitrios_Dallas, saz by Yorgos Mourkousis, vocals & arrangement by Farya Faraji. This is a Serbian folk song said to hail from the southern part of Serbia, namely the Kosovo and Metohija region. One of the most popular Serbian folk songs, it's often arranged in a more modernised form using contemporary instruments such as the accordion, but I wanted the instrumental soundscape to hearken to an older time circa the 1500's to 1700's, with more archaic but still utilised instruments such as the kaval flute, the gaida bagpipe, and the saz.

The music is structured in a 7/8 time signature, one of the most common ones in Serbian music. I was also careful to render the vocals with intonation that is deliberately archaic: instead of matching the modern 12 tone equal temperament notes found in Western music, some traditional Serbian vocalists still sing notes that fall outside of that spectrum, notably with the second interval being a little sharper, and the fourth being somewhat flatter, giving this rendition a more archaic flavour that is neither perfectly minor nor phrygian, which are commonly the notes now utilised in much of more modernised Serbian folk music. Typical drone harmony accompanies the vocals, with the secondary voice switching from tonic to subtonic as a form of pedal note underneath the main melody.

One interesting aspect to note is the line "Кол’ко су sвезде на небо, море, Кол’ко су sвезде на небо. Тол’ко су шарке на њега, море, Тол’ко су шарке на њега," which translates to "as many stars as there are in the sky, there are hinges/patterns on this vest." This turn of phrase is a common one found in many Slavic songs of the Balkans, also found in Bulgarian music, with the phrase "as many leaves as there are in the forest, that much happiness be bestowed upon this house," or similar alternatives, etc.

Lyrics in Serbian:
Густа ми магла паднала, море,
Густа ми магла паднала.
На тој ми рамно Косово, море,
На тој ми рамно Косово.

Ништа се живо не види, море,
Ништа се живо не види.
До једно дрво високо, море,
До једно дрво високо.

Под њег ми седив терзије, море,
Под њег ми седив терзије.
Они ми шијев јелече, море,
Они ми шијев јелече.

Кол’ко су sвезде на небо, море,
Кол’ко су sвезде на небо.
Тол’ко су шарке на њега, море,
Тол’ко су шарке на њега.

English translation:
A dense fog has fallen down,
Upon this plane Kosovo field.

Nothing can be seen,
but one tall tree.

A tailor is sitting under (the tree).
He is sewing a vest for me.

As many stars there are in the sky,
that many colours are on the vest.

[faryafaraji]

The music is structured in a 7/8 time signature, one of the most common ones in Serbian music. I was also careful to render the vocals with intonation that is deliberately archaic: instead of matching the modern 12 tone equal temperament notes found in Western music, some traditional Serbian vocalists still sing notes that fall outside of that spectrum, notably with the second interval being a little sharper, and the fourth being somewhat flatter, giving this rendition a more archaic flavour that is neither perfectly minor nor phrygian, which are commonly the notes now utilised in much of more modernised Serbian folk music. Typical drone harmony accompanies the vocals, with the secondary voice switching from tonic to subtonic as a form of pedal note underneath the main melody.

One interesting aspect to note is the line "Кол’ко су sвезде на небо, море, Кол’ко су sвезде на небо. Тол’ко су шарке на њега, море, Тол’ко су шарке на њега, " which translates to "as many stars as there are in the sky, there are hinges/patterns on this vest." This turn of phrase is a common one found in many Slavic songs of the Balkans, also found in Bulgarian music, with the phrase "as many leaves as there are in the forest, that much happiness be bestowed upon this house, " or similar alternatives, etc.

Lyrics in Serbian:
Густа ми магла паднала, море,
Густа ми магла паднала.
На тој ми рамно Косово, море,
На тој ми рамно Косово.

Ништа се живо не види, море,
Ништа се живо не види.
До једно дрво високо, море,
До једно дрво високо.

Под њег ми седив терзије, море,
Под њег ми седив терзије.
Они ми шијев јелече, море,
Они ми шијев јелече.

Кол’ко су sвезде на небо, море,
Кол’ко су sвезде на небо.
Тол’ко су шарке на њега, море,
Тол’ко су шарке на њега.

English translation:
A dense fog has fallen down,
Upon this plane Kosovo field.

Nothing can be seen,
but one tall tree.

A tailor is sitting under (the tree).
He is sewing a vest for me.

As many stars there are in the sky,
that many colours are on the vest.

[AkhmedKhudododov]

Greetings from a Pamiri (Iranic) living in Poland 🇵🇱. Speaking Russian and Polish makes me easy to understand Yugoslavian languages. Hvala Srbja!

[kovaxim]

I'm glad I learned the Cyrillic script when I was a kid. There's so much to this world that you can learn when you can read it in the original language.

Never thought I'd see the day when an Iranian Canadian guy would sing a traditional Serbian song in the original language with older traditional music, not modern traditional. So good.

[paulussturm]

I cannot even express how grateful I am to finally hear a non modernized traditional rendition of this song

Živeo nam ti sto godina brate Farja

[Nietzsche_Mustache]

Brother, in my country, it's 3 o'clock, I listen to this song when everyone is asleep ❤️

[dimzen]

Serbia is listening to you!
❤ hvala ❤

[Ирина_]

Прекрасная музыка Сербии✨

С любовью к братьям-сербам из России❤

[indyfan]

I'd love to hear you sing a Gusle song from Serbia. They’re epic poems written in decsyllabic lines, accompanied by a single-stringed instrument called a gusle, played with a bow. The player recites and plays at the same time, telling a story, reflected in their tone and facial expressions.

[MehdiMoha-pm]

Grettings from morroco to Serbian brothers and sisters👳🇲🇦🤝❤️🇷🇸

[neejahwhitenight]

Your Serbian pronunciation is top-class 👏👏👏

[miracafsin]

Good job Farya. I will go to Serbia like 2 months and my playlist is all set

[ИванМостяев-од]

Еще раз спели эту чудесную песню! И как всегда восхитительно! Счастья и здоровья вам!

[Blagoje-ov]

About the third paragraph, as a Serb, I can say that that kind of phrase is very common in our tradition, for example when we burn the Бадњак (Badnyak, the young oak tree) for Christmas, we usually say: "Колко варница у ватру, толко здравља у кућу" which translates to: "As many sparks there are in the fire, that much health will be in the house".

[HistorywithCy]

Nice one and as always thanks for providing the lyrics, translation and historical backdrop!

[krlev]

As a Serb, I can say you really captured the spirit of the song. You're a dynamo, brother!

[danicadabic]

Great rendition of this song which happens to be one of my favorite Serbian folk songs (in addition to "Marijo bela kumrijo"). Thank you for recognizing its beauty and performing it in a more traditional way. ❤

[Dimitrios_Dallas]

Another amazing project! Thank you very much Farya for including me on this great collaboration!

[domandoman]

Magnificent work, as always from your channel.

In schools in Serbia we learnt very basic things about history of music, but never with such colorful teachings of yours, followed by good examples from every corner of the world where oriental music thrives. We were taught only about Western music history in more depth, not focusing on literaly more than half of music theory and history.

Thank you and keep on with your work!

[ViralForce.community]

Brother this is awesome!!
Greetings from Serbia! 🫀🇷🇸🫀

[Eugene-tmfm]

Congrats on 250k! 4 songs in a week, I take it you’ve been snorting some of Aristoxenos’ olives