There have been several artists that have used the name Phoenix, the two be… Read Full Bio ↴There have been several artists that have used the name Phoenix, the two best known are an alternative rock band from France and a folk rock band from Romania.
1) Phoenix A Romanian folk rock / rock band, who has experimented across the years with many musical genres, having a rich musical history that can easily be compared to that of the Beatles. Starting with the rock’n’roll of the Beat Generation, they continued enriching their sound with blues influences, jazz, psychedelic, krautrock, culminating with the orientation towards Romanian folk music, which they blended harmoniously with the sound that was popular in the ’70s
Phoenix is one of the most prominent Romanian Rock and Roll bands of the latest decades, and also the first one to take musical inspiration from ancient Romanian folk themes.
Formed in the 1960s, it began by doing covers of Beatles songs. However, they soon had to change their style since the Romanian communist regime disliked any form of western culture. The communist regime suggested that all rock oriented bands should look for inspiration within the Romanian culture. These restrictions made the band’s leader Nicolae Covaci search within the Romanian folklore, which gave them a unique sound.
The beginning
Phoenix was launched in the cosmopolitan city of Timişoara in 1962 by a pair of schoolboys: Nicu Covaci and Béla Kamocsa, under the name of Sfinţii (The Saints). In their first years, together with Florin “Moni” Bordeianu (born 1948), they performed in school contests and at local clubs, covering Western music hits from The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, etc., and they quickly became very popular amongst the youth. In 1965 the Communist authorities demanded that the band stop performing under the name The Saints, because of the religious innuendo that the name carried. Forced to comply, the band took the name Phoenix. Nicu Covaci also changed the composition of the band, around 1963, by adding Claudiu Rotaru, Ioan “Pilu” Ştefanovici (born 1946) and Günther “Spitzly” Reininger (born 1950) to the lineup.
In 1965 they had their first big concert in Bucharest. Their performance brought a collaboration with Cornel Chiriac to record some of their songs. The first songs they recorded were “Ştiu cǎ mǎ iubesti şi tu” (“I Know You Love Me Too”), “Dunăre, Dunăre” (“Danube, Danube”) and “Bun e vinul ghiurghiuliu” (“Good is the Red Wine”). The same year also marked the beginning of their collaboration with Victor Cârcu, who went on to write many of their most famous songs, such as “Vremuri” (“Old Times”), “Şi totuşi ca voi sunt” (“And Yet I Am Like You”), “Nebunul cu ochii închişi” (“Crazy Man with closed eyes”), “Floarea stîncilor” (“Mountain Flower”) and “Canarul” (“Canary”).
In December 1967 Phoenix had their first major series of concerts in many western cities, capped off by two huge concerts in Timişoara. After winning a few prizes in national students’ contests, held at Iaşi the following year, in 1968 they recorded their first EP, Vremuri (Old Times), containing two original songs, Vremuri and Canarul (The Canary), and two covers (Lady Madonna - The Beatles and Friday on my Mind - Easybeats). A second EP would follow one year later, named Floarea stîncilor (The Flower of the Rocks), with all four songs being original compositions. Both albums sport a sound reminiscent of the beat style popular in that era.
They then started working on a rock theater play “Omul 36/80” (The Man 36/80) which won several prizes for originality.
In 1969 Ioan “Pilu” Ştefanovici was replaced by Dorel “Baba” Vintilă Zaharia (born 1943). For the next year the band became more and more popular, frequently visiting Bucharest and being invited in talk shows about music.
In 1970, Moni Bordeianu emigrated to the US, and, for a brief period of time the band suspended its activity, also due to total censorship that followed a protesting speech held by Bordeianu in his last concert. 1970 meant the blues period of the band. The formula used was Nicu Covaci - guitar, Günther “Spitzly” Reininger - piano and voice, Zoltan Covacs - bass guitar and Liviu Butoi - oboe and flute. Phoenix was born again the next year, with Covaci, Josef Kappl, Mircea Baniciu, Costin Petrescu (replaced in 1974 by Ovidiu Lipan, nicknamed “Ţăndărică”) and Valeriu Sepi.
But the Communist officials were not very comfortable with the Western-style music that they were singing, and kept creating them problems. So Phoenix abandoned beat turned to Romanian folklore, pagan rituals, mystic animals and old traditions. In this same year, Phoenix started a collaboration with the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore and the Folklore section of Timişoara University on an ambitious project, a rock poem that combined traditional wooden instruments with modern sounds. During this project the band also started collaborating with Valeriu Sepi (born 1947), who eventually joined the band. The first outcome would be the 1972 LP Cei ce ne-au dat nume (Those Who Gave Us Our Names) - the first LP to be recorded in Romania by a Romanian band. Two years later, Mugur de fluier (Flute Bud) followed. Both albums underwent severe censorship.
In 1973 Phoenix represented Romania at the “Golden harp” festival in Bratislava (Slovakia) and then in the “Disc festival” in Sopot (Poland). Also, they wanted to record a new rock-opera, named “Meşterul Manole”, but the communist officials censored it all, by “losing” the unique book with costume sketches and lyrics given to them for official approval. The result was only a EP with an extract from the opera, Meşterul Manole, uvertură (Meşterul Manole, uverture) and two older songs, Mamă, Mamă (Mother, Mother) and Te întreb pe tine, soare… (I’m asking you, sun…).
On Monday, 19 November 1973, Phoenix held a memorable concert in Bucharest, presenting their new hits “Andri Popa”, “Pavel Chinezu” and “Strunga”, which composed the new disc “Mugur de fluier”. The new songs were still influenced by folklore yet had a new style. This style was the result of the collaboration with new songwriters Andrei Ujică and Şerban Foarţă. Based on those new songs Nicu Covaci created a new show “Introducere la un concert despre muzica veche la români” (“Introduction to a concert about old Romanian music”) in which he introduced violins, flutes, archaic percussion and other traditional instruments. The show was never finished due to a new collaboration with “Cenaclul Flacăra.” This period is considered the peak for Phoenix. Their sound was considered original and powerful and full stadiums were common for their concerts.
Every winter the members of the band would retreat to Mount Semenic and plan their upcoming songs. That winter the show “Zoosophia”, a title that would later change to “Cantafabule”, was created. The show began by “calling” all mythic animals and continued by dedicating a song to each of them, finishing with the Phoenix, the band’s symbol. The year 1975 brought a newcomer to the band, Ovidiu Lipan “Ţăndărică” (born 1953). The “Cantafabule” show was first presented in Timişoara in February 1975. The disc was recorded in a very short time and was published the same year with a misspelling in the title: “Cantofabule.” What followed were two years of almost continuous concerts but also the creation of the soundtrack for the movie “Nemuritorii”.
By this time, the popularity of Phoenix had grown huge; people loved their songs not only for what they were, but also because they contained thinly-veiled allusions to the Communist regime. The band members, especially Nicu Covaci, found themselves increasingly harassed by the Securitate. Covaci married a Dutch woman and left the country in 1976. He returned in 1977, bringing in relief aid for those struck by the powerful earthquake on March 4. After two grandiose concerts in Constanţa and Tulcea, Covaci surprisingly left the country again, this time with all the band members (except Baniciu) hidden inside their Marshall speakers - a huge undertaking, since in Communist Romania it was extremely difficult to obtain approval to travel abroad, and illegal border crossing was punished with imprisonment.
After arriving in Germany, Phoenix disbanded. Kappl and a few others (Erlend Krauser, Ovidiu Lipan) formed a new band, Madhouse and released a not very successful album named From The East. In 1981, Covaci co-opted Neumann and Lipan and English bassist Tom Buggie, who had an amazing technical playing ability, under the name Transsylvania Phoenix (since a band named Phoenix already existed) and released an LP named Transsylvania, containing two old Phoenix songs translated into English to target the Western audience and five new ones. Covaci together with Kappl also released two EPs and one maxi single as Transsylvania-Phoenix.
In 1990 Phoenix made a triumphant comeback to Romania, with a highly emotional concert in their hometown Timişoara, the city that sparked the popular revolt in December 1989 that eventually led to the downfall of the Communist regime. In the following years, Phoenix toured a lot and released a few compilations of their older recordings. Internal frictions, especially between Covaci and Baniciu, were making headlines in the media.
A new album appeared in 2000, the first original album after their 1990 comeback; with the exception of Covaci, the lineup comprised none of the members from the ’70s.
In 2002, the 40th Anniversary of the band brought together almost all former members in a supershow.
At the end of 2005 the band (in its classic gold lineup) released a new album, named Baba Novak.
As of 2010, the band still performs at live events.
-
2) Phoenix The French band comprises Thomas Mars (vocals), Deck D'Arcy (bass), Christian Mazzalai (guitar) and Laurent Brancowitz (guitar), who started playing music as kids in a suburb of Versailles during the same cultural period that produced late-'90s bands such as Air,Mellow and Daft Punk. The band's lineup has no permanent drummer or keyboardist.
Phoenix formed in 1999 and started off as the backing band for a remix of Air’s “Kelly Watch the Stars” single. Soon after, Phoenix released their debut album United in 2000. The name "Phoenix" was officially chosen in 1996 when Laurent Brancowitz permanently joined Pheonix after his other band Darlin' disbanded. The other two members of Darlin' (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) went on to form Daft Punk.
Phoenix are based in Paris, France and their music has been featured in such films as Shallow Hal and Lost In Translation. In 2006 the band themselves appeared Marie Antoinette, which like Lost In Translation, was directed by Sofia Coppola, Thomas Mars' partner.
The band's fourth album, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" was released in 2009. It contains "1901", which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in January 2010. The album won for Best Alternative Album at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards.
Their fifth album, "Bankrupt!" was released in 2013.]
Bankrupt! debuted at #4 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart and a Phoenix world tour was completed over a large part of 2013.
--
Aside from these two artists: The following groups also used the name Phoenix, most of which were short lived:
3) Phoenix: A short-lived British hard rock band that consisted of Jim Rodford, Robert Henrit, John Verity of Argent.
4) Phoenix: A UK-based band who play SF/Fantasy inspired rock / filk - both originals and parodies of better known songs.
5) Phoenix: A Classic goa / psychedelic trance project with some tracks released in compilations of 90s.
6) Phoenix: A seven-piece Oklahoma City garage-soul band that released one 45 in 1969 and received great regional success for a couple of years.
Allen Correll (Trumpet)
Larry Rogers (keyboards)
John Proctor (Drums)
Ron Jones (saxophone)
Roger Harrison (Bass)
Randy Stark (Vocals)
Pat Smiley (Guitar)
7) Phoenix: A British glitter band consisting of Alan Yates (vocals) Gerry Shepard (guitar/backing vocals) Pete Phipps (drums/keyboards) and Mike Leander (drums/bass/keyboards). They had one single in April 1975 (Pictures of You / Thrill Me With Your Love) produced by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Baker.
8): Phoenix: Described by fans as "The best cover band you will ever see", this Las Vegas based rock band are sure to get your guests head banging and air guitar-ing whatever the occasion. Line-up consists of Jimmy Crespo (ex-Aerosmith), Tony Davich (ex-Sheena Easton), Jamie Borden, Tommy Paris (ex-Britny Fox, Jillson) and Dan Mccaslin.
1) Phoenix A Romanian folk rock / rock band, who has experimented across the years with many musical genres, having a rich musical history that can easily be compared to that of the Beatles. Starting with the rock’n’roll of the Beat Generation, they continued enriching their sound with blues influences, jazz, psychedelic, krautrock, culminating with the orientation towards Romanian folk music, which they blended harmoniously with the sound that was popular in the ’70s
Phoenix is one of the most prominent Romanian Rock and Roll bands of the latest decades, and also the first one to take musical inspiration from ancient Romanian folk themes.
Formed in the 1960s, it began by doing covers of Beatles songs. However, they soon had to change their style since the Romanian communist regime disliked any form of western culture. The communist regime suggested that all rock oriented bands should look for inspiration within the Romanian culture. These restrictions made the band’s leader Nicolae Covaci search within the Romanian folklore, which gave them a unique sound.
The beginning
Phoenix was launched in the cosmopolitan city of Timişoara in 1962 by a pair of schoolboys: Nicu Covaci and Béla Kamocsa, under the name of Sfinţii (The Saints). In their first years, together with Florin “Moni” Bordeianu (born 1948), they performed in school contests and at local clubs, covering Western music hits from The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Who, etc., and they quickly became very popular amongst the youth. In 1965 the Communist authorities demanded that the band stop performing under the name The Saints, because of the religious innuendo that the name carried. Forced to comply, the band took the name Phoenix. Nicu Covaci also changed the composition of the band, around 1963, by adding Claudiu Rotaru, Ioan “Pilu” Ştefanovici (born 1946) and Günther “Spitzly” Reininger (born 1950) to the lineup.
In 1965 they had their first big concert in Bucharest. Their performance brought a collaboration with Cornel Chiriac to record some of their songs. The first songs they recorded were “Ştiu cǎ mǎ iubesti şi tu” (“I Know You Love Me Too”), “Dunăre, Dunăre” (“Danube, Danube”) and “Bun e vinul ghiurghiuliu” (“Good is the Red Wine”). The same year also marked the beginning of their collaboration with Victor Cârcu, who went on to write many of their most famous songs, such as “Vremuri” (“Old Times”), “Şi totuşi ca voi sunt” (“And Yet I Am Like You”), “Nebunul cu ochii închişi” (“Crazy Man with closed eyes”), “Floarea stîncilor” (“Mountain Flower”) and “Canarul” (“Canary”).
In December 1967 Phoenix had their first major series of concerts in many western cities, capped off by two huge concerts in Timişoara. After winning a few prizes in national students’ contests, held at Iaşi the following year, in 1968 they recorded their first EP, Vremuri (Old Times), containing two original songs, Vremuri and Canarul (The Canary), and two covers (Lady Madonna - The Beatles and Friday on my Mind - Easybeats). A second EP would follow one year later, named Floarea stîncilor (The Flower of the Rocks), with all four songs being original compositions. Both albums sport a sound reminiscent of the beat style popular in that era.
They then started working on a rock theater play “Omul 36/80” (The Man 36/80) which won several prizes for originality.
In 1969 Ioan “Pilu” Ştefanovici was replaced by Dorel “Baba” Vintilă Zaharia (born 1943). For the next year the band became more and more popular, frequently visiting Bucharest and being invited in talk shows about music.
In 1970, Moni Bordeianu emigrated to the US, and, for a brief period of time the band suspended its activity, also due to total censorship that followed a protesting speech held by Bordeianu in his last concert. 1970 meant the blues period of the band. The formula used was Nicu Covaci - guitar, Günther “Spitzly” Reininger - piano and voice, Zoltan Covacs - bass guitar and Liviu Butoi - oboe and flute. Phoenix was born again the next year, with Covaci, Josef Kappl, Mircea Baniciu, Costin Petrescu (replaced in 1974 by Ovidiu Lipan, nicknamed “Ţăndărică”) and Valeriu Sepi.
But the Communist officials were not very comfortable with the Western-style music that they were singing, and kept creating them problems. So Phoenix abandoned beat turned to Romanian folklore, pagan rituals, mystic animals and old traditions. In this same year, Phoenix started a collaboration with the Institute of Ethnography and Folklore and the Folklore section of Timişoara University on an ambitious project, a rock poem that combined traditional wooden instruments with modern sounds. During this project the band also started collaborating with Valeriu Sepi (born 1947), who eventually joined the band. The first outcome would be the 1972 LP Cei ce ne-au dat nume (Those Who Gave Us Our Names) - the first LP to be recorded in Romania by a Romanian band. Two years later, Mugur de fluier (Flute Bud) followed. Both albums underwent severe censorship.
In 1973 Phoenix represented Romania at the “Golden harp” festival in Bratislava (Slovakia) and then in the “Disc festival” in Sopot (Poland). Also, they wanted to record a new rock-opera, named “Meşterul Manole”, but the communist officials censored it all, by “losing” the unique book with costume sketches and lyrics given to them for official approval. The result was only a EP with an extract from the opera, Meşterul Manole, uvertură (Meşterul Manole, uverture) and two older songs, Mamă, Mamă (Mother, Mother) and Te întreb pe tine, soare… (I’m asking you, sun…).
On Monday, 19 November 1973, Phoenix held a memorable concert in Bucharest, presenting their new hits “Andri Popa”, “Pavel Chinezu” and “Strunga”, which composed the new disc “Mugur de fluier”. The new songs were still influenced by folklore yet had a new style. This style was the result of the collaboration with new songwriters Andrei Ujică and Şerban Foarţă. Based on those new songs Nicu Covaci created a new show “Introducere la un concert despre muzica veche la români” (“Introduction to a concert about old Romanian music”) in which he introduced violins, flutes, archaic percussion and other traditional instruments. The show was never finished due to a new collaboration with “Cenaclul Flacăra.” This period is considered the peak for Phoenix. Their sound was considered original and powerful and full stadiums were common for their concerts.
Every winter the members of the band would retreat to Mount Semenic and plan their upcoming songs. That winter the show “Zoosophia”, a title that would later change to “Cantafabule”, was created. The show began by “calling” all mythic animals and continued by dedicating a song to each of them, finishing with the Phoenix, the band’s symbol. The year 1975 brought a newcomer to the band, Ovidiu Lipan “Ţăndărică” (born 1953). The “Cantafabule” show was first presented in Timişoara in February 1975. The disc was recorded in a very short time and was published the same year with a misspelling in the title: “Cantofabule.” What followed were two years of almost continuous concerts but also the creation of the soundtrack for the movie “Nemuritorii”.
By this time, the popularity of Phoenix had grown huge; people loved their songs not only for what they were, but also because they contained thinly-veiled allusions to the Communist regime. The band members, especially Nicu Covaci, found themselves increasingly harassed by the Securitate. Covaci married a Dutch woman and left the country in 1976. He returned in 1977, bringing in relief aid for those struck by the powerful earthquake on March 4. After two grandiose concerts in Constanţa and Tulcea, Covaci surprisingly left the country again, this time with all the band members (except Baniciu) hidden inside their Marshall speakers - a huge undertaking, since in Communist Romania it was extremely difficult to obtain approval to travel abroad, and illegal border crossing was punished with imprisonment.
After arriving in Germany, Phoenix disbanded. Kappl and a few others (Erlend Krauser, Ovidiu Lipan) formed a new band, Madhouse and released a not very successful album named From The East. In 1981, Covaci co-opted Neumann and Lipan and English bassist Tom Buggie, who had an amazing technical playing ability, under the name Transsylvania Phoenix (since a band named Phoenix already existed) and released an LP named Transsylvania, containing two old Phoenix songs translated into English to target the Western audience and five new ones. Covaci together with Kappl also released two EPs and one maxi single as Transsylvania-Phoenix.
In 1990 Phoenix made a triumphant comeback to Romania, with a highly emotional concert in their hometown Timişoara, the city that sparked the popular revolt in December 1989 that eventually led to the downfall of the Communist regime. In the following years, Phoenix toured a lot and released a few compilations of their older recordings. Internal frictions, especially between Covaci and Baniciu, were making headlines in the media.
A new album appeared in 2000, the first original album after their 1990 comeback; with the exception of Covaci, the lineup comprised none of the members from the ’70s.
In 2002, the 40th Anniversary of the band brought together almost all former members in a supershow.
At the end of 2005 the band (in its classic gold lineup) released a new album, named Baba Novak.
As of 2010, the band still performs at live events.
-
2) Phoenix The French band comprises Thomas Mars (vocals), Deck D'Arcy (bass), Christian Mazzalai (guitar) and Laurent Brancowitz (guitar), who started playing music as kids in a suburb of Versailles during the same cultural period that produced late-'90s bands such as Air,Mellow and Daft Punk. The band's lineup has no permanent drummer or keyboardist.
Phoenix formed in 1999 and started off as the backing band for a remix of Air’s “Kelly Watch the Stars” single. Soon after, Phoenix released their debut album United in 2000. The name "Phoenix" was officially chosen in 1996 when Laurent Brancowitz permanently joined Pheonix after his other band Darlin' disbanded. The other two members of Darlin' (Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo) went on to form Daft Punk.
Phoenix are based in Paris, France and their music has been featured in such films as Shallow Hal and Lost In Translation. In 2006 the band themselves appeared Marie Antoinette, which like Lost In Translation, was directed by Sofia Coppola, Thomas Mars' partner.
The band's fourth album, "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix" was released in 2009. It contains "1901", which peaked at #1 on the Billboard Alternative Songs chart in January 2010. The album won for Best Alternative Album at the 52nd Annual GRAMMY Awards.
Their fifth album, "Bankrupt!" was released in 2013.]
Bankrupt! debuted at #4 on the American Billboard 200 albums chart and a Phoenix world tour was completed over a large part of 2013.
--
Aside from these two artists: The following groups also used the name Phoenix, most of which were short lived:
3) Phoenix: A short-lived British hard rock band that consisted of Jim Rodford, Robert Henrit, John Verity of Argent.
4) Phoenix: A UK-based band who play SF/Fantasy inspired rock / filk - both originals and parodies of better known songs.
5) Phoenix: A Classic goa / psychedelic trance project with some tracks released in compilations of 90s.
6) Phoenix: A seven-piece Oklahoma City garage-soul band that released one 45 in 1969 and received great regional success for a couple of years.
Allen Correll (Trumpet)
Larry Rogers (keyboards)
John Proctor (Drums)
Ron Jones (saxophone)
Roger Harrison (Bass)
Randy Stark (Vocals)
Pat Smiley (Guitar)
7) Phoenix: A British glitter band consisting of Alan Yates (vocals) Gerry Shepard (guitar/backing vocals) Pete Phipps (drums/keyboards) and Mike Leander (drums/bass/keyboards). They had one single in April 1975 (Pictures of You / Thrill Me With Your Love) produced by singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Baker.
8): Phoenix: Described by fans as "The best cover band you will ever see", this Las Vegas based rock band are sure to get your guests head banging and air guitar-ing whatever the occasion. Line-up consists of Jimmy Crespo (ex-Aerosmith), Tony Davich (ex-Sheena Easton), Jamie Borden, Tommy Paris (ex-Britny Fox, Jillson) and Dan Mccaslin.
Vasiliscul şi Aspida
Phoenix Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Mult te rog, îti fac ispita,
vrednic fabulist:
zi-mi ceva de o Aspida
si de-un Vasilisc.
Inima-i razbita,
sufletul ucis,
de colti de Aspida,
ochi de Vasilisc.
Sarpe, serpeste,
cu solzi ca de peste,
râul serpuieste.
Si-n apa pâraului,
umbra spinaraului,
a sarpelui, raului.
Pira, pira, nu pieri, sarpe,
pira, pira, nu-ntepa, sarpe
cu un cap, cu doua,
cu nouazeci si noua!
În râu ca-mi intra,
pân' la brâu intra,
sarpe nu era,
nici napârca rea,
nu era nici hidra,
'-n-apa de-mi intra.
Era mare Vasilisca,
trup având de odalisca
si privire care isca,
patema ce vatema
si face din om neom.
Iesi deochi dintre ochi
ochii cei vatamatori
si de foc sagetatori
învaliti sa fie
cu fireaguri albe
sa nu mai priveasca
la obraze dalbe.
vrednic fabulist:
zi-mi ceva de o Aspida
si de-un Vasilisc.
Inima-i razbita,
sufletul ucis,
de colti de Aspida,
ochi de Vasilisc.
Sarpe, serpeste,
cu solzi ca de peste,
râul serpuieste.
Si-n apa pâraului,
umbra spinaraului,
a sarpelui, raului.
Pira, pira, nu pieri, sarpe,
pira, pira, nu-ntepa, sarpe
cu un cap, cu doua,
cu nouazeci si noua!
În râu ca-mi intra,
pân' la brâu intra,
sarpe nu era,
nici napârca rea,
nu era nici hidra,
'-n-apa de-mi intra.
Era mare Vasilisca,
trup având de odalisca
si privire care isca,
patema ce vatema
si face din om neom.
Iesi deochi dintre ochi
ochii cei vatamatori
si de foc sagetatori
învaliti sa fie
cu fireaguri albe
sa nu mai priveasca
la obraze dalbe.
The lyrics of Phoenix's song Vasiliscul si Aspida tell a story of a protagonist who pleads with a worthy storyteller to regale him with a tale about an Aspida and a Vasilisc. The storyteller then proceeds to paint a picture of a shattered heart and a dead soul pierced by the fangs of the Aspida and the eyes of the Vasilisc. The verses paint the picture of the Aspida as a snake with scales like a fish and rivers that wind, with the shadow of the spine rippling in the water, while the Vasilisc is described as a creature with a body like that of an odalisque, with mesmerizing eyes that have the power to make one feel emotions so intense that they can alter their being.
The chorus of the song throws light on the nature of the Aspida and the Vasilisc. The words ‘pira, pira’ could be interpreted to imply ‘burn, burn’ or ‘bite, bite.’ By repeating these words with the number of heads both creatures possess being added each time, the song seeks to create the image of the Aspida and the Vasilisc, opening a literal or metaphorical Pandora's box of destruction.
In conclusion, Phoenix's Vasiliscul si Aspida is a hauntingly beautiful song that tells an enigmatic tale of two creatures that have the power to evoke strong emotions, emotions that can alter a person's mind and soul.
Line by Line Meaning
Mult te rog, îti fac ispita,
I implore you and offer temptation, skilled fabulist:
vrednic fabulist:
worthy storyteller:
zi-mi ceva de o Aspida
tell me a story about an Aspida
si de-un Vasilisc.
and a Vasilisc.
Inima-i razbita,
The heart is shattered,
sufletul ucis,
the soul is dead,
de colti de Aspida,
from the fangs of Aspida,
ochi de Vasilisc.
from the eyes of Vasilisc.
Sarpe, serpeste,
Snake, slithering,
cu solzi ca de peste,
with scales like a fish,
râul serpuieste.
the river meanders.
Si-n apa pâraului,
And in the water of the stream,
umbra spinaraului,
the shadow of the spine of the forest,
a sarpelui,
of the snake,
raului.
of the river.
Pira, pira, nu pieri, sarpe,
Burn, burn, do not perish, snake,
pira, pira, nu-ntepa, sarpe
burn, burn, do not sting, snake
cu un cap, cu doua,
with one head, with two,
cu nouazeci si noua!
with ninety-nine!
În râu ca-mi intra,
As I entered the river,
pân' la brâu intra,
up to my waist,
sarpe nu era,
there was no snake,
nici napârca rea,
nor a vicious viper,
nu era nici hidra,
neither was there a hydra,
'-n-apa de-mi intra.
in the water I entered.
Era mare Vasilisca,
There was a big Vasilisc,
trup având de odalisca
with a body of an odalisque,
si privire care isca,
and a look that provokes,
patema ce vatema
passion that burns
si face din om neom.
and make a man a nonman.
Iesi deochi dintre ochi
Come out, eye between eyes
ochii cei vatamatori
those hurtful eyes,
si de foc sagetatori
like arrows made of fire,
învaliti sa fie
be wrapped up
cu fireaguri albe
with white helichrysum
sa nu mai priveasca
to never look again
la obraze dalbe.
at these fair cheeks.
Contributed by Cole G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
To comment on or correct specific content, highlight it
More Genres
No Artists Found
More Artists
Load All
No Albums Found
More Albums
Load All
No Tracks Found
Genre not found
Artist not found
Album not found
Search results not found
Song not found
Marcu Bogdan
Mult te rog, iti fac ispita, vrednic fabulist:
zi-mi ceva de o Aspida si de-un Vasilisc.
Inima-i razbita, sufletul ucis,
de colti de Aspida, ochi de Vasilisc.
Aaaaa, aaaaa,
Sarpe, serpeste,
cu solzi ca de peste,
raul serpuieste.
Si-n apa paraului,
umbra spinaraului,
a sarpelui, raului.
Sarpe, serpeste,
cu solzi ca de peste,
raul serpuieste.
Si-n apa paraului,
umbra spinaraului,
a sarpelui, raului.
Pira, pira, nu pieri sarpe,
pira, pira, nu-nteapa sarpe
cu un cap, cu doua,
cu noua zeci si noua !
Pira, pira, nu pieri sarpe,
pira, pira, nu-nteapa sarpe
cu un cap, cu doua,
cu noua zeci si noua !
In rau ca-mi intra,
pan la brau intra,
sarpe nu era,
nici naparca rea,
nu era nici hidra-n,
apa de-mi intra.
Hei !
Aaaaa, aaaaa, aaaaa,
Era mare Vasilisca,
trup avand de odalisca
si privire care isca,
patema ce vatema
si face din om neom.
Stefan Ion
este una din cele mai bune piese Phoenix, iar celor care piesa li se pare ingrozitoare, le doresc toata viata lor sa aiba parte numai de Vali Vijelie. Dixit !
Dan Olteanu
Superba piesa. Una dintre cele mai reusite dupa parerea mea. Iar de la minutul 2:12 si pana la 2:45 este divina...
mxo
dar niciodata nu vor pieri amintirile acelor zile , muzica ADEVARATA a acelor vremi !! PHOENIX, SFINX, ROSU SI NEGRU [ CU TANDARICA INAINTE DE-A VENI LA PHOENIX ], FFN, PRO MUZICA ,MONDIAL, SEMNAL M , CELELALTE CUVINTE , IRIS , VOLTAJ , HOLOGRAF !!!! Dumnezeule, nu mai am cuvinte , aproape ca lacrimile imi inunda ochii !!! Imi amintesc primul concert la Sala sporturilor , stateam in Constanta , era , cred prin 73, i-am luat si pe sora mea , Dumnezeu s-o ierte , si pe fratele mai mic
CARMENS Carmen-Elena Serban
Imi place ,e una din favorite ! iubesc muzica Phoenix iar cea mai minunata perioada a lor a fost cu Mircea Baniciu si Tandarica alaturi de Nicu Covaci ,sunt piese care si azi le am la sufletul meu!
Melania Monica Craciun
Cine stie daca reusiti sa va dati seama ca de pe vremea lui Cantemir inca batalia de umanitate nu s-a terminat eh? Muzica devine cel mai bun anestetic, sa nu simtim nici o durere sa avem curaj sa ne batem cu citi sherpi ne umbla in picioare
Vasiliu Dan
muzica nu lalaiala ! versuri si muzica de foarte bun gust ! RESPECT PHEONIX
Attila Germán
Superbá piesá.
mxo
intarziat !! Lume multa , stadionul mic , am stat la 2 m. de scena , si-acum imi rasuna in minte mitraliera de la Pasarea rock , eram o trupa marisoara in uniforme si-au bagat baietzii - aveau ceva amplificatoare pentru vremile alea !! Never ever n-or mai altzii ca ei !!!!
George Corg
@radubogdan100 Aspida este o reptilă legendară foarte otrăvitoare, asemănătoare cu vasiliscul. Mai este denumită și năpârcă. A apărut într-o serie de texte mitologice românești, dar vasiliscul este un sarpe mare, in ochii caruia daca te uiti, te impietresti, de aia se zice in piesa de coltii de aspida si ochii de vasilisc...
mxo
Nu am cuvinte ce simt cand ascult aceste capodopere , da , fara nici o tresarire le numesc asa , ale rockului romanesc . Vedeti postarea lui Edvid - Phoenix Cantafabule , filmarea aceea s-a facut pe stadionul din Sibiu , in 76 , cred , am fost la acel concert , eram la sc. militara GH. Lazar , care era vizavi de stadion . Cred ca am sarit si gardu', mai multzi colegi , parca abia venisem din vacanta de vara , era o duminica de septembrie !!. Da' la cate concerte n-am fost , tineretea s-a dus