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Viorica and Ioniță are two Romanian singers, husband and wife, who sing alongside one of the most famous gypsy music bands in Romania, Taraful din Clejani (The Taraf of Clejani).

The song “Dragostea de la Clejani” (Love from Clejani) is a lengthy ballad that celebrates love and the woes that usually come with it: “A naibii e dragostea, of/ […] a naibii e iubitu’, of/ cum zapacesteomu” (Cursed be love/ oh,/[…] how difficult being in love is,/ it makes you lose your head). It’s sung from the perspective of a married woman who is deeply in love with her husband, though he has a wandering eye: “Când vezi una mai frumoasă/[…] cum îți place s-o aduci/ la patu-n care teculci” (When you see a woman who is more beautiful than me/, [..] oh, how you love to slip her/ into the bed where you sleep at night).

"The song 'Dragostea de la Clejani' (Love from Clejani) is a lengthy ballad that celebrates love and the woes that usually come with it: “A naibii e dragostea, of/ […] a naibii e iubitu’, of/ cum zapacesteomu” (Cursed be love/ oh,/[…] how difficult being in love is,/ it makes you lose your head)"

Aware of her husband’s philandering, she confronts him, demanding to know how many mistresses he has had: “Te întrebă muierea ta, măi/ Mai ai alta decâtea, măi” (You’re being questioned by your woman, hey/ as if you have got anybody else in your life except for her). Coterminous with the way the plot usually unfolds in these songs, the man tells her that she is the only woman in his life, but the woman doesn’t “crede minciuna, of/ și-ți dă cruce acasă juri” (does not believe his lies, and/ gives him the holy cross to swear that he is telling the truth).

It is further revealed to us that the man is a prolific womaniser and has, in fact, seven or eight mistresses. But the fault is not his: “Femeia care-i frumoasă/ Dumnezeu s-o miluiască/ unde-i pui mana telasă/ unde nu știi, mi te-nvață” (A woman who is beautiful,/ God forgive her/ allows you to touch her/ and if you don’t know how to do it, she will teach you). Feminists would certainly be outraged by this song and its depiction of women, but the misogynist undertones are, in fact, highly humorous and not intended to deprecate women. Most of Ioniță’s and Viorica’s songs are meant to entertain, both men and women alike.

"Feminists would certainly be outraged by this song and its depiction of women, but the misogynist undertones are, in fact, highly humorous and not intended to deprecate women. Most of Ioniță’s and Viorica’s songs are meant to entertain, both men and women alike."

The type of music they sing is called muzica lăutarească (“party music,” the word “lăutăresc” deriving from the musical instrument “lăuta,” Romanian for “lute”), usually present at weddings, christenings, birthdays, and other similar events. Passed down from generation to generation, and showcasing eastern as well as western influences, this type of music is an expression of the Roma people’s way of life. It is their political and cultural manifesto as a minority. Gypsy music is accompanied by a great number of instruments, such as the “acordeon” (the accordion), the “vioara” (the violin), and the “țambalul” (the cimbalom), and the rhythm of the ballads fluctuates from slow to fast and vice versa. The language in which Viorica and Ionita sing is not actually the Romani language, but standard Romanian mixed with colloquial terms and some regionalisms.