A stranger in the remote place of his military service. A stranger to the district in which he rented, then built his house (to this day the inhabitants of Doage lay great value on the integrity of their districts, which were probably distinct villages once). As a lăutar and Gypsy -- a stranger to his Hungarian wife. (Perhaps it is not by chance that Gică now wants to marry a Gypsy woman.) A stranger to his adopted son, Romanian and incapable. A stranger to the group of married villagers  because he proved to be a childless man who could not even adopt a nephew of his own blood, as custom requires. Somewhat estranged from the category of decent people because of his withdrawn and cantakerous wife. Estranged from some of the Gypsy lăutari, who are avowed supporters of his rival brother. More recently, estranged from part of his potential public because of his old repertoire and archaic interpretation style. But is it not, maybe, these very repertoire and style, which have not been entirely imposed on him by the general musical climate and by the teachers from his far-off childhood, but are the result of a succession of personal options, that reflect his inner aspiration to anchor himself firmly into a conventional social system, a system from which the circumstances of his life have tended to estrange him? Is his musical conservatism not the expression of a much coveted comfort?

Gică's favorite epic song is ?Voinicel străin? (Brave Stranger):

A brave stranger                                    Voinicel străin

Walks in the village at night               Umblă noaptea-n sat

By the dogs barked at?                  De câini e lătrat?

It is one of the most widespread and popular ballads in the area. Older men order it at wedding banquets, but not all of them do, especially those whose lives have been marked by estrangement. In Romanian, estrangement (înstrăinare) means physical, social, or emotional detachment and separation (because of departure, marriage, rejection, dispossession, etc.) from family, nation, generation, sex category, marital obligations, village, sweetheart, land, or household. In short, it is the loss of the peasant's most precious values.