“Dragostea Din Tei” (pronounced [ˈdraɡoste̯a din ˈtej]; official English title: “Words of Love”, also informally known as “Maya Hi” and “Numa Numa”) is a song by Moldovan pop group O-Zone, released as the second single from their third studio album, DiscO-Zone (2004). The song’s title is Romanian for “Love from the linden tree”. The song quickly reached number one on the Eurochart Hot 100 Singles, where it remained for 12 weeks between June and early September 2004. It topped the single charts in France, Germany, and Austria for over three months, reached number 3 in the United Kingdom and number 72 on the US Pop 100. The song became the fourth best-selling single of the 21st century in France, with 1.17 million units sold.
The original song was popularised in the United States via the viral video “Numa Numa” in which vlogger Gary Brolsma dances to the song, having been published to the website Newgrounds. A remix titled “Numa Numa 2” by Dan Balan (from O-Zone) featuring Marley Waters was posted on YouTube on 12 September 2018 (not to be confused with a 2006 video by Brolsma of the same name but which is unrelated to “Dragostea Din Tei”).
Overall, the single reached number one in over 27 countries and went on to sell upwards of 12 million copies worldwide, making it one of the best-selling singles of all time.
