Music / Gogol Bordello

Eugene Hütz

"One thing about them gypsies, they never bored nobody"

—"Break The Spell"

Okay so take Eastern European folk music, add a dash of polka, and blend with straight-up Punk Rock. This is something along the lines of the recipe for Gogol Bordello.

Led by Ukrainian frontman Eugene Hütz, Gogol Bordello has exploded in popularity since their first single's release in 1999, with tours through Europe and the United States. Their music has appeared in Wristcutters: A Love Story (the character of Eugene, played by Shea Whigham, is based on Hütz) and the band appeared in the movie of Everything Is Illuminated, with Hütz playing the character Alex Perchov. They have played with bands of various genres, including folk-punk bands like DeVotchKa and Flogging Molly.

The band is best known for their extremely high energy, theatrical shows, "gypsy punk" sound, and cultural diversity (within their songs and within the band itself). Their lyrics are often political, dealing with immigrant life, poverty, and Romani rights. Accordion, violin, upright bass, and other instruments not commonly used in rock are featured prominently.

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Discography

• Voi-La Intruder (1999)
• Multi Kontra Culti vs. Irony (2002)
• Gypsy Punks: Underdog World Strike (2005)
• East Infection EP (2005)
• Super Taranta! (2007)
• Trans-Continental Hustle (2010)
• Pura Vida Conspiracy (2013)
• Seekers and Finders (2017)

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Tropes related to, invoked by, or sung about by Gogol Bordello:

• Answer Song:
  • Within the same album. "Supertheory of Supereverything" begins
  First time I had read The Bible
  It had stroke me as unwitty
  I think it may started rumor
  That the Lord ain't got no humor
  • And "Super Taranta!" (the song, not the album)
  Second time I read the bible
  I was thinking it's alright
• Author Tract: Most explicitly in "Immigraniada (We Comin' Rougher)", "Ultimate", "Your Country", "Not a Crime", and "Tribal Connection," just to name a few.
• Bilingual Bonus: The majority of their songs have some non-English lyrics
• Black Comedy Rape: "Invisible Zed" is a humorously surreal song about a woman who has no idea she's being raped by an invisible man.
• Blunt Metaphors Trauma: A lot of the songs do this.
• But Not Too Foreign: Eugene lived in the US from when he was 15 to a few years ago so speaks near perfect English, despite using the wrong grammar in his songs (mostly for comedy purposes). When he lived in his native Ukraine, he never actually lived as a gypsy, and mostly sings about the culture because he has Romani ancestry and because he admires the sense of togetherness.
• Careful with That Axe (Eugene?): "I Would Never Wanna Be Young Again"
• The Casanova: "Sex Spider". Additionally, Hütz has become somewhat of a sex symbol.
• Citizenship Marriage: "Greencard Husband"
• Crapsack World: The situation described in "When Universes Collide"
• Culture Clash: Many of their songs address the giant differences across cultures
• Determined Defeatist: From "Huliganjetta": "If situation is no-win/Anyhow I'm going to win"
• Dysfunctional Family: "My Strange Uncles From Abroad"
• Mr. Fanservice: Eugene, according to YouTube.
• Fake Radio Show Album: There are some random interjects in "Not A Crime"
• Funny Foreigner: The band themselves parody and subvert this trope, and there a few songs like "My Strange Uncles From Abroad" which discuss it
• Furo Scene: "Avenue B"
• Genre Mashup: "Gypsy punk," combining punk music with various Eastern-European folk traditions and the occasional bit of reggae and dub.
• Godwin's Law: "Mussolini vs. Stalin"
• Indecipherable Lyrics: Sometimes you can't understand it because it's in a different language; sometimes it's just plain impossible to understand in any language.
• Life of the Party: In "American Wedding" the speaker attempts to be one, only to discover that quiet, traditional American weddings are vastly different from the giant, loud weddings he's used to.
• Literary Allusion Title: Yes, it's a reference to that Nikolai Gogol
• Lyrical Dissonance
• Malaproper
• New Sound Album: "Gypsy Punks" was much harder rocking than their previous albums, and both "Trans-Continental Hustle" and "Pura Vida Conspiracy" feature the influence of Brazilian music due to Eugene having moved to Brazil.
• Nostalgia Filter: Discussed unfavorably a few times but it's pretty blatant in "Ultimate"
  There were never any good old days
  They are today, they are tomorrow
  It's a stupid thing we say
  Cursing tomorrow with sorrow
• Ode to Intoxication: "Alcohol"
• Recurring Element: A girl named Sally is mentioned quite a few times. Possibly named after Sally Norvell, though it's obviously not supposed to be her.
• Religion Rant Song: "Supertheory of Supereverything." Retracted in the song "Super Taranta!"
• Re-release the Song: The band rerecorded "Start Wearing Purple" (from Voi-La Intruder) and "Avenue B" (from East Infection) for Gypsy Punks, and rerecorded "My Strange Uncles From Abroad" (from East Infection) for "Super Taranta". Eugene also rewrote his previous band The Fags' punk song "Jung And Crazee" in a slow acoustic style as "Nomadic Chronicle".
• Rule of Cool: The clothes, the odd metaphors, etc.
• Rule of Funny: His occasional poor grammar - his English is near perfect as he lived in the US since he was 15.
• Scatting: Tons of songs feature random shouting, las, das, and ah-yah-dahs.
• Shout-Out: Gogol Bordello is a reference to the writer Nikolai Gogol
• Trope Namer:
  • Gypsy Punk.
  • Another famous band of the genre are the Norwegians Kaizers Orchestra, who are more indebted to Tom Waits than to The Pogues. Kaizers are likely the Trope Codifier of Gypsy Punk.
• Wanderlust Song: "Wonderlust King"
• Word Salad Lyrics: All the time. In various languages.

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