the tall tree has no shade

I attended the first half of a Balkan vocal workshop given by Eva Primack and Aurelia Shrenker, before our weekly Skype class today. Eva and Aurelia are the amazing women behind æ (Ash). They taught us a meditative Bosnian song, Visoko Drvo Lad Nema. The lyrics and translation are as follows:

Visoko drvo lad nema
Široko polje kraj nema

Široko polje kraj nema
Sitno kamenje broj nema

Sitno kamenje broj nema
Duboka voda dno nema

Duboka voda dno nema
Ubava moma rod nema


The tall tree has no shade
The wide field has no end

The wide field has no end
The small pebbles have no count

The small pebbles have no count
The deep water has no bottom

The deep water has no bottom
The beautiful girl has no kin


Here is a recording of Eva singing it in our workshop:



Eva learned the song as a child from Mirjana Lausevic, the author of Balkan Fascination. She talked a little bit about Mirjana, after we had learned the song: