Could this be the best song about Gotse Delchev?

[Momce Makedonce]

Something further in relation to this topic.

I have always thought that Rajna who is from Pirin Macedonia to be openly Macedonian, she has lots of Macedonian songs on Youtube which I have linked below. She sings the Macedonian versions with no altering of lyrics for the most part (nothing pro Bulgarian just some Pirin dialect words that she uses here and there). It is common for some other pathetic Bulgarian singers to change these songs completely to appear Bulgarian.

Then I watch this clip from 2015 and at 5:00 she says something about "Bugarska muzika" and proceeds to sing Makedonsko Devojche. Not sure 100% what she said but I can assume she said something about the crowd enjoying Bulgarian music.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgPV6MIs6Ls

I honestly get very confused with Bulgarians and some of these people from Pirin who are apparently Macedonian. I assume both Rajna and Nikolina mentioned earlier in the thread are both Macedonian as they are from Pirin, but it's hard to know what to make of them with regards to their Macedonian identity as there seems to be some contradictions in their actions.

Perhaps they are simply products of their environment, pressured to say certain things or act like these Macedonian folk songs are a subset of Bulgarian music? Perhaps they think this is a necessary sacrifice to put up with in order to keep Macedonian culture alive in this part of divided Macedonia? Or perhaps not?

It's hard to know for sure, but if it is the case that they believe it is a necessary sacrifice but are genuine Macedonians does it bring more harm or good...

Some other Macedonian songs she has performed over the years:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=200KvaVcMg4 Koga padna na Pirina

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_c0KvsVBvs8 Stamena

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QnHpyHq0BTg Makedonsko Devojche

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iwj-4-LgJOo Zaplaci Moja Makedonijo (very interesting as it touches on a divided Macedonia)

On another note Jordan Mitev performed in Pirin Macedonia a couple of days ago in front of a big crowd, some videos are on his Facebook page.

[vicsinad]

Singers from Pirin sing plenty of Macedonian songs, but as mentioned it is prone to having a Bulgarian undertone. Take this video for example of Rajna singing "Koga Padna na Pirina". She sings the exact same lyrics as Vaska Illieva, except in the clip there is a Bulgarian flag in the background at 1:32. It makes it difficult to know what the singer`s true intentions/beliefs actually are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWaJ7VTkmhs

That annoys me. They do that with so many songs. When they change the lyrics very slightly, though, it infuriates me if it's not a traditional folk song but rather a modern folk composition. For example, they took Vojo Stojanovski's 1996 "Edna Misla Imame" and changed "Makedonec" to "Bugarin" or whatever they say.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=egPKUVJzvEU

The best (Worst) in this rendition is this difference. In Macedonian, Vojo goes:

Nie ne sme grci, bugari nit srbi
Cheda sme na Aleksandar

Gloria goes:

Nie ne sme grci, osmanci nit srbi
Cheda sme na Asparuha

I always wondered about copyright infringement in the Balkans, and that could help the Macedonians keep Macedonian music protected as Macedonian. The stealing of songs is so rampant. Thieves. You can't steal traditional folk songs -- those are no longer in copyright. So when they sing "Navali Se Shar Planina" and pass it off as Bulgarian -- whatever, it's annoying. But copying these modern folk songs from the 1980s and 1990s isjust blatant thievery. Unless, of course, Macedonian musicians, composers and producers are selling the rights to their Bulgarian counterparts, which also wouldn't surprise me.

[Momce Makedonce]

I have seen plenty of Macedonian gatherings and celebrations on Youtube from Pirin, however admittedly the number seems extremely low compared to the video that Karposh linked.

Singers from Pirin sing plenty of Macedonian songs, but as mentioned it is prone to having a Bulgarian undertone. Take this video for example of Rajna singing "Koga Padna na Pirina". She sings the exact same lyrics as Vaska Illieva, except in the clip there is a Bulgarian flag in the background at 1:32. It makes it difficult to know what the singer`s true intentions/beliefs actually are.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oWaJ7VTkmhs

I remember watching a news report on the Macedonians living in Bulgaria and the older Macedonians were explaining that it is hard to identify as Macedonian and be accepted. This may be the reason for the low numbers, especially in regards to younger people. We know of how difficult it can be for Macedonians in Egej to gain employment due to identifying as Macedonian, perhaps it`s even worse in Pirin.

Interestingly, I also just came across this on Youtube too. It`s a song about the football club Pirin Blagoevgrad. What is interesting is the lyrics of the song. Macedonia is mentioned and the Macedonian name Gorna Dzumaja is used for Blagoevgrad with nothing whatsoever about Bulgaria.
"Od Gorna Dzumaja, toa e gordosta na Makedonija, samo Pirin ale"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C3Lboa83SSc

[Karposh]

I had high hopes for the Pirin Macedonians back in the early 90's. There was a moment in time there that looked like something was finally happening and a Macedonian awakening beginning to stir in Pirin. At the time, the Egejci seemed to be a real disappointment. You couldn't hear a peep out of them. It was the Pirinci who were leading the charge for Macedonian Human Rights and it all seemed so promising, seeing thousands of them gathering at Rozhen Monastery and claiming their rightful Macedonian identity in the face of Bulgarian repressive measures against them.

The 2011 Bulgarian Census counted only 1,654 ethnic Macedonians in the whole of Bulgaria and stressed that at least 1000 of them were also citizens of the Republic of Macedonia. That leaves only about 600 - 700 Bulgarian natives with a Macedonian ethnic consciousness.

To be honest, I don't know what to make of the Pirinci these days. We all know about Bulgarian manipulations - that's a given. But it also seems as though the fire has burned itself out and they've simply capitulated into becoming loyal Bulgarians. I really hope I'm wrong and that this ain't so. But you have to wonder what happened to the passion that was on display at the Rozhen monastery back in 1990, on the anniversary of Yane Sandanski's death, when an estimated crowd of 10,000+ gathered to show Bulgaria and Bulgarians that they are Macedonians and only Macedonians.

It is believed that the above estimate could well have doubled if not for the intervention by Bulgarian police who prevented close to half of them from attending that day through various means. Reports from the time claim that chartered buses from all over Pirin were cancelled at the last minute; other buses that were already on their way and jam packed were stopped and prevented from proceeding further; private cars were stopped and ordered not to continue on to Rozhen; even trekkers, some of which had abandoned their cars as a result of police, and made their way up the mountain to the monastery were stopped and, in many instances, beaten with police batons in a desperate bid to prevent them from arriving en-masse to the Rozhen monastery and demonstrating an open display of Macedonian identity in Bulgaria.

The YouTube video below is a little grainy and of poor quality but you can get a feel for the massive crowd that did eventually make it to Rozhen that day in 1990. Is anyone else besides me wondering what happened to this people? Have they simply given up the fight or have they been convinced otherwise? It's a real puzzle.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWZGLmOlFC8

[Gocka]

I agree, and its consistent with what I have observed form other confused Macedonian Pirinci. The dialect in the majority of Pirin is completely understandable to most Macedonians from elsewhere, while the further you go east it honestly becomes almost unintelligible.

I could be wrong, but I would say she is singing in her native Nevrokop dialect. Reason I believe this is because she uses the Macedonian "жалам" instead of the Bulgarian "съжалявам".

[Niko777]

I could be wrong, but I would say she is singing in her native Nevrokop dialect. Reason I believe this is because she uses the Macedonian "жалам" instead of the Bulgarian "съжалявам".

[Amphipolis]

What is the language of the lyrics?

[Niko777]

I didn't know she was the owner of Folklor TV.

She certainly belongs in the same category of other confused Macedonians...

You can't help but feel sorry for Bulgarians, their passion and love of Macedonian songs seems to be growing yet there isn't one Macedonian folk song out there that mentions the word "Bulgaria".

The same can be said about the Greeks as well.

[vicsinad]

This was also on her facebook timeline photo that she put up:

https://www.facebook.com/ChakardakovaOfficial/photos/a.1590262904581900.1073741830.1590255727915951/1668711230070400/?type=3

If you can't see it, it says "Happy Holidays to all Bulgarians" and it's a picture of the Bulgarian flag.

[vicsinad]

Nikolina is also an owner of FolklorTV in Bulgaria. It describes itself this way:

http://folklor-tv.bg/about-us.html

"One television channel - Folklore TV, a picture that reminds you who you really are, which evokes the memory that makes you feel Bulgarian."

"In 2008, FolklorTV reshapes itself, starting to p produce documentaries (Soul of the Bulgarians, folklore regions of Bulgaria, sounds and pictures from Bulgaria, legends are alive, votes of Bulgaria), films on different topics, greeting concerts and current affairs."

"Our Bulgarian people has a rich past, from which we can all pocherpim- and spirit and wisdom."

"Folklore TV is the first and only national folklore TV, which presents the best music, songs, dances and performers from all ethnographic regions of Bulgaria."

Clearly, by ethnographic regions, it is meant the different cultural regions of Bulgaria that form part of the Bulgarian nation.

[vicsinad]

That is commendable for him. Really good to hear.

If you go to Nikolina's website, you'll find "Bulgarska" and Bulgarian flags throughout the galleries, but you'll find very little on being Macedonian, if anything.

http://www.chakardakova.com/ethnography_1.html

I'm not saying that is positive proof that she identifies as a Bulgarian -- the political climate there doesn't make it easy for Macedonians to come out publicly without potentially sacrificing careers and etc. But I still can't determine that her intentions (and perhaps more importantly, the reception and perception of her in the Bulgarian public) are genuinely Macedonian. Her discography includes one CD that's called "Bulgarian Wedding" and another called "Love and Grief of Macedonia." She also had a performance called "Magic of Bulgarian Folklore." Both of these Bulgarian performances and cd include what would be considered Macedonian folklore. It doesn't scream "Macedonians are unique and different than Bulgarians" to me.

https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9D%D0%B8%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%BD%D0%B0_%D0%A7%D0%B0%D0%BA%D1%8A%D1%80%D0%B4%D1%8A%D0%BA%D0%BE%D0%B2%D0%B0

Saying that, I'm standing by my intuition based on everything I've looked at on her that she feels she's Bulgarian and that this Macedonian music is a subset of Bulgarian culture until I see something to the contrary.

Is the effect of her reviving and spreading Macedonian music in Bulgaria causing people in Bulgaria to look at Macedonians as separate people with a separate culture and identity, or is it having the effect of reinforcing the Bulgarian notion that everything Macedonian is Bulgarian? I believe it is the latter.

[Niko777]

This is Bulgarian....

This is a Macedonian song from Pirin Macedonia.

[Niko777]

I think she wrote this song, and regardless of what she believes she did not use her new song to politicize Macedonia or to claim that Delchev belongs to Bulgaria. Rather she wrote this song to honor the memory of Gotse Delchev and for all Macedonians to enjoy it (as Risto pointed out her song does not even mention Bulgaria.)

Nikolina is Macedonian from Nevrokop in Pirin Macedonia (renamed to Gotse Delchev). She is a famous folk singer in Bulgaria known for spreading and rejuvenating Macedonian songs from both Pirin Macedonia and the Republic of Macedonia. She works closely with a folk group in Pirin Macedonia known as the "Nevrokop Dancers" who are seen in the video above. One the leading members of that group who Nikolina closely works with in all her performances is actually a public supporter of Macedonian identity in Pirin Macedonia.

[Gocka]

Good find and explanation. These god damn Boogers are just down right annoying. At least be proud and in your face about it like the Greeks.

I can't take any country seriously whose favorite singer is Azis.

I question their motives for good reason. Take this song by the same singer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzoZKJspo7E

Svatbe E.

It's their version of Vojo Stojanovski's "Svadba Golema." They change the lyrics around slightly by using lyrics like "svadba balkanska" instead of "denes se zhenam" and substitute "Pirinska" in place of "Radika." These substitutions are made to pull in the Bulgarian audience, and the Bulgarian audience is thinking, for the most part, "what a great Bulgarian song."

Nikolina sings a lot of Macedonian folk songs, new and old, and they get passed off as Bulgarian folklore by the Bulgarians.

[vicsinad]

I question their motives for good reason. Take this song by the same singer:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzoZKJspo7E

Svatbe E.

It's their version of Vojo Stojanovski's "Svadba Golema." They change the lyrics around slightly by using lyrics like "svadba balkanska" instead of "denes se zhenam" and substitute "Pirinska" in place of "Radika." These substitutions are made to pull in the Bulgarian audience, and the Bulgarian audience is thinking, for the most part, "what a great Bulgarian song."

Nikolina sings a lot of Macedonian folk songs, new and old, and they get passed off as Bulgarian folklore by the Bulgarians.