I did some research on the meaning of the chorus' words "bara devlam" and "istenem". Apparently, "istenem" in Hungarian means "God", but doing some more research I found out that these two verses might come from the Lovari Romani language. "Devlam" would mean "God" and "bara" would work as "mighty". "Istenem" would probably translate into "my Lord" or "God".
I was curious, more than to find the meaning, to find where David could have taken something like that. Very similar lines appear in a Lovari Romani song written by Nikoli Lakatos after a bomb attack in Austria that killed four Roma young men. It's called "Phurde, bajval, phurde" (Blow, Wind, Blow): "Devlam, Devla, bara (...) Bara raja Devlam". "God, mighty God (...) Mighty God". I don't know how much David knows about traditional gypsy music, but maybe there could be an answer for his inspiration in this path.
@MichiVarela He worked quite closely with Muzsikas, a Hungarian folk band, and he has also used quite a bit of Hungarian folk music elsewhere. (He even performed with them at Sziget festival on the 50th anniversary concert of Muzsikas). 16 Horespower's "Outlaw Song" (on Folklore) is a straight translation of Muzsikas' "Betyarnota", and there are certain Hungarian folk motifs in the beginning of the song "Terre Haute" on this same album (the recorder motif).
@MichiVarela He worked quite closely with Muzsikas, a Hungarian folk band, and he has also used quite a bit of Hungarian folk music elsewhere. (He even performed with them at Sziget festival on the 50th anniversary concert of Muzsikas). 16 Horespower's "Outlaw Song" (on Folklore) is a straight translation of Muzsikas' "Betyarnota", and there are certain Hungarian folk motifs in the beginning of the song "Terre Haute" on this same album (the recorder motif).
The Gypsy influence is no surprise either, given his interest in world music, but also there is a strong Roma cultural...
The Gypsy influence is no surprise either, given his interest in world music, but also there is a strong Roma cultural presence throughout Eastern and Central Europe – Hungary has had many fantastic Gypsy musicians (Lakatos, by the way, is also of Hungarian Gypsy descent).
I did some research on the meaning of the chorus' words "bara devlam" and "istenem". Apparently, "istenem" in Hungarian means "God", but doing some more research I found out that these two verses might come from the Lovari Romani language. "Devlam" would mean "God" and "bara" would work as "mighty". "Istenem" would probably translate into "my Lord" or "God".
I was curious, more than to find the meaning, to find where David could have taken something like that. Very similar lines appear in a Lovari Romani song written by Nikoli Lakatos after a bomb attack in Austria that killed four Roma young men. It's called "Phurde, bajval, phurde" (Blow, Wind, Blow): "Devlam, Devla, bara (...) Bara raja Devlam". "God, mighty God (...) Mighty God". I don't know how much David knows about traditional gypsy music, but maybe there could be an answer for his inspiration in this path.
@MichiVarela He worked quite closely with Muzsikas, a Hungarian folk band, and he has also used quite a bit of Hungarian folk music elsewhere. (He even performed with them at Sziget festival on the 50th anniversary concert of Muzsikas). 16 Horespower's "Outlaw Song" (on Folklore) is a straight translation of Muzsikas' "Betyarnota", and there are certain Hungarian folk motifs in the beginning of the song "Terre Haute" on this same album (the recorder motif).
@MichiVarela He worked quite closely with Muzsikas, a Hungarian folk band, and he has also used quite a bit of Hungarian folk music elsewhere. (He even performed with them at Sziget festival on the 50th anniversary concert of Muzsikas). 16 Horespower's "Outlaw Song" (on Folklore) is a straight translation of Muzsikas' "Betyarnota", and there are certain Hungarian folk motifs in the beginning of the song "Terre Haute" on this same album (the recorder motif).
The Gypsy influence is no surprise either, given his interest in world music, but also there is a strong Roma cultural...
The Gypsy influence is no surprise either, given his interest in world music, but also there is a strong Roma cultural presence throughout Eastern and Central Europe – Hungary has had many fantastic Gypsy musicians (Lakatos, by the way, is also of Hungarian Gypsy descent).