Traditional lyrics, melody and arrangement by Flory Jagoda
This song gives advice to the bride before her wedding. Flory would introduce it by telling the audience that when a couple got married the bride was expected to move in with her new husband’s family for a year, so her mother-in-law could teach her how to please her beloved son! This meant learning to cook the right foods and how to observe proper household customs; possibly such advice even extended to more personal matters. Flory’s repertoire was replete with songs about courtship and marriage, and her set lists typically brought to life the old ways that had sustained communal life in villages like Vlaseniça over the centuries. At the beginning of her concerts she would often say, “I’m going to take you to the little village of Vlaseniça…”
Listen to Flory and Friends perform Oildo mi Noyva
Susan, vocals, guitar; Howard, guitar, backup vocals; Tina, tambourine, backup vocals
Shane Shanahan, darabuka, riq
LYRICS + TRANSLATION
| Oildo mi novya | Listen, my bride, |
| Meteldo en tino | Remember this: |
| Ke ijo ajeno | A foreign boy |
| Kere ser byen servido. | Likes to be treated right. |
| Kuando veriash mi novya | When you see |
| A vuestro suegro | Your father-in-law, |
| Bezalde la mano | Kiss his hand |
| Yamaldo padre muevo. | And call him “my new father.” |
| Kuando veriash mi novya | When you see |
| A vuestra suegra | Your mother-in-law, |
| Bezalde la mano | Kiss her hand |
| Yamalda madre mueva. | And call her “my new mother.” |
