Still White Danube Undulates
"Тих бял Дунав се вълнува" ("Still White Danube Undulates") also known as the Botev March, is a popular Bulgarian patriotic song. The lyrics are based on that of a poem by Ivan Vazov titled Radetzky after the steamship seized by the rebels.[1][2] The storyline recounts a historically accurate incident from the Bulgarian struggles against Ottoman rule, which has earned the status of modern myth for Bulgarians, to some degree due to this song. On 29 May 1876 Bulgarian revolutionary and poet Hristo Botev at the head of 205-strong company of rebels seized control of the Austro-Hungarian passenger steamship Radetzky by armed force and used it to cross the Danube from Romania to the Bulgarian territories of the Ottoman Empire in order to join the April Uprising.[3][4] Dagobert Engländer, Captain of the Radetzky, later recounted that "he had rarely met a man so impressive or energetic as Botev".[3][4] The melody was composed by vocalist Ivan Karadzhov, according to his biography.[1][2] In some performances of the song, the fourth verse is omitted.[note 1][5][6]
Text
| Bulgarian original | Transliteration | English translation |
|---|---|---|
|
Тих бял Дунав се вълнува Тих бял Дунав се вълнува, но кога се там съзирва
козлодуйски бряг, Млади български юнаци Горд отпреде им застана - Аз съм български войвода Ний летиме на България |
Tih bjal Dunav se vǎlnuva Tih bjal Dunav se vǎlnuva, No koga se tam sǎzirva kozlodujski brjag, Mladi bǎlgarski junaci Gord otprede im zastana -Az sǎm Bǎlgarski vojvoda Nij letime za Bǎlgaria |
Tranquil White Danube Trembles Tranquil, white Danube trembles, Withal glittering Kozloduy shore Dear, young Bulgarian Heroes Proudly there erect before them, ‘I am a Bulgarian voivod, We are fighting for Bulgaria, |
Notes
- ^ Notice how at the different timestamps, the lyrics performed are not the same. Source 6 skips the fourth verse but source 5 does not.
References
- ^ a b Bezovska, Albena (2 Jun 2015). "Still White Danube: the story of a great rebel song - Music". BNR. Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 Oct 2017.
- ^ a b Безовска, Албена (2 Jun 2015). "Историята на "Тих бял Дунав"" [The history of "Still White Danube"]. БНР (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 23 October 2017. Retrieved 23 Oct 2017.
- ^ a b Ivanova, Miglena (2 Jun 2015). "Aboard Radetzky steamship towards free Bulgaria". BNR. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 24 Oct 2017.
- ^ a b Иванова, Миглена (2 Jun 2015). "С кораба "Радецки" към свободна България" [With the ship "Radetzky" to a free Bulgaria]. БНР (in Bulgarian). Archived from the original on 24 October 2017. Retrieved 24 Oct 2017.
- ^ vaskoninja (6 Apr 2008). "Тих Бял Дунав се вълнува". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 25 Oct 2017.
- ^ saromon1989 (22 May 2008). "Тих Бял Дунав". YouTube. Archived from the original on 2021-12-21. Retrieved 25 Oct 2017.
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