Maria Tanase (born 25 September 2013, died 22 June 1963)
Today's post features a famous Romanian singer, Maria Tanase, her best known song, Ciuleandra, and what English speakers hear when they listen to the lyrics. This is how things get lost in translation!
Ciuleandra is a dance that most folk dancers know. It is done to a Romanian folk song that was modernized by the legendary singer Maria Tanase. The link to the lyrics is here with a translation from Romanian into English and German. (The song is about a century plant, which I didn't even know existed.) From the description here, it is not native to the European continent; its natural habitat is the desert regions of Mexico and the United States. There may be a plant similar to this in Europe.
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Video #1 is the dance Ciuleandra, performed by the Dunav group from Jerusalem in Israel. Check out their YouTube channel; they have videos for just about every dance in the folk dance world.
By the way the lyrics seem to make very little sense; why would the century plant be the object of being stomped on? I also looked at the German translation for "Strohblume" which did not look at all like the century plant that grows in the deserts of the New World. I wonder if something was lost in translation?
Before moving on to Video #2, which describes what English speakers hear when the song Ciuleandra is played (it's quite funny); let's mention the life of Maria Tanase. A native of Bucharest, she had an amazing voice and sang not only folk songs but operetta music and popular songs during her short time on Earth (she lived only 49 years.) She performed in movies. Her talent was recognized early, while she was still in her teens.
Some interesting tidbits from the life of Maria Tanase:
1. She grew up in a slum in Bucharest and dropped out of school in the third grade (out of necessity; her family was impoverished). Her parents operated a garden center.
2. She sneaked into in cemeteries to listen to mourners (weird!)
3. She performed in the 1939 World's Fair in Flushing Meadows Park, New York.
4. She entered the Miss Romania contest but the judges thought her legs were too heavy during the swimsuit competition.
5. In her will, she specified that she be laid to rest without shoes; the ones she wore while performing tormented her feet.
She had a very busy performance schedule; she travelled all over the European continent and even to the New World. She continued to perform even after she found a lump in her breast (that was removed). When she recovered from the surgery, she gave more performances until she lost her voice; by 1962; the cancer had spread to her lungs. There were few treatments for late stage cancer back then, she passed on in June of 1963.
She was so popular in Romania, despite her views against the current Communist regime that mobs of people attended her funeral. The Communists ruled Romania from 1947-1989 until Nicolae Ceaușescu was executed, along with his family.
Back to the crazy English "lost in translation" version of the song. The best known refrain is "She forgot to lay the eggs!"
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