Words and music by Flory Jagoda
Flory, her mother Rosa, and one other relative were the only members of the extended Altarac family of Vlasenica to survive what Flory referred to as “the madness of WWII.” And while Flory knew that the family had been murdered during the war, the details were not clear until she and her husband Harry traveled to the village in the late 1970s. There they met a farmer just outside the village who showed them the spot where the family was killed, in a ravine where a small tree (arvoliko) stood as a silent sentinel. Flory composed this heart-breaking dirge and included it on the “Arvoliko” album, which, as noted above, was something of a departure from the more celebratory mood of her earlier albums. We have added some extra harmonies to the original 2005 recording. In 2011 Susan and Howard traveled with Flory to Bosnia for performances in Sarajevo, and during the visit, they traveled with Flory to the farm where her family was murdered; a small stone commemorating this tragedy was unveiled. The arvoliko still stands but is no longer so little.
Listen to Flory sing Arvoliko, from the 2005 recording: Flory Jagoda, vocals; Howard, guitar; Alan Oresky, fiddle.
Added tracks: Susan, vocals; Tina, bass viol
LYRICS + TRANSLATIONS
| Kuantus anyus mi kali aspirar | How many years must I wait |
| Laz penas di la gera ulvidar? | To forget the pain of war? |
| Ulvidar, ulvidar, | To forget, to forget, |
| Dulores di pena ulvidar | To forget the sorrows of pain? |
| Kuantus vezes pudemus viyajar | How many times can we travel |
| In laz tyeras ajenas paz tupar | In foreign lands to find peace |
| Paz tupar, paz tupar, i penas ulvidar? | To find peace and to forget pain? |
| Arvoliko in la muntanya | Little tree on the mountain |
| Mi sta yamando a dizir mi la verdad, | Constantly calls me to tell me the truth, |
| La verdad, la verdad a dizir mi la verdad, | The truth, to tell me the truth, |
| La verdad, la verdad, a dizir me la krueldad. | The truth, the truth, to tell me the cruel truth. |
