Dragostea din tei

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"Dragostea din tei"
"Dragostea din tei" cover
Single by O-Zone
from the album DiscOZone
Released Spring 2004
Format CD, 12"
Recorded 2003
Genre Eurodance
Length 3:34
Label Jive Records
Producer(s) Dan Bălan
Chart positions
  • #3 (UK)
  • #1 (Eurochart)
O-Zone singles chronology
"Numai tu"
(2003)		 "Dragostea din tei"
(2003/2004)		 "Despre tine"
(2004)

"Dragostea din tei" (pronounced /ˈdra.gos.te̯a din tej/) is the most successful single by the Moldovan band O-Zone. The original version was sung by Dan Bălan, Arsenie Todiraş and Radu Sârbu. The single was first released in 2003 in Moldova, where the group lived and produced at that time, and in the spring of 2004 in most other European countries. As of 2006, the song is still in the lower reaches of some Eastern European singles charts. It was written and produced by Dan Bălan (who wrote most of the group's songs), and was one of 2004's most successful summer hits, as well as one of the best selling singles of the year across Europe.

Although O-Zone's version was the most popular across Europe, several other versions of the song have been made, most notably by the small Italian dance act Haiducii, who released the song in Europe at around about the same time. Both have accused the other of taking it without permission. "Dragostea din tei" has also inspired a number of parody videos distributed over the Internet, including Gary Brolsma's popular "Numa Numa Dance" video.

Contents

[edit] Title translation

"Dragostea din tei" is written in Romanian and the title is not easy to translate, due to the lack of context for the phrase. There are several proposed translations of the title, such as Love from the lime trees and Love out of the linden trees. The intended translation is possibly shown in the subtitles of the music video by O-Zone, which translates it as Love of the linden tree. It is known that linden trees have strong lyrical associations in Moldovan poetry, tied to the work of the Moldovan poet Mihai Eminescu. Therefore the expression may be interpreted as romantic, "linden-type" love. Another interpretation of the title is a simple paraphrase of a popular Romanian children's book, "Pupăza din tei" by Ion Creangă (in translation "The Hoopoe in the linden tree").

Another very likely translation takes into account the neighborhood "Tei" in Bucharest, the capital of Romania (in Romanian, "Cartierul Tei"). Since it's a place very popular with college students (several dorms in the area) and youngsters in general, the connection is there ("Love in Tei" as in "Love among young people"). In spring especially, many young pairs can be seen in the parks and streets in Tei, and "love is in the air" - even though it might be love that lasts just for a little while; the song alludes to this.[citation needed]

The third translation comes directly from a native Moldovan. He claims that the title uses a wordplay and simply means "Love at first sight" (i.e. "Love from the linden trees", roughly analogous to "Love from the clear blue sky" in English, with the added associations that linden trees have in the Romanian language). This translation obviously rises above the literal meanings of the words and draws on something more poetic and specific to the language and culture. Given that O-Zone is from Moldova, where Romanian is spoken (along with Russian), it seems quite plausible that this interpretation is accurate. Furthermore, it provides something more universally meaningful, as the idea of love at first sight is understood more globally than the idea of love having to do with linden trees.[citation needed]

A still image from O-Zone's music video
Enlarge
A still image from O-Zone's music video

[edit] Track history

In 2003 O-Zone released their second album DiscO-Zone in Romania. The album would include "Dragostea din tei" although the first single from the album would be "Numai tu". However, with it clear that "Dragostea din tei" was the stand-out track, it was scheduled for release.

At around about the same time Haiducii recorded her own version. O-Zone accused Haiducii of stealing the track and after suing them, O-Zone won in the Romanian court of justice.

O-Zone's "Dragostea din tei" had been released in Moldova 6 months earlier and had a lot of success there, but as promotion in Italy began for the cover version the group's record company began the promotional campaign across Europe.

The two versions were extremely similar. Whilst Haiducii hit number one in Italy, O-Zone prevailed in most of Europe. In Germany, however, both versions hit number 1 and 2 in the charts at the same time.

The song also featured in the 2005 Disney animated movie, Chicken Little. It was not used in the film, but was used in the trailers.

"Dragostea din tei" has also appearead in an expansion cartridge for the Nintendo DS video game Jam with the Band. It was chosen to be included via a survey conducted by Nintendo in July 2005 and was released in September of the same year with other popular songs as well.

The song was also recently featured in an O-Zone themed toy given out as the McDonalds Happy Meal prize in Bulgaria, Portugal and other European countries.

[edit] Remixes and parodies

  • A number of parody videos were produced that used this song by a number of different groups in Japan, most notably by several Flash movies Maiahi grafting Japanese lyrics on to the original Romanian by using whichever word sounds closest (in other words, animutations). The resulting bizarre interpretations, usually involving monkeys, ninja Picassos, and drunken cats, became an instant hit in Japan.
  • The American release of DiscO-Zone [1] features an English version of the song performed by Dan Bălan and Lucas Prata. It focuses on the "It's me, Picasso" lyric from the original to provide a theme of an artist who has lost his muse.
  • The Norwegian show VG-lista TOP 20 once played the two O-Zone hits "Dragostea din tei" and "Despre tine" simultaneously, with videos in split screen. Due to common rhythms and beats it sounded like one single song.
  • In Italy two versions of the song have been produced in different dialects, one by Radio Globo, the other by Leone di Lernia. The lyrics of both parodies tell more or less the same tale, that of a girl who refuses to have sex with a boy.
  • An Austrian version with German lyrics was released in 2004 by the artist "Antonia aus Tirol feat Sandra S.". The music was mixed with tuba and accordion sounds, the lyrics were changed to a story about flirting in the office. A snippet in MP3 format can be heard on Antonia's official page. It was topping the Austrian charts quickly after the release.
Another image from the music video.
Enlarge
Another image from the music video.
  • A Eurobeat version of the song was remixed by Italian artist Sergio Dall'Ora in early 2005 for release to the Japanese market. Fusing the original song with the popular fast-tempo stylings of the Eurobeat format, the release was one of the few occasions a commercial Eurobeat song has been remixed from an already-existing European track.
  • A Japanese version of the song was released by comedian Maeda Ken on August 24th, 2005 under the artist name Maeken Trance Project (his drag alter-ego), titled "Koi no Buchiage Tengoku: Koi no Maiahi~Chihuahua~Banzai [2]"(恋のブチアゲ 天国：恋のマイアヒ～チワワ～バンザイ, "Love's High Tension Paradise: Love's Maiahi~Chihuahua~Hurrah"), fusing the original song with popular Japanese Eurobeat song Banzai and part of the 2002 ad Coca-Cola commercial-related hit by DJ Bobo titled "Chihuahua". It should be noted that although this is a Japanese release, the "Dragostea din tei" section of the medley is sung in Romanian.
  • In Brazil, the singer Latino created his own version of "Dragostea din tei". Called "Festa no Apê" (Party at the Pad), the song's lyrics are somewhat indecent, talking about a party (held by the singer himself) that became wild. For having different lyrics, this song resembles "Dragostea din tei" only in rhythm and melody.
  • The Spanish humorist brothers Los Morancos parodied the song for their TV program as "Marica tú" ("Queer you") with audaciously gay lyrics. This version has become more popular than O-Zone's in Chile, Argentina, and other South American countries, where is mostly known as "Fiesta Fiesta, Pluma Pluma Gay"; it can even be heard and/or requested at weddings.
  • A Dutch version by the Belgian trio De Feestridders (The Partyknights), which criticizes the use of speed cameras also exists. De Feestridders also have made a parody of Boten anna which is a song made by Basshunter, called Ik heb een boot. Other Dutch parodies include "Muggen Hier, Muggen Daar" (Mosquitoes Here, Mosquitoes There) by Gebroeders Ko, "Lekker Lekker" (Nice, Nice) by Ome Henkand "Duitsers Hier, Duitsers Daar" ( German Here, German There), by Lange Frans en Baas B
  • An Afrikaans version of the song was done by a new artist, Nicholis Louw. The song goes by the name of "Net die een vir my", meaning "Just the one for me". The original 'ma-ia-hii' was kept. The song was also a huge hit in South Africa.
  • Two French versions. One by 6-9 NRJ, titled "Le poulailler" ("The Chicken Coop"), A France-French version. [3] and the other one by Les Justiciers Masqués, titled "Viens-tu souvent ici" ("Do you come here often") which is a Quebecer version of it. [4]
  • A Chinese version by Jocie Kok (郭美美), a female singer from Singapore, titled "Bu Pa Bu Pa" (不怕不怕, "Not Afraid, Not Afraid") [5]. The song is about overcoming her fears and becoming a stronger person. The start of the chorus, 看见蟑螂我不怕不怕螂, translates to "I'm not afraid when I see a cockroach". This track was released in a single, which includes the original track and 8 different remixes. The song begun a hit in Singapore, Malaysia, Taiwan as well as China, launching Jocie Kok into stardom with her other single titled "Lao Shu Ai Da Mi" (老鼠爱大米, "The mouse loves the rice").
  • FLOWER, a boy band from China (花儿乐队), used part of the rhythm (Ma-ia-hii, Ma-ia-huu, Ma-ia-hoo Ma-ia-haha) in their 2005 hit song Flying Like a Butterfly (化蝶飞) without permission.
  • A Hebrew version performed by participants in Festigal 2004ad (a children's song competition), apparently called "Numa Yey". It retains the "ma-ya-hi" and "nu ma nu ma iei" choruses from the original, though the latter is meaningless in Hebrew, unlike in the original Romanian. (In fact, the lyrics of the chorus are self-referential in that respect, and can be translated as: "The chorus is numah numah hei, numah numah hei / I don't get a single word, OK?" [6])
  • Another Hebrew version, a Hasidic cover of the popular Romanian pop song, by Avi Nakash.
  • Yet another Hebrew version is the techno Na Nach Nachma mix. The chorus of the song is "Uman, Uman, ey.," referring to the town in Ukraine where the famed hasidic leader, Rabbi Nachman, is buried. An interesting Romanian connection to the song: many of the members of this hasidic group hail from the region of Marmarus, Romania.
  • Preceding at least the Festigal version was a a flash movie not unlike the Japanese one, linking the syllables with various Hebrew and English words. Due to bandwidth problems, however, the flash clip is very difficult to find.
  • A Panamanian reggae singer called Fragancia uses parts of the lyrics in the song "Marica Tú" in which he sings in duet with a gay man.
  • A clip from the 2005 Walt Disney's animated movie Chicken Little with the title character dancing to a sped-up mix of the O-Zone version; in fact, it popularized the song in Mexico and in the Southeast Asia region (in Malaysia and Singapore, the trailer is aired on TV regularly and in fact, many Malaysians and Singaporeans attributed the song to Chicken Little thanks to the trailer). [8]
  • On November 11, 2005 another Japanese version under the same title "Koi no Maiahi" was released on the compilation album of Avex record label artists "Girl's Box ~Best Hits Compilation Winter~" (AVCD-17769) by the singers Hasebe Yu (長谷部優) from girlgroup "dream", Iwasaki Mai (岩崎舞), and Takimoto Miori (瀧本美織) both from girlgroup "SweetS". [9]
  • The group also did a nectar and crystal remix of this song.
  • Hyun Young, a Korean model/actress/singer, released a Korean version “누나의 꿈 (Nuna-eui Ggum; Sister's Dream) ”.  Like the Hebrew version, the song preserves the same “ma-ia-hii” and “nu mă, nu mă iei” choruses; However, while the “ma-ia-hii” does not carry any meaning but is merely used as a rhythmic interjection, the “nu mă iei” is approximated to “누나의 (nuna-eui, often pronounced nuna-e) ”, which means “Sister's.” [10] "Nuna" is also an affectionate title a Korean man calls a woman who is older than he is. The Korean version of the song is about a romance between a younger man and an older woman.
  • There are at least two Finnish versions, one sung by famous humor artist Frederik called "Kumimies" (Rubber man) and another one on a dance remix collection.
  • There is another Finnish version called "Maija Hii" by the children's band Skidipops
  • A Russian version by Professor Lebedinsky called "Я её хой". [11]
  • Märyäm/Мәрьям is a Tatar version.
  • An English version named "My PC" [12] in mockery of a Dell laptop catching fire. [13]
  • Dan Bălan also released a song named "Sugar Tunes" which had the same tune as well as the lines "Numa numa yey" and "Mai-a-heee, Mai-a-ha-ha", but was made as a rock song.
  • In the PSP game Every Extend Extra (E3/EEE), a remixed version of "Dragostea din tei" is used as the background music for Stage α. This is remixed by qp.
  • On February 22, 2005 Dan Bălan along with Lucas Prata performed an English recording of "Dragostea din tei" on the Today Show called "Ma Ya Hi". Unlike the original recording, however, this version was not so successful and ended up taking the 72nd spot on the Billboard Charts. What's notable about this version is that it isn't quite true to the original's meaning.
  • A popular bouncy house album "Wigan Pier" features a track sampling the melody from "Dragostea din tei" on Volume 49 (Track 2) of the series. It's named Ozone - Ozone Bounce.

There are several other memes of "Dragostea din tei" in circulation, making the song one of the most parodied of recent times.

[edit] Trivia

[edit] Chart positions

[edit] External links

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