Dragostea din tei

For the viral video that uses the song, see Numa Numa (video).

"Dragostea din tei"
One of multiple covers used for the song.
Single by O-Zone
from the album DiscO-Zone
LanguageRomanian
Releasedcca. July 2003
RecordedApril 2003
StudioMOF Records studio
Genre
Length3:33
LabelMedia Services
Songwriter(s)Dan Balan
Producer(s)Bogdan Popoiag
O-Zone singles chronology
"Despre tine"
(2002) 		"Dragostea din tei"
(2003) 		"De ce plâng chitarele"
(2004)
Music video
"Dragostea din tei" on YouTube

"Dragostea din tei"[A] (pronounced [ˈdraɡoste̯a din ˈtej] ⓘ; Romanian: "Love From the Linden Tree"[7]) is a song recorded by Moldovan group O-Zone, released around July 2003 in Romania by Media Services as the lead single from their third studio album DiscO-Zone (2003). It was written by band founder Dan Balan and produced by Bogdan Popoiag, with the latter eventually initiating an unsuccessful lawsuit where he claimed that his alleged contribution as a songwriter had remained uncredited. "Dragostea din tei", a 1980s-inspired dance-pop, synth-pop, Eurodisco and Europop song, is performed in Romanian, with its lyrics about having sexual intercourse under trees according to Balan. Music critics have described the lyrics as nonsensical or as being about a phone conversation with a love interest. Alongside elements of camp, the track also prominently features a yodelling sequence.

Reviewers have praised the catchy nature of "Dragostea din tei", while also noting that the song's melody and rhythm had a universal appeal in spite of the language barrier imposed on international audiences by the use of the Romanian language. At the 2005 Echo Music Prize in Germany, "Dragostea din tei" won in the "Single of the Year" category. Commercially, it first topped the Romanian Top 100 in late 2003 before attaining worldwide success throughout 2004 and into 2005, reaching number one in Austria, Wallonia, Denmark, Europe, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain and Switzerland, which was something unprecedented for a song in Romanian. Among others, it was certified diamond by the French Syndicat national de l'édition phonographique (SNEP) and quadruple million by the Recording Industry Association of Japan (RIAJ). It stands as one of the best-selling singles of all time with sales of over 12 million copies as of October 2007.

Multiple observers have opined that the song's international success was fueled by a dance cover released by Italy-based Romanian singer Haiducii in December 2003 by Universo. It first topped the Italian singles chart in early 2004 and eventually also reached number one in Austria and Sweden. Haiducii competed with O-Zone's original version in several territories, while also either impacting the charts before the original or outpeaking it in some regions. Haiducii's cover was involved in a controversy in which Balan claimed that it was released without his permission. The original "Dragostea din tei" was further popularized by a Japanese animated video circulating on the internet, which in turn inspired American vlogger Gary Brolsma to use the song in his video "Numa Numa Dance" in December 2004. Featuring him sitting in a chair in front of his computer and dancing to "Dragostea din tei" in a cheerful manner, the clip went viral, with it standing as one of the most-viewed internet videos of all time and consolidating the song's status as a meme.

"Dragostea din tei" was accompanied by a music video directed by Dmitri Voloshin, which mainly sees the group members in the cockpit of a plane, as well as dancing to the song inside it and on one of its wings. For further promotion, O-Zone also gave several live performances of the song in Europe, Russia and Japan. In the United States, Balan appeared on Today to sing "Ma Ya Hi",[B] an English language-version of "Dragostea din tei" released exclusively to that region as a solo venture featuring American musician Lucas Prata. Over the years, "Dragostea din tei" has been used in several other works which have experienced varying levels of commercial success. In 2008, American rapper T.I. and Barbadian singer Rihanna sampled and interpolated it in "Live Your Life", which topped the American and British charts. It was also interpolated in French DJ David Guetta and American band OneRepublic's successful 2024 single "I Don't Wanna Wait", among others. Furthermore, "Dragostea din tei" was featured in several films, including Chicken Little (2005) and Happy Feet Two (2011).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference DACH CD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference US vinyl1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference US mai ai hee was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference US remix EP was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference Japan CD was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference rolling stone au was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ Feuer, Alan and George, Jason (26 February 2005). "Internet Fame Is Cruel Mistress for a Dancer of the Numa Numa". The New York Times. Retrieved 13 November 2024.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)


Cite error: There are <ref group=upper-alpha> tags or {{efn-ua}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=upper-alpha}} template or {{notelist-ua}} template (see the help page).