I feel the new spring brush my shoulder,
           the lily of the valley blossoms
           to everyone but me.
           Hey, it's Djurdjevdan (St. George's Day)
           and I am not with the one I love.

Lily of the valley is left to soak overnight before St. George's Day, and women and girls begin the day before dawn by washing themselves with the fragranced water.  This beautiful pre-Christian holiday is celebrated  particularly by Orthodox Christians and by Roma, both
Christian and Muslim. The tune is apparently Romani, but the song's popularity is largely due to the version recorded by the famous Sarajevo rock band Bijelo Dugme, whose leader, Goran Bregovic, wrote the Serbo-Croatian lyrics.

   2. Bol 
  (Words and music by Haris Dzinovic, arr. Teodosijev, Atanasov, Lausevic, Eriksen.)

           Pain, oh, how it hurts me
             why don't you call.
             I loved you so much
             and I haven't gotten over you.

"Pain" is one of the greatest hits of a Sarajevo singer Haris Dzinovic.  Songs in the "newly composed folk music" genre typically speak with an emotional directness that is sometimes considered unsophisticated, even cheesy.  The fact is, the sentiments are familiar and real, and the music is often great.

   3. Sjaj mjesece
   (Words trad./Lausevic, music by Newyear, Lausevic, Kwon, Eriksen, arr. Atanasov, Teodosijev,Lausevic, Eriksen.)

"Shine Moon" is, like any good newly composed folk song, about love.  In this case a woman tells the moon to shine on her darling to make him restless, sighing for her in his sleep.

   4. Lipe cvatu 
   (Words and music by Goran Bregovic, arr. Atanasov, Teodosijev, Lausevic, Eriksen.)

         Lindens are blooming
             everything is as it was before
             only your heart and my heart
             are not in love any more.

There used to be a linden tree alley in Sarajevo, along River Miljacka, that was full of couples in love, hence the association between lindens and love for Sarajevans.  Goran Bregovic wrote the song in 1984 using folk and electric instruments together.  Now every village brass band
and restaurant band has their own version.

   5. Esma cocek
  (Written and arranged by Stevo Teodosijevski)

Get up!  You can't sit still when the AnsamblTeodosijevski is playing.  This tune is named for Esma Redzepova, the "Queen of Romani Music and Dance".

   6. Zuta baba
  (Words trad./ Lausevic, music trad./Lausevic, Eriksen, Irvine)

A humorous song about a grandmother's dream of a loom and things that go "boom-boom". Based on a traditional tune from north-eastern Bosnia, our song is composed of parts written completely independently of each other on two continents, but which happened to go together
and be in the same key.

   7. Dobro dosli 
A brief excerpt from a cheerful, welcoming wedding song in which, over the course of hours, each member of the wedding party is being addressed - with the same tune. Becarac is a comparatively new genre, (circa 1940's) which combines local singing style with Western
harmonies, incorporating parallel thirds and endings on the fifth.

   8. Selo moje

"My village" is a becarac from the seasonal village Razaslje on Mount Bjelasnica near Sarajevo.  Tragically, this village as well as all the fourteen Muslim villages on the mountain are among the many that were completely destroyed during the war.  Its inhabitants have been
killed or scattered throughout Bosnia and Hercegovina, or temporarily placed in refugee camps in Germany.  Mt. Bjelasnica, which used to ring and resonate with beautiful strong voices, is now completely silent.

   9. Bosiok

A deep intertwining of sadness and joy permeates all genres of Bosnian music, including many of the songs on this record.  There is sadness in even the liveliest dance tunes,  and celebration in even the most haunting highland melody.  This song celebrates the basil flower and its role in spring love.  Giving a girl a stem of basil flower means you intend to propose to her.

  10. Ganga(Ljubav traje dragi godinama)

The close harmonies and sjecanje("cutting ornaments") characteristic of this genre help carry the sound and enable the singers to be heard all around the mountain.  This ganga has the same words as number 14 and is also from Mt. Bjelasnica, but from a different village.
 

  11. Lazaricka (Ovo drvo rodno bilo)

A ritual song performed on St. Lazarus day among Serbs for the fertility and blessing of the family, fields, flocks, orchards etc.  In this circuitous song, Lazarice (the singers) are singing to the tree to be fruitful with three apples on a tiny branch and a falcon on the third one.  The falcon is singing about the song that Lazarice sang to the tree.
 

  12. Sevdalinka (Il' je vedro, il' oblacno)

Sevdalinka is a traditional Muslim urban genre devoted to love.  Its name originates from the Turkish word sevda meaning love, desire.  "Is it fair, or cloudy?" is a sad song about impossible love between Ibrahim Bay and the Sultan's wife.
 

  13. Kajda(Necu sela kleti ni jednoga)

       I will not curse any village because I do 
          not know where my
          predestined darling is from.

          They tell me your flower is drunk;
          show me the man who does
          not like  alcohol.
          My village, my native village.
          I will say good-bye even to you.

Kajda or izgovaralic (pronouncing song) is an older genre of traditional polyphony similar to ganga with the exception that all of the singers are pronouncing the lyrics.  This song comes from the village of Gornji Lukomir on Mount Bjelasnica and expresses the worries of young
women about the time when they will get married and leave their families, friends, and even their native village.
 

  14. Ganga (Ljubav traje dragi godinama)

         Love lasts for years.
          How long will it last between us?'
          Love lasts but depends on love;
          forever the love between my darling and me.
 

  15. Sarena guja

A somewhat humorous song about a colorful serpent sleeping on top of the hill and a man who is afraid that the serpent will bite his darling.  Get it?
 

  16. Pcelice

The queen bee (majka) and the "sisters"(seka) are charmed into the new beehive through threats of rain, suggestions and promises of shelter and protection, and also through the sounds of clicking stones, whistling, and singing.

  17. Lepo Pevam

  "I sing beautifully, I can be heard from far away" is a Serbian song that tells about a girl and the three suitors who respond to her singing.  It seems to work on birds, at least.
 

  18. Visoko Drvo

         The tall tree has no shade.
          The wide field has no end.
          The small pebbles have no number.
          The deep water has no bottom.

          The beautiful girl has no kin.