Nazad, nazad, Kalino mome

Nazad, nazad, Kalino mome (Bulgarian: Назад, назад, моме Калино, English: Go back, go back, girl Kalina) is a traditional Bulgarian ^[1] folk song. It's in the time signature of 7/8.^[2]

The song is also performed in Vlach language.

Lyrics ^[3]

History ^[3]

Until 19th century Bulgarians were a compact minority in the Ottoman empire. In the middle of the century the central authorities realised that the strong grip they have only causes rebellions and decided to try a friendlier approach, allowing all conquered nations to have their temples, hold property and generate wealth. The richer Bulgarians started sending their children to study abroad, both in Russia and Europe, and they brought back the ideas of the enlightenment. This disrupted the recently rural communities, ending arranged marriages, which were the standard of the time.

This song originated at that time, challenging the need for an early marriage (boys were married at the age of 18, girls at the age of 16) and having many children and opposing it to marriage by love. It tells the story of a young man who is already married and a girl, Kalina, passionately in love with him. He is afraid of her love, constantly pointing out barriers (a forest, a river, wife and children) but she won't give up, stating her readiness to perform miracles and crimes if she needs to (turn into a falcon, a fish or black death) and overcome everything that stays between her and her true love. It is a tragic song of one girl's determination to fight the entire universe to get what her heart desires and I believe it fits perfectly well in this piece.

Renditions

The song was performed by the Swedish pop group Ace of Base during their concert in Lovech, Bulgaria in May 2008.^[4] Other famous performers include Jovan Jovanov, Aleksandra Pileva, Slavi Trifonov, Nevena Tsoneva and Gloria among others.^[5]

The norwegian composer Thomas J. Bergersen has featured part of the lyrics in his song "Never give up on your dreams", from the album Unleashed, of the company Two Steps from Hell. He has composed other songs in the Bulgarian language, such as "Colors of Love", "Fearless", "Rada" or "Starvation" ^[6].

Notes

External links

• "Lyrics of the song in Bulgarian". www.balkanfolk.com. Retrieved 2009-05-03.

• The lyrics in Macedonian with transliteration
• Nazad Nazad Kalino mome performed by Suzana Spasovska
• Reinterpretation by Thomas Bergersen