English Translation of the Greek Article
“Δως μου ένα φιλί” ή “Νίστε Ναπιλί” ;
by Tina Refenes
Did you know that Sofia Arvaniti is the reason behind one of Serbia’s biggest hits?
In 1996, at a period when Sofia Arvaniti had turned her career towards pop music, the album “A New Day” (“Καινούρια Μέρα”), was released by RCA/BMG Greece, in vinyl (RCA 74321-425021); CD (RCA 74321-425022); and cassette (RCA 74321-425024).
8 out of the 12 tracks on the album, were written and composed by the then maitre of popular hits, George Moukidis, who also wrote some of Notis Sfagianakis biggest successes.
The songs prove to be a good springboard for Sofia’s night time performances, as she is now sharing top billing alongside Notis Sfagianakis at Gazi.
The songs prove to be a good springboard for Sofia’s night time performances, as she is now sharing top billing alongside Notis Sfagianakis at Gazi.
Sofia’s album was initially received with some reservation by her fans, since the changes brought about by her previous album “Love Wins Everything” (“Η αγάπη τα πάντα νικάει“), (both to the pop side of the music, and to her appearance), demand a little time for them to adjust to this new image of the curly haired pop singer they knew and loved!
And this was the reason that Sofia’s public showed it’s preference in one particular song, not one of George Moukidis traditional pop songs, but one with a softer-pop character, cleverly mixing Sofia’s old and familiar pop vibe with that of her new image, making the song stand out and becoming a huge radio success.
The song was “Give me a kiss” (Δως μου ενα φιλί”). The music was written by the then rising young composer, Konstantinos Pantzis, and the lyrics by Sofia Arvaniti.
The song was filmed in video clip in the same pattern (with a pop culture), which is to this day one of Sofia’s greatest successes, by the maitre of video clip direction, George Gavalos.
But see what happens next (!!)
Three years later, in 1999, the album “Folk Lumperaj 4” is released in Serbia by Hi Fi Centar, (CD 20254) which includes the Serbian cover of Sofia’s “Give me a kiss” titled “Prijatelji, braćo, kumovi” by the very popular pop-folk singer Marko Bulat with lyrics by Snežana Vukićević (know as Žana).
This song becomes very popular in Serbia and in reality it’s the force that drives the album into the charts.
The reception and love given to this song by the Serbian public throughout the years, make it such a huge success, that today it’s considered to be the all-time classic pop-folk song of the nation, and the biggest success of Marko Bulat’s career.
In 2002 he includes the song in his live album “Rodjendanska Zurka (Live!)”. (Take it or Leave it Records – 22T15053; TioIi Production Intl. – 22T15053). The Serbian public goes crazy over it, especially “Prijatelji, braćo, kumovi“.
The next step was to include a new studio version of the song in his new album released in 2003, to which he gave the title “Prijatelji, braćo, kumovi“. (Lucky Sound – CD 057).
The song was filmed in a video clip that same year
Marko Bulat has not stopped singing this song since 1999, since it is his gigantic personal success! In 2019, he appeared on the very popular Serbian Show TV Grand and he sings – what else? – “Prijatelji, braćo, kumovi”.
A few more appearances of Marko Bulat performing “Prijatelji, braćo, kumovi”:
TV appearance in the Show Top Music, 2009.
One of his lives, 2013.
TV appearance on the TV KCN Channel, 2012.
One of his lives, 2018.
One of his lives, 2016.
And its only natural that such a tremendous success cannot exist without various other Serbian adaptations being made:
By Rade Kosmajac in 2014.
By Zeljko Vasic in 2010.
By the DULLED MAGIC in 2003.
By Vlaska Estrada in 2005.
Anyone searching the interest will discover even more recordings of the song, such as:
(a) A Chipmunk version:
(b) Videos capturing personal memorable events and merriment!
I end this article with the original version of the song performed by our beloved Sofia in the Greek TV Serial “”Me and them” (‘the females’) (“Εκείνες και Εγω”).
Greek lyrics :
Για να βρω το δρόμο ξέρω πως άργησα
γατί κάποιοι νόμισαν πως ήμουν μάγισσα
για να βρω εσένα ταλαιπωρήθηκα
και τα ψεύτικα τα πλούτη, για σένα αρνήθηκα
Έλα να με πάρεις αγκαλιά
είσαι το σπίρτο και εγώ είμαι η φωτιά
κοίταξε με λιώνω σαν κερί
δώσ’ μου ένα φιλί, δώσ’ μου ένα φιλί
Τους ανθρώπους ξανά δεν εμπιστεύτηκα
την ψυχή μου την πούλησαν σαν ερωτεύτηκα
πάλεψες εσύ για μένα μέχρι που πείστηκα
και απ’ του κόσμου τη σκόνη, ξεσκονίστηκα
Ja sam niko i ništa otkada nisam njen,
u igri mačke i miša zauvek zarobljen.
Hteo sam da budem srećan ko’ drugi svi,
a sad čekam da mi sude demoni prošlosti.
Prijatelji, braćo, kumovi
u Dunav bolje da ste pare bacili,
posle pola noći kad me vi
niste napili, niste napili.
Prijatelji, braćo, kumovi
u Dunav bolje da ste pare bacili,
posle pola noći kad me vi
niste napili, niste napili.
Ja sam čovek bez nade otkada nisam njen,
kao brod na kraju balade potopljen.
U mojoj duši njene laži odjekuju,
al’ još je moje oči svuda očekuju.
Dilzas Says and Shares 