Some Comedy From the Universe of YouTube: Rum Dum Dum!

Develop your eccentricities while you are young. That way, when you get old, people won't think you're going gaga.
David Ogilvy

Today's video is from the Republic of Macedonia. It features a slapstick routine with an elderly couple. The woman gets on the man's case because he's trying to impress the young girls with his mustache. The dancers in elaborate embroidered costumes are fun to watch as well.

The dance to this is rachenitsa, a dance in 7/8 or 7/16 depending on the speed. I don't know what the dance is called in Macedonia.  Rachenitsa has traveled beyond Bulgarian borders to Macedonia, as well as Serbia, where it is known as Bugarka.  The Romanian version is Geampara.

The song goes by two names: Zurli Trestat na Sred Selo or Rum Dum Dum. You can find the lyrics here, in transliterated Macedonian.

I was able to get a rough translation.  The song is about musicians (zurna and tupan) players coming to the village to play for the dancers.  The tupan is a double headed drum, and the zurna is a double reed instrument related to the oboe.  The Ottoman Turks brought these instruments to the Balkans (the zurna was originally used to intimidate enemies!)



If you enjoyed this you may also like:

Age is an Issue of Mind over Matter: Old People in Balkan Folk Songs

The Best of The Alien Diaries 2010-2015 features some funny and/or satirical songs from the Balkans, and includes a slapstick routine from Bulgaria (Kraj Dunava).

You can find two other versions of Zurli Trestat Na Sred Selo here: Dancing in Sevens Part Two


This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.