Fiesta Pagana (2000) – Mägo de Oz

For the devoted religious folk reading this, you may want to give today’s featured track Fiesta Pagana (Pagan Festival) by Mago de Oz a wide berth. Ok, that was a bit of banter. Anyhows, musically, this song begins with an insistent and instantly alluring Celtic arrangement and then coalesces into a metal – Rock’n roll anthem. The Celtics had a rich pagan tradition before converting to Christianity, however their music mainly thrives within the folk traditions of Christianized Celtic communities. It is a broad grouping of music genres that evolved out of the folk music traditions of the Celtic people of Northwestern Europe. But today’s music is brought to you from the group Mago de Oz residing in Spain.

Mägo de Oz is a folk metal band formed in 1988 by drummer Txus di Fellatio. The band is known for its strong Celtic influence, incorporating elements like the violin and flute into their music such as seen here in Fiesta Pagana. Initially, they struggled to gain recognition, but their breakthrough came with the release of the rock opera album “Jesús de Chamberí” in 1994, which significantly increased their popularity in Spain. I first heard this song when I was travelling south in Bogota, Colombia on the commuter bus called the TransMilenio. There I heard a busker play Fiesta Pagana as I was closing on arrival and I immediately was captivated by it and asked him for the song and here it comes to you today.

The official video release is too unsavoury for my tastes to present below, so I went with a shorter version of the song with an English translation below which I hope does the trick.

A crude English translation follows:

[Verse 1]
When you wake up one day and feel like you can’t take it anymore
That in the name of the One above they’re going to rule your life
If you feel fear sticking to your skin
For being a commoner and wanting justice
If you give up, brother, you’ll never think about yourself

[Verse 2]
When they come to ask you for your tithes at the end of the month
And the Holy Inquisition “invites” you to confess
That’s why, my friend, you raise your voice
Say you never asked for an opinion
If it’s true that there is a god who works from dawn to dusk

[Chorus]
Stand up, raise your fist, and come
To the pagan feast, there’s something to drink at the bonfire
The people and the lord are not of the same condition
They have the clergy, and we have our sweat

[Verse 3]
If there’s no bread for your people and you see the abbot is very fat
If his virgin dresses in gold, strip her
How can they silence the goldfinch or canary? If there is no prison or grave for libertarian song

References:
1. Mägo de Oz – Wikipedia

About observationblogger

“The more I live, the more I learn. The more I learn, the more I realize, the less I know.”- Michel Legrand