Kaleš bre Angjo (

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North Macedonia * Mac ...

: Калеш бре Анѓо) is a

patriotic

folk song Folk music is a music genre that includes #Traditional folk music, traditional folk music and the Contemporary folk music, contemporary genre that evolved from the former during the 20th-century folk revival. Some types of folk music may be ca ...

dating from the times of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

Structure

It is often performed by a male / female

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

, but not necessarily. It is structured in a form of a

dialogue Dialogue (sometimes spelled dialog in American and British English spelling differences, American English) is a written or spoken conversational exchange between two or more people, and a literature, literary and theatrical form that depicts suc ...

. It has four verses of which the first three are performed by the male

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

(in case of a duet).

Performances and recordings

It has been performed and recorded by many popular folk singers from

North Macedonia North Macedonia, officially the Republic of North Macedonia, is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe. It shares land borders with Greece to the south, Albania to the west, Bulgaria to the east, Kosovo to the northwest and Serbia to the n ...

, the former

Yugoslavia , common_name = Yugoslavia , life_span = 1918–19921941–1945: World War II in Yugoslavia#Axis invasion and dismemberment of Yugoslavia, Axis occupation , p1 = Kingdom of SerbiaSerbia , flag_p ...

and the whole

Balkan The Balkans ( , ), corresponding partially with the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throug ...

region.

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

rock Rock most often refers to: * Rock (geology), a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals or mineraloids * Rock music, a genre of popular music Rock or Rocks may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * Rock, Caerphilly, a location in Wale ...

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

, and even classical cover versions also exist (incl. versions by

Esma Redžepova Esma Redžepova-Teodosievska (, ; 8 August 1943 – 11 December 2016) was a Macedonian Romani vocalist, songwriter and humanitarian. She was nicknamed "the Queen of the Gypsies" per her contribution to Romani culture and music. She started t ...

Goran Bregović Goran Bregović ( sr-Cyrl, Горан Бреговић; born 22 March 1950) is a recording artist born in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He is one of the most internationally known modern musicians and composers of the Slavic speaking countries in the ...

, Delfini, Azra,

Laza Ristovski Lazar "Laza" Ristovski (Serbian Cyrillic: Лаза Ристовски, ; 23 January 1956 – 6 October 2007) was a Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms ...

Toše Proeski Todor "Toše" Proeski (, ; 25 January 1981 – 16 October 2007) was a Macedonian singer and songwriter. Considered a top act of the local Music of North Macedonia, Macedonian and Balkan music, Balkan music scene, Proeski's music was popular acro ...

and numerous others).

Soundtracks

The song was used for the movies:

Emir Kusturica Emir Kusturica ( sr-cyrl, Емир Кустурица, ; born 24 November 1954) is a Serbian film director, screenwriter, actor, film producer and musician. Kusturica has been an active filmmaker since the 1980s. He has competed at the Cannes ...

Arizona Dream ''Arizona Dream'' is a 1993 indie surrealist comedy drama film co-written and directed by Emir Kusturica and starring Johnny Depp, Jerry Lewis, Faye Dunaway, Lili Taylor and Vincent Gallo. Plot Axel has a dream about an Eskimo who catches a ...

and

Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan ''Borat'' (also known as ''Borat! Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan'') is a 2006 mockumentary directed by Larry Charles, which stars Sacha Baron Cohen as Borat Sagdiyev, a fictional Kazakh journalist ...

, although it has no connection to the

music of Kazakhstan Music of Kazakhstan refers to a wide range of musical styles and genres deriving from Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is home to the Kazakh State Kurmangazy Orchestra of Folk Instruments, the Kazakh State Philharmonic Orchestra, the Kazakh National Opera ...

. The song is not included on the soundtrack CD for this movie.

Explanation of the lyrics

The lyrics are in Macedonian with some

archaism In language, an archaism is a word, a sense of a word, or a style of speech or writing that belongs to a historical epoch beyond living memory, but that has survived in a few practical settings or affairs. lexicon, Lexical archaisms are single a ...

s and Turkish loanwords. It is a story about an

Ottoman Turk The Ottoman Turks () were a Turkic ethnic group in Anatolia. Originally from Central Asia, they migrated to Anatolia in the 13th century and founded the Ottoman Empire, in which they remained socio-politically dominant for the entirety of the ...

ish man playing and singing a

serenade In music, a serenade (; also sometimes called a serenata, from the Italian) is a musical composition or performance delivered in honour of someone or something. Serenades are typically calm, light pieces of music. The term comes from the Ital ...

with tambura to a young olive-skinned (''kalesh'')

girl named ''Angja'' (''Анѓа''). He asks her to become his wife and he promises her a rich and easy life with lots of gold (''жолтици'', žoltici) and pearls (''бисери'', biseri) only if she would change her

nationality Nationality is the legal status of belonging to a particular nation, defined as a group of people organized in one country, under one legal jurisdiction, or as a group of people who are united on the basis of culture. In international law, n ...

and

religion Religion is a range of social system, social-cultural systems, including designated religious behaviour, behaviors and practices, morals, beliefs, worldviews, religious text, texts, sanctified places, prophecies, ethics in religion, ethics, or ...

and become an ''anama'' (''Анама да бидиш'', Anama da bidiš), in Turkish: ''Hanim'', to be his obedient Ottoman Turkish and

muslim Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...

wife in his

harem A harem is a domestic space that is reserved for the women of the house in a Muslim family. A harem may house a man's wife or wives, their pre-pubescent male children, unmarried daughters, female domestic Domestic worker, servants, and other un ...

At the end of the song the girl proudly refuses his offers saying that she would never become an ''anama'' (''анама не бивам'', anama ne bivam). She would never sacrifice her freedom, nationality and faith for the gifts he offers.

Lyrics

In Macedonian,

Macedonian alphabet The orthography of the Macedonian language includes an alphabet consisting of 31 letters (), which is an adaptation of the Cyrillic script, as well as language-specific conventions of spelling and punctuation. The Macedonian alphabet Standard Ma ...

. Ајде слушај, слушај, калеш бре Анѓо,
што тамбура свири.
Тамбурата свири, калеш бре Анѓо,
анама да бидиш. Анама да бидиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
на чардак да седиш.
На чардак да седиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
жолтици да броиш. Жолтици да броиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
бисери да нижиш.
Бисери да нижиш, калеш бре Анѓо,
на грло да редиш. Ајде, слушај, слушај клето бре Турче,
анама не бивам.
Анама не бивам, клето бре Турче,
турски не разбирам.

The real Kaleš Angja

The

oral tradition Oral tradition, or oral lore, is a form of human communication in which knowledge, art, ideas and culture are received, preserved, and transmitted orally from one generation to another.Jan Vansina, Vansina, Jan: ''Oral Tradition as History'' (19 ...

in North Macedonia says that the song was based on true historical events in the region of

Mariovo Mariovo () is a historic region in the southern part of North Macedonia, with an area of 1,390 square km and an elevation 1,050 m, situated among mountains. Geography Mountains * Selečka (highest peak - ''Visoka'' 1,471 m) on the west, * Nid ...

: After failing to seduce her with his power and fortune, the furious man wanted to abduct her and to force her into

islamization The spread of Islam spans almost 1,400 years. The early Muslim conquests that occurred following the death of Muhammad in 632 CE led to the creation of the caliphates, expanding over a vast geographical area; conversion to Islam was boosted ...

. Refusing to accept this Kaleš Angja committed

suicide Suicide is the act of intentionally causing one's own death. Risk factors for suicide include mental disorders, physical disorders, and substance abuse. Some suicides are impulsive acts driven by stress (such as from financial or ac ...

by jumping off a

cliff In geography and geology, a cliff or rock face is an area of Rock (geology), rock which has a general angle defined by the vertical, or nearly vertical. Cliffs are formed by the processes of weathering and erosion, with the effect of gravity. ...

The book

Inspired by this story, the Macedonian writer Stale Popov wrote the book ''Kaleš Angja'' in 1958.

Audio samples

Version by the Macedonian folk singer Violeta TomovskaVersion by the Macedonian pop singer Toše Proeski

Video

Live ethno-jazz performance by the band KUD MEYA from Croatia