Solo album ‘J.R. Bathoorn’ available on CD, vinyl and all streaming services.
Traditional mournful music you can drink, cry and dance to. Greek, Turkish, Yiddish, Slavic and Balkan songs. Ecstatic accordion riffs and melancholic ballads. Get it here now.
Lyrics, context and translations below!
Videos
Single ‘Nina Naj Naj’ from first studio album ‘J.R. Bathoorn’
Polish waltzes filmed in Wolkenfabriek Groningen
Greek-Turkish song O Kaixis / Gel Gel Gayikci
Context, lyrics and translations for album ‘J.R. Bathoorn’
Side A
Nina Naj Naj // Get Up And Dance My Dear
This song is sung all over the Balkans and Turkey, and calls for dancing and enjoying, as there is enough trouble in the world already.
Get up and dance my dear
So I see you and rejoice
Turkish ciftetelli
ninanay, darling, ninanay nay
Opa ninanina nay nina nay nay
ninanay, darling, ninanay nay
Opa ninanina nay nina nay nay
ninanay, darling, ninanay nay
I will sing to you again
the asiatic hava
shake your body a little
ninanay, darling, ninanay nay
Opa ninanina nay..
We only live once
in this false world
we should enjoy a little bit
ninanay, darling, ninanay nay
Opa ninanina nay..
Mama Ya Zhulika Lyublyu // Mama, I Love a Petty Thief
The blatnaya pesnya or Russian chanson originated in 19th century Russia, more specifically the multi-ethnic port city of Odessa and was set in the urban underworld, often romanticizing the ‘merry thief’ archetype and making use of sexual innuendo, black humour and irony.
Mom, I love a pilot
Mom, I’ll go after the pilot!
He flies above the roof
Receives more than a thousand
Mom, I love a pilot!
Mom, I love a cook
Mom, I’ll go for the cook!
The cook makes cutlets
Olives and vinaigrettes
Mom, I love a cook
Mom, I love a doctor
Mom, I’ll go for the doctor!
The doctor does abortions
Sends you off to resorts
Mom, I love a doctor!
Mom, I love a petty thief
Mom, I’ll go after a swindler!
This crook will steal
And I will sell
Mom, I love a petty thief!
San Apokliros Girizo // As An Exile I Wander
Also known as The Complaint of the Expatriate. Migration is of all times and places, but Greece has its own specific history with it. Around the turn of the 20th century, hundreds of thousands of Greeks already migrated to the United States to look for a better life away from the war torn Balkans, but after the Greco-Turkish war of 1919-1922, in an attempt to resolve ethnic strife, the 1923 population exchange between Greece and Turkey made 2 million people resettle from their ancestral lands to a new homeland where they were seen as strangers. After these events, about one in five Greeks was not born in Greece, but was in fact an immigrant.
As an exile I wander
in this hostile foreign land
strolling, miserable,
far from my mother’s embrace
The birds cry for air,
the trees cry for water
And I cry too, my dear mother, for you
for I haven’t seen you in years
Death, take my soul
so I can find peace at last!
Since the black fate wanted me
never to feel joy in my life
O Kaixis // Gel Gel Kayıkçı // The Boatsman
Song of longing for a lover that is far away. Sung in Greek and Turkish.
Come, come boatsman! Slowly, slowly
By the seashore of the city, in silence
In the oblivion of the harem
Come, come boatsman!
So that I can steal the beautiful lady
A slave in her cell, she cries and moans
And demands her freedom
Come, come boatsman!
Lomir Zikh Iberbetn // Let Us Reconcile
Yiddish song about reconciliation set to an old wedding dance.
Let us reconcile
Why are you standing by the door?
Let us reconcile, come on in, to me
Let us reconcile
Why are you standing by the window?
Let us reconcile, you are the dearest to me
Let us reconcile
Go buy a bitter orange
Let us reconcile, let’s go dancing
Let us reconcile,
Put up the samowar
Let us reconcile, don’t be such a fool
Let us reconcile
For long enough we’ve had animosity
Let us reconcile, let’s be friends
Let us reconcile
Why are you standing by the door?
Let us reconcile, come on in, to me
Side B
Niška Banja // The Baths of Niš
In the South-Serbian city of Niš we will rejoice and have a good time! Festive song in 9/8 measure, sung in Serbian and Romani.
The public bath near Niš, hot water,
for the boys there, life is good
I will get her, I will love her,
and in Niš I will leave her
We Roma we are merry and enjoy,
we can’t do without rakija
Without rakija, plum brandy,
and without a young Roma girl
One, two, three, four, five, six,
seven, eight, nine, ten
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three, two, one
Two, two, two, two, twelve,
I’ll kiss her on the face
I will get her, and I will love her,
and in Niš I will leave her
Agapo Mia Pantremeni // I Love a Married Woman
Greek song about an atypical love affair.
I love a married woman, amane n’amanem,
she is chased after by her husband, a jealous puppet
In Kokkiniá where she lives, amane n’amanem,
as a possesed person, she makes whoever looks at her go crazy
We went for a walk together
she was about to let me die at Pasalimani
Lying on the couch, amane n’amanem,
I kiss her, she tells me it’s enough, I get shivers
Sedi Donka // Sit Down Donka
The most elaborate rhythm I have come across so far. Bulgarian dance in 25 beats, counted 3-4-3-4-4-3-4 or 7-7-4-7
Tha Spaso Koupes // I Will Break Cups
Bitter love song from Asia Minor in Greek and Turkish.
I will break cups for the words you said
and glasses for the bitter little words
Aman aman, I am burning
Aman aman, I love you
Yesterday late at night I saw in my dream
that your hair was draped around my neck
Aman aman, I am burning
Aman aman, I love you
Limonchiki // Little Lemons
Another song from Odessa, a free port in the Russian empire and a major trading city in the Soviet Union. The city was seen as a place of excess and a paradise for thieves, where a prominent Russian-Jewish culture was associated with both wealth and sin. During the 1920’s hyperinflation, a roll of a million rubles was not uncommon in Russia, and due to phonetic resemblance the million was nicknamed limon.
I can beat someone up
I can take money by force
I can fool people playing thimblerig
Turn pockets inside-out
Oh lemons, you are my lemons
Where do you grow, in my garden
Oh lemons, you are my lemons
Where do you grow, on Sonya’s balcony
Noise and ruckus in the bazaar
Rumours are going around
Someone stole a suitcase
And took away the lemons
Oh lemons..
Benya lived on Kostetskaya,
Benya loved his mother
If Benya has a mother
you know there is somewhere to send him back to
Oh lemons..
I spent the night with my aunt
Aunt had guests
I asked my aunt
She said: “Later”
Oh lemons..
J.R. Bathoorn 