Baro Foro

[Starij Hütz]

How about this one? What language is it even? And besides that, what's he actually talking about? Help please!
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The savage love is undestructble

[alison]

Aha. This was posted on the LJ comm a while back, and I've been meaning to save it... Let me find it.
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turn frustration into inspiration...

[alison]

Here you go - Palemindzh from Gogolbordello_R worked them out, so all credit that way!

Aj so keres my baro foro
Aj baro foro sheura
Chavora chordena o graj(e)nde
Chavora chordena cheja

Chavora pasho (da romano?)
Muro ilo dukxala ma
For they could never never measure
Oj, Romen, so te kerav

Po shveto me parno prodzhava
Muro ilo dukxala ma
And I will never hasavava
Aj yeah, so te kerav

The silver plane now will be landing
Only one day, only one time
Call your best friend let’s take him with us
Ox, so te kerav

Aj so keres tu baro foro
Aj baro foro (jo?) roma
Po shveto me parno prodzhava
Ilo muro dukxala ma

Aj pasho mange (mande?) da romengro
Aj muro ilo na (??)
Po shveto me parno prodzhava
Muro ilo dukxala ma

Call your best friend let’s take him with us
Pashe dale te na cheja
The silver plane now will be leaving
Onto new space, onto new time

Po shveto me parno prodzhava
Muro ilo dukxala ma
For they could never never measure
So te kerav

Aj so keres tu baro foro.
Bax, sastype, chevora.
Our silver plane now will be leaving.
Onto new space onto new time.

The non-English parts are in Romani, so we just need to find someone who can speak it!
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turn frustration into inspiration...

[Little Spy]

Well Baro Foro means Big City. Thats about as far as my Romani skills stretch....if you bear with me I can probably get the rest translated. It's hard because I think some of the words are spelled phonetically or are dubious so it's hard to translate.

I only know a few words of Romani anyway so it's no good me trying to do it!

[Starij Hütz]

I'd ask my grandmother, she has a working knowledge of Roma language, but who knows what kind of raunchy things he might be saying.
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The savage love is undestructble

[Little Spy]

I've been working a bit on getting Baro Foro translated and my trusty translator took a look at some of these lyrics and confirmed what I thought, that a lot of it is spelled phonetically so it's really hard to work out what the actual word is.

I'm getting there on what some of the words actually are and we managed to work out, for instance, that the phrase "Bax, sastype, chevora." In the lyrics above is actually more likely to be

baxt, sastîpê, tê vol'a - luck (or happiness), health and freedom.

Anyway, now we know those lyrics are phonetic, I might be able to figure out the rest of the song, but I think it's going to take a while!

[carlo le calamar]

on the cover of the album the lyrics are :

Ai so keres mah baro foro
Tum baro foro yo roma
Pash sveto me parno projava
Ilo miro duchala chaja
Ai pasho mange dah romaino
Muro ilo duchala mah
For they can never never measure
Kuravlem so tekerav!
So call your best friend let's take him with us
Onto new space onto new time
Our silver plane now will be leaving
Only one day only one time
Kuravlem so tekerav!

[Little Spy]

ah, that's useful..thanks. It only seems to be part of the song though.

[Anna]

Well... I have kind of Russian translation of that song. Do you want me to make English translation? I am not sure how close to original it will sound after double translation

[Little Spy]

that could be useful...it might help me translate the Romani stuff more accurately and directly.

[malenkii_medvedik]

I remember learning that "Baro Foro" has two meanings: "Great City" and "Indomitable Spirit".

That, plus the live addition of the line "fuck them, we don't give up," has been my way of feeling this song.

[Fuchikoma]

A while back I found the same lyrics that were posted here on that Gogol Bordello Live Journal community and decided to mash them together to get something more accurate.

The writing in Bold is taken from the official lyrics, while the plain text is from the unofficial.


Baro Foro
--------------------
Ai so keres mah baro foro
Ai baro foro sheura
Chavora chordena o graj(e)nde
Chavora chordena cheja

Chavora pasho mange dah romaino
Muro ilo duchala mah
For they could never never measure
Kuravlem so tekerav!

Pash sveto me parno projava
Muro ilo duchala mah
And I will never hasavava
Ai yeah, so tekerav!

The silver plane now will be landing
Only one day only one time
Call your best friend let’s take him with us
Oh, so tekerav!

Ai so keres tu baro foro
Ai baro foro yo roma
Pash sveto me parno projava
Ilo miro duchala ma

Ai pasho mange dah romaino
Ai Muro ilo na (??)
Pash sveto me parno projava
Muro ilo duchala mah

Call your best friend let’s take him with us
Pasho dale te na cheja
The silver plane now will be leaving
Onto new space onto new time

Pash sveto me parno projava
Muro ilo duchala mah
For they could never never measure
Oh, so tekerav!

Ai so keres tu baro foro
Ah, Bax, sastype, chevora.
Our silver plane now will be leaving
Onto new space onto new time
--------------------

[alison]

Thank you!
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turn frustration into inspiration...

[dili]

me, I´m interested a bit in Romani language (especially in varieties spoken in Austria) - I´m not familiar with this kind of dialect (Ukrainian?)...I tried to translate (rather to guess) some parts of the lyrics...it´ s really hard...some words I can´t reconstruct...maybe anyone tries to complete my attempt to translate Baro Foro...

Baro Foro
big city
--------------------
Aj so keres mah baro foro
and what are you doing - my? big city
Aj baro foro sheura
and big city ??? (sheura is maybe chejora, which could mean "girls" or "girl (Accusative)" ) and big city of the girl???
Chavora chordena o graj(e)nde
Son! (Vocative) they didn´t steal (I think chordena is maybe chorde na: chorde is the 3rd person plural perfect-form of chorel "steal" and na is the negation particle, which is normally preposed and not postposed, so I´m not sure if I´m right)...o grajende ?? -ende is the Locative Plural; for example forende means "in the cities", but graj-?: krajo means "end" --> Son! they didn´t steal at/in the ends???
Chavora chordena cheja
Son! they didn´t steal the girl??

Chavora pasho mange dah romaino
Son! close/next to me ??? (romaino is maybe romano "Gypsy-" or "Gypsy" - dah romano? no idea)
Muro ilo duchala mah
my heart hurts (duchala is Future time, so "my heart is going to hurt"? well, my English is really bad!)
For they could never never measure
Kuravlem so te kerav!
??? (-lem is 1.Pers.Sg. Perfect but kurav-?) what shall I do!

Pash sveto me parno projava
??? (pash "by/beside/near"; sveto? I just know svato "word/speech"; me is 1.Pers.Sg "I"; parno means "white" and projava - no idea)
Muro ilo duchala mah
"my heart is going to hurt"
And I will never hasavava
And I will never escape/flee
Aj yeah, so te kerav!
and yeah, what shall I do!

The silver plane now will be landing
Only one day only one time
Call your best friend let’s take him with us
Oh, so te kerav!

Aj so keres tu baro foro
and what are yo doing - big city
Aj baro foro yo roma
and big city of the Roma/Gypsies??
Pash sveto me parno projava (see above)
Ilo miro duchala ma (see above)

Aj pasho mange dah romaino
and Gypsy close/next to me or Gypsy come to me??
Aj muro ilo na
and not my heart??
Pash sveto me parno projava
Muro ilo duchala mah

Call your best friend let’s take him with us
Pasho dale te na cheja
The silver plane now will be leaving
Onto new space onto new time

Pash sveto me parno projava
Muro ilo duchala mah
For they could never never measure
Oh, so tekerav!

Ai so keres tu baro foro
Ah, Bax, sastype, chevora.
luck, health, son!
Our silver plane now will be leaving
Onto new space onto new time

without guarantee!!!

[Little Spy]

now that i've got slightly clearer lyrics to translate from I can fill in some of the gaps and I'm getting some of the same translations as you...but some of the words are off I think. Give me a day or two to go over it and I think we might be able to suss it all out.

[dinulia]

Hello Little Spy,

It's been more than a few days (since my birthday )...any progress on Baro Foro?

The spirit comes through without translation - but translation would be appreciated as well.

Love that song,
dinulia
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'I'm relaxed, I'm just lurking around'

[sergeis64]

My Romany is nil, but it looks like parts are butchered Ukranian...?
"Kuravlem terecav"- looks like "flew like a crane"?
Sergei

[Little Spy]

[cocteau]

I'd laugh if there was. "What did you do in school today?"
"Translated a dirty song"
"..."

But really, I'm sure it's fine

[Little Spy]

haha...yeah that's exactly the scenario I don't want.

I'm sure it's all good.

[Russo Amorale]

kerav doesn't mean "kiss"?
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[stationarydervish]

I think this might elucidate things a bit:

http://gogolbordello.com/hutzovina/baroforo/

[SlavemasterT]

[va_bank]

[GamuhGuy]

i looked around on the internet and found this

Oh how are you, big town
Oh big town, lads
The boys will steal the horses
The boys will steal the girl

The boys near Romani
My heart pains me
For they could never, never measure
Oh Roma, what am I to do?

Around the white world I will travel
My heart pains me
And I will never lose
Ay yeah, what am I to do?

The silver plane now will be leaving
Only one day, only one time
Call your best friend, let's take him with us
Oh, what am I to do!

[alison]

Your icon: Aragorn, the college years?
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turn frustration into inspiration...

[Zinamarina]

lol - I was thinking, horribly, of Danko Jones. The first time I saw Gogol Bordello, they were the support, and the frontman kept doing that with his tongue and exorting all the men in the audience to give their girlfriends copious oral pleasure Oooh, and now I feel dirty for doing that smilie.
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We have normality; I repeat, we have normality. Anything you still can't cope with is therefore your own problem.

[alison]

Oh god! I remember that tour! They were nassssssty, did not like.
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turn frustration into inspiration...

[GamuhGuy]

I believe so i found it on a picture board a few years back and ive used it ever since

[deelee]

[deelee]

[alison]

[deelee]

'Ai da familija mishto jivel
Te o prala jek jakges kamen'

(Translation by Hütz) NOT BY HANCOCK

'Only that family lives well
Where brothers love one another'

in all respect to eugene and the powers that be or whatever, it makes no sense at all. I dont think even hancock could make that out..

But he did warn us..

'Baro Foro is written in a very broken Rromanes, the gypsy language; the reason is, that's all I could afford at the time of writing it in 1999'

haha.. awesome .. and its a perfect mess the way it is!

[deelee]

[Russo Amorale]

Thanks deelee
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