"Gelem, Gelem" (; ), also known as "Opre Roma!" (), is a traditional song composed by

Žarko Jovanović Žarko Jovanović ( sr-cyr, Жарко Јовановић, 26 December 1925 – 26 March 1985) was a Serbian Romani musician who is known for composing the Romani anthem ''Gelem, Gelem''. Biography Jovanović was born in Batajnica, suburb of Be ...

, often used as the anthem of the

Romani people {{Infobox ethnic group , group = Romani people , image = , image_caption = , flag = Roma flag.svg , flag_caption = Romani flag created in 1933 and accepted at the 1971 World Romani Congress , po ...

. The title has been adapted in many countries by local Roma to match their native

orthography An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...

and spoken dialect of the

Romani language Romani ( ; also Romanes , Romany, Roma; ) is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan macrolanguage of the Romani people. The largest of these are Vlax Romani language, Vlax Romani (about 500,000 speakers), Balkan Romani (600,000), and Sinte Roma ...

. In an interview with reporter Mike Kalezić, Jovanović himself titled the song "Opre Roma".

History

After experiencing firsthand the incarceration of Roma during the

Porajmos The Romani Holocaust was the genocide of European Roma and Sinti people during World War II. Beginning in 1933, Nazi Germany systematically persecuted the European Roma, Sinti and other peoples pejoratively labeled 'Gypsy' through forcible ...

(the Romani Holocaust of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

) in the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

, Jovanović later composed the lyrics of "Gelem, Gelem" and set them to a traditional melody in 1949. The song was first adopted by delegates of the first

World Romani Congress The World Romani Congress () is a series of forums for discussion of issues relating to Roma people around the world. , there have been eleven World Romani Congresses. Among the chief goals of these congresses have been the standardization of the ...

held in 1971.

Lyrics

In Europe, depending on the country of the settlers, the text can be written in several variations of the

Romani alphabet The Romani language has for most of its history been an entirely oral language, with no written form in common use. Although the first example of written Romani dates from 1542, it is not until the twentieth century that vernacular writing by nativ ...

. In other countries, Romani can be written in the Greek, Cyrillic, Arabic, Armenian, and Hebrew alphabets. Some orthographic conventions emerged over the centuries since then, but there is currently no single standard orthography used by both scholars and native speakers. There are many variations to the lyrics, as the song has lyrics in the several regional dialects of Romani.

Alternate lyrics

There are many versions of "Gelem, Gelem", notably those translated by

Ronald Lee Ronald Lee (1934January 25, 2020) was a Romani Canadian writer, linguist, professor, folk musician, and activist. He studied Romani society and culture and worked to foster intercultural dialogue between Roma and Non-Roma. Early life and educ ...

. (archived 2 April 2007). In 2004, the band Vaya Con Dios released an interpretation, with lyrics in

French French may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France ** French people, a nation and ethnic group ** French cuisine, cooking traditions and practices Arts and media * The French (band), ...

by their singer Dani Klein, with the similar sounding title ''Je l'aime, Je l'aime'' ().

Notes

References

Sources

Patrin Web Journal
- Gelem, Gelem: Roma Anthem

External links

bANDİSTA - Kara Çocuk Raksı
(Turkish version)
Kosovo Roma Oral History Project
- Roma Culture: Music {{Romani topics Romani music Compositions in D minor Folk songs