rymenhild

armonie and I are currently at her place bonding over the nu ma nu ma iei song.

Do you remember the nu ma nu ma iei song, otherwise known as "Dragostea din Tei" ("Love in the Linden Trees") by O-Zone? The Internet fell in love with its slightly confused translations from the Romanian several months ago.

armonie says, "Okay, after two and a half years in the Republic of Moldova (east of Romania) I can definitively say that although it is (sorta) in Romanian, O-Zone is from Moldova."

Really? It's Romanian? My world has been disturbed.

un_haiduc is actually from Moldova. (If you missed Picasso the Outlaw's moment of glory at Milliways Bar, it's here.)

armonie says, "Eu stiu, sigur ca stiu limba romana si limba moldoveneasca!"

I think that means she knows the difference between Romanian and Moldovan dialects, but I can't really be sure.

armonie informs me that the next deeply weird Moldovan song due to achieve immense popularity on the Internet is Zdob si Zdub's 2005 Eurovision contender (Moldova's first-ever entry into the contest, placing a surprising 7th), "Bunica bate toba" ("Grandma beats the drum"). Grandma (pictured, along with the band, here) is quite a violent musician, according to the song's chorus:

Bunica bate toba
Bunica bate tare
Bunica bate toba
Cu maciuca-n casa mare

[Grandma beats the drum
Grandma hits hard
Grandma beats the drum
With a drumstick in the big house.]

[Transcription and translation courtesy of armonie.]