Song for the Spanish

The gesture of the Spanish rebel DJ of mocking the Romanians in a little song has its repercussions. Nicu Covaci, the leader of the legendary band Phoenix, composed a play through which he wants to show that the Spanish are not so great either.

ATTITUDE. Covaci assures that Phoenix can keep a clear reputation for our country.

In April, several pages of the Romanian newspaper as well as the news on TV supplied information about a big scandal: the launch, in Spain, of a so called song the lines of which incite to hate against the Romanians. The author: DJ Syto. He is a 23 year old kid who says he wrote the song one year ago, as a joke with his friends. Joke, but the rebel blemished the Romanians’ image. His gesture had repercussions. Among the reactions of the ordinary citizens, of the authorities and of the human rights organizations, it seemes that the leader of Phoenix, Nicu Covaci, doesn’t want just to stay and look.

HIT IN THE TRADITION. "I was very surprised to find out that, recently, a Spanish song has been released by a kid who’s mocking us, the Romanians. This is something we cannot accept, because they are not much greater than we are. I have been visiting Spain in the last 20 years, and I have lived in here for the last 4 years", Nicu Covaci says. Some time ago, his friend, Calin Angelescu, wrote a few lines that sentence violence of the Spanish against animals. Now, Nicu Covaci instrumented the respective song and, according to him, the time for it to be made public has come. The name of the song: "Orujo". Wine spirits, in English.

LINES IN "SPANGLISH". Shortly, this is the story of a tourist coming to spend his vacation in Spain and gets terrified of the massacre of the bulls, but also of the violence against the animals. Shocked, he goes and gets drunk just to forget these fights. At a certain time, the tourist gets a sudden visit from a bull tired of the fights against the people. Later on, the toreador appears and he also complains about the situation. The general conclusion: they’d better get drunk than fight against the bulls and they all become friends. The song is sang in Spanglish, a combination between English and Spanish. One phrase in English, another in Spanish…By this he means the way the tourists talk. "The message will be understood by the speakers of Spanish, English and Romanians. Only the people that don’t want to, won’t understand. I do not fear their reactions. I don’t have fear for anything. I don’t know what I did wrong to be ashamed of saying I am a Romanian? Why should I deserve this?"

CAMPAIGN. After the happenings, the members of Phoenix have reached to the conclusion that a song is not enough to put away the "blemish on the face of the Romanians". "I am convinced that, abroad, the country’s reputation can be kept clean with Phoenix", Covaci assured us. During a recent discussion, the leader of the legendary band wanted to assure Mona Musca, the Minister of Culture and Cults, of the same thing. "We are proudly waiting for anyone to ask for our help in this problem. We want to help the people see that not only the things made public abroad until now represent the Romanian culture". In order to prove these are not words spoken in the wind, Nicu Covaci is thinking of going back to the Ministry with a clear written project, which should be thoroughly analyzed and, if it is a good one, the Government should approve it.

Click here to listen/download the song