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    Contents

    Can Anyone Help with a Norwegian Rhyme with the Line, “Kan du gleme gammel Norge”?

    Lyrics to the Norwegian Birthday Song with an English Translation and YouTube Videos

    Mama Lisa Now Has a Facebook Group

    Bay Ridge – A Norwegian Neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York

    Can Someone Help with a Norwegian Lullaby?

    May Celebrations

    Can Someone Help with a Norwegian Song about a Horse with the Line, “Stodola Pumpa”?

    Symbolic Foods Eaten Around the World for New Years

    A Santa Lucia Day Song and Saying, plus why it’s a Festival of Light

    St. Lucia’s Day in Sweden and Scandinavia

    Can Anyone Help with the Lyrics to a Norwegian Christmas Song called “Christmas Bells”?

    Great Photo of the Beach in Norway

    Do You Know the Lyrics to “The Sandman’s Coming in his Train of Cars”?

    Can You Help with a Norwegian Song?

    St. Knut’s Day – Looting the Christmas Tree

    How to Find Sheet Music, Tunes and MP3’s on Mama Lisa’s World

    Free Online Language Dictionaries

    The Origins of Some Scandinavian Toe Naming Rhymes

    Mama Lisa’s World News and Multimedia Features

    Questions about Norwegian Songs/Rhymes “Comin a man” and “Panneben”

    Posts

    Can Anyone Help with a Norwegian Rhyme with the Line, “Kan du gleme gammel Norge”?

    Monday, June 22nd, 2009

    David Russett wrote:

    I’m trying to find the words to a Norwegian rhyme or song. The only part I know goes something like:

    Kan du gleme gammel Norge?
    O vey! Ya, ya, gleme kan!

    Or it may be:

    Kan du huske gammel Norge?
    Ove! Ya, Ya, huske kan!

    Does anyone know the rest of this little rhyme? Some of the old Norwegians when I was a kid knew this and would recite it. I know there is much more to it that those two lines.

    If anyone can help David with the Norwegian words and/or an English translation to this song, please let us know in the comments below.

    Thanks!

    Mama Lisa

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    Lyrics to the Norwegian Birthday Song with an English Translation and YouTube Videos

    Sunday, April 19th, 2009

    Here are lyrics to the Norwegian Birthday song “Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år!” (Hurray for You for Celebrating Your Birthday). It’s a birthday song written by Margrethe Aabel Munthe (1860 – 1931):

    Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år!
    (Norwegian)

    Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år!
    Ja, deg vil vi gratulere!
    Alle i ring omkring deg vi står,
    og se, nå vil vi marsjere,
    bukke, nikke, neie, snu oss omkring,
    danse så for deg med hopp og sprett og spring,
    ønske deg av hjertet alle gode ting
    og si meg så, hva vil du mere? Gratulere!

    Høyt våre flagg vi svinger. Hurra!
    Ja, nå vil vi riktig feste!
    Dagen er din, og dagen er bra,
    men du er den aller beste!
    Se deg om i ringen hvem du vil ta!
    Dans en liten dans med den du helst vil ha!
    Vi vil alle sammen svinge oss så gla’
    og en av oss skal bli den neste – til å feste!

    Here’s an English translation I came up with…

    Hurray for You for Celebrating Your Birthday!

    Hurray for you for celebrating your birthday!
    Yes, we congratulate you!
    We all stand around you in a ring,
    And look, now we’ll march,
    Bow, nod, curtsy, we turn around,
    Dance for you and hop and skip and jump!
    Wishing you from the heart all good things!
    And tell me, what more could you want? Congratulations!

    We wave our flags up high! Hurray!
    Yes now we’ll really celebrate!
    The day is yours, the day is great,
    But you’re the best!
    Look in the ring who you want to choose!
    Dance a little dance with who you want to!
    We’ll all turn around together so joyfully,
    And one of us shall be the next – to celebrate!

    Here you can hear the first verse (which is how it’s traditionally sung)…

    Here’s a video with both verses mentioned above, plus extra verses after that, and it shows the actions you can do with the song.

    If anyone could provide any info about the extra lyrics that would be great! But note that they don’t seem to be part of the original lyrics by Margrethe Aabel Munthe. Just the first two verses are. Most people know the first verse. Some know the two above. I don’t think many are familiar with more than that!

    Happy Birthday Everyone!

    Love, Mama Lisa

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    Mama Lisa Now Has a Facebook Group

    Sunday, February 22nd, 2009

    We’d love it if you’d join the Mama Lisa Facebook Group. You can post anything you’d like about your culture. You can post your own musical recordings or YouTube videos… Links to culture and musical sites… Photos of your country… Questions about songs or cultural issues… Anything related to World Culture and Music…

    Click on the icon below to access the group. If you have a Facebook account already, you just need to click on “Join the Group” to join. If you’re not a member, you simply have to sign up for free to become a member and then you can join the Mama Lisa Group…

    Mama Lisa's Facebook Group Badge

    Looking forward to seeing you in Facebook!

    Mama Lisa

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    Bay Ridge – A Norwegian Neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York

    Thursday, September 18th, 2008

    Guest Blogger, Ed Gawlinski, has been involved in many cultural organizations throughout his life. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, near Bay Ridge, which was then a Norwegian neighborhood.

    The Norwegian neighborhood is now a great place for Middle Eastern cuisine. There are many fine restaurants in this area. Many of the shops include Arabic in their signs. However, the Norwegians still have their annual Norwegian Day Parade there every May. May 17th marks the Norwegian Constitution Day celebration. This is when Norway declared its independence from Sweden. Swedish-Americans do not have any hard feelings about this. Swedes from Connecticut go to Brooklyn each May to participate in this Parade.

    Photo of Norwegian Day Parade in Bay Ridge

    Back in the 1960’s many of the Catholic Churches in Brooklyn sponsored Drum and Bugle corps to keep their youth out of mischief. The people who played in one of these, The Ridgemen of Our Lady of Perpetual Help during the 1960’s have formed an “alumni” Drum and Bugle Corps and march in this parade every year.

    Off Topic Note from Mama Lisa:
    Ed’s story about the bugle corps keeping the youth out of mischief was interesting. This must have been common in the past. It reminds me of the story of how Louis Armstrong starting playing the trumpet… (Click the link if you’d like to learn more!)

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    Can Someone Help with a Norwegian Lullaby?

    Sunday, July 20th, 2008

    Janice wrote:

    My grandmother used to sing me a Norwegian song that sounded like this:

    Kishey louie barnay
    Glueten stewie yarnay

    I remember that it meant “Rock-a-bye my baby, put her in the kettle”, but of course my mom says that’s not true!

    Do you have any idea what the song was or what the translation would be?

    Thanks,

    Janice

    If anyone can help out with the lyrics to this Norwegian lullaby and/or an English translation, please comment below.

    Thanks in advance!

    Mama Lisa

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    May Celebrations

    Tuesday, April 29th, 2008

    Guest blogger Ed Gawlinski sent me this short post about celebrations in May…

    On May 5th a lot of people in the United States are going to have tacos or burritos for lunch to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. On May 5th of 1862 Troops led by Ignacio Zaragoza halted a French invasion of Mexico in the Battle of Puebla.

    However, I would also suggest that before that, on May 3rd you plan a dinner of Kiełbasa i Kapusta (sausage and cabbage) to celebrate Constitution Day. In 1791 the Polish Sejm (congress) proclaimed Poland’s first written constitution. This makes Poland the first country in Europe and the second country in the world to establish a government based on a written constitution. The United States was the first and France was the third.

    I would also suggest that on May 17th you have some tomatsuppe med macaroni, that would be Norwegian-style tomato soup. On that date in 1814, the Constitution of Norway was signed and the Danish Crown Prince Christian Frederik is elected King of Norway by the Norwegian Constituent Assembly.

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    Can Someone Help with a Norwegian Song about a Horse with the Line, “Stodola Pumpa”?

    Saturday, April 26th, 2008

    Jeanette wrote me…

    Good Evening;

    My husband’s Grandmother was from Norway and she used to sing a song to him as a little boy about a poor man’s horse, a rich man’s horse, a soldier’s horse etc. My children and Grandchildren only remember the chorus – and only phonetically as they remember my husband (who is now deceased) singing it to them as he gave them a horsey ride on his knee.

    The chorus sounded like this to them:

    Stoldala, stodola, stodola pumpa,
    Stodola pumpa,
    Stodola pumpa,
    Stoldala, stodola, stodola pumpa,
    Stodola pum, pum, pum, pum, pum.

    I hope you can help me find it for them.

    A Grandmother,
    Jeanette

    If anyone can help Jeanette with this song, please comment below.

    Thanks in advance!

    Lisa

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    Symbolic Foods Eaten Around the World for New Years

    Saturday, December 29th, 2007

    In many parts of the world, the foods eaten on New Years Eve and New Years Day have important symbolic meanings. These symbols seem to fall into several major categories.

    The first class symbolizes financial prosperity. This type of food is round like coins. Often, the dish will be round beans, like lentils, that will expand when it cooks, symbolizing expanding fortunes. Another financial symbol is food with big green leaves, representing paper money. The green may also be for growth. Foods like this are cabbage, collard greens and kale. Golden colored foods are also good for financial rewards in the New Year.

    The second type of New Years food symbol represents the hope of having food on the table throughout the year. Pork is one important symbol of eating well year round. It’s also a sign of prosperity. In the olden times, if your family had a pig, you were doing well!

    In some countries, actually having food on your table and/or plates at the stroke of midnight is a sign that you’ll have food throughout the year.

    A third symbol involves eating sweet food in order to have a sweet year. In some countries people bake a coin in a sweet cake and the person who gets the coin will have good luck throughout the year. In Spain, Portugal, and parts of South and Central America, 12 sweet grapes, one for each month of the year, are eaten at midnight. The hope is to eat 12 sweet grapes to have 12 sweet months!

    Fish is thought to symbolize good luck in many countries.

    Another symbol for good luck involves eating food in a ring shape – like doughnuts or ring shaped cakes. This represents coming full circle to successfully complete the year – that’s good luck.

    In Japan, long Buckwheat Soba noodles symbolize long life. Just don’t break them while you’re eating them!

    Here’s a list of some symbolic food types and the places where they’re eaten for the New Year. Feel free to let us know what’s eaten for New Years in your country, in the comments below.

    Round Food (Like Coins for Monetary Luck)

    Italy, Brazil & Germany (Lentils)
    Germany (Pancakes)
    Philippines (Round Fruit)
    Southern US (Black-eyed Peas)

    Green Leafy Vegetables (Like Paper Money for Monetary Luck)

    Southern USA (Collard Greens & Turnips)
    Denmark (Kale)
    Germany (Sauerkraut)

    Golden Food (Like Gold for Monetary Luck)

    Southern USA (Corn Bread)

    Pig (Symbol of Plentiful Food in the New Year)

    Hungary (Roast suckling pig with a 4 leaf clover in its mouth)
    Italy (Cotechino con lenticchie – pork sausage with lentils)
    Germany (Kassler mit Sauerkraut – financial luck)
    Pennsylvania Dutch (USA – Pork with Sauerkraut)
    Austria
    China

    Food on the Table or Plate at Midnight (Symbol of Plentiful Food in the New Year)

    Germany
    Philippines

    Sweets (Symbolic of a Sweet Year or Good Luck)

    Hungary (Doughnuts)
    Greece (Round cake called Vasilopita – made with a coin baked inside – whoever gets the coin is lucky throughout the year)
    Israel (Jewish New Year – Apple dipped in honey & grapes)
    India
    Egypt (Candy for kids)
    Korea (Sweet Fruits)
    Norway (Rice Pudding with an almond inside – good luck to the one who gets the almond)

    12 Grapes at Midnight (Symbolizing 12 Sweet Months)

    Spain
    Portugal
    Mexico
    Cuba
    Ecuador
    Peru

    Ring Shaped Food (Good Luck)

    Mexico (Rosca de Reyes – Luck)
    Netherlands (Olie Bollen – Doughnut)

    Fish (Symbol of Good Luck)

    Germany (Herring & Carp)
    Poland (Pickled Herring)
    Denmark (Boiled Cod)
    Italy (Dried Salted Cod)
    Japan (Red Snapper – Pink is a lucky color)
    Vietnam (Carp)
    China
    Sweden (Seafood Salad)

    A Happy, Lucky and Prosperous New Year to All of You!

    Mama Lisa

    Many thanks to Ed Gawlinski for pointing out that they eat lentils in Italy for the New Year, which lead me on this long quest that resulted in this discussion!

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    A Santa Lucia Day Song and Saying, plus why it’s a Festival of Light

    Tuesday, December 4th, 2007

    Several days ago I wrote a post about the Santa Lucia holiday in Sweden and Scandinavia.

    A popular saying associated with this holiday is:

    Lucy Light,
    The Shortest day &
    The Longest Night.

    This saying celebrates the association of St Lucia’s Day, December 13, with the Winter Solstice which, under the old Julian calendar, used to fall on that day.

    This day is very significant in Sweden and other Scandinavian countries. There, in December, the daylight time is very short and darkness and nighttime are extremely long, due to their position on the globe.

    Lucia is another way of saying “Lucy”, which literally translates to “light”. (In English we can hear this connection in words like “Luminescent”.) After the Winter Solstice the days get longer. So St. Lucia is a celebration of the coming lengthening of the days.

    You can see why the song Sankta Lucia is one of the most popular carols to sing. It has a beautiful, haunting melody and it’s all about the long night and the return of daylight. Here’s one version of Sankta Lucia in Swedish, followed by an English translation I did, the midi tune and a link to the sheet music.

    Natten går tunga fjät
    (Swedish)

    Natten går tunga fjät
    rund gård och stuva;
    kring jord, som sol förlät,
    skuggorna ruva.
    Då i vårt mörka hus,
    stiger med tända ljus,
    Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

    Natten går stor och stum
    nu hörs dess vingar
    i alla tysta rum
    sus som av vingar.
    Se, på vår tröskel står
    vitklädd med ljus i hår
    Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

    Mörkret ska flykta snart
    ur jordens dalar
    så hon ett underbart
    ord till oss talar.
    Dagen ska åter ny
    stiga ur rosig sky
    Sankta Lucia, Sankta Lucia.

    Night Walks with a Heavy Step
    (English)

    Night walks with a heavy step
    Round yard and hearth,
    As the sun departs from earth,
    Shadows are brooding.
    There in our dark house,
    Walking with lit candles,
    Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

    Night walks grand, yet silent,
    Now hear its gentle wings,
    In every room so hushed,
    Whispering like wings.
    Look, at our threshold stands,
    White-clad with light in her hair,
    Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

    Darkness shall take flight soon,
    From earth’s valleys.
    So she speaks a
    Wonderful Word to us:
    A new day will rise again
    From the rosy sky…
    Santa Lucia, Santa Lucia!

    Midi of Santa Lucia

    Sheet Music of Santa Lucia

    Here’s a YouTube video of a performance of the song, from a Santa Lucia celebration in Sweden. The video is cut off at the beginning and the end, but it sounds very pretty and it gives an idea of what a St. Lucia Day concert is like.

    Many thanks to Edward M. Gawlinski for the midi tune and sheet music!

    -Mama Lisa

    Note: The tune to Sankta Lucia comes from an Italian version of the song called “Santa Lucia”. There are also at least 3 different Swedish versions of this song.

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    St. Lucia’s Day in Sweden and Scandinavia

    Sunday, December 2nd, 2007

    Santa Lucia’s Day is celebrated on December 13th in Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland. It commemorates the life of Santa Lucia, who is also known as Saint Lucy.

    St. Lucy was born in Syracuse, Sicily around 283 and died in 303 AD. The myth is that her parents wanted her to marry a man who she didn’t want to marry. She wanted to devote her life to helping the poor. In protest against the marriage, she poked out her eyes and put them on a platter and sent them to the man. The legend is that her eyes were miraculously restored by God.

    It’s said that Saint Lucia blinded herself on the shortest, darkest day of the year, which is the Winter Solstice. Under the old Julian calendar, that day was December 13th. That’s how St. Lucia’s day came to be celebrated on the 13th. (Now, in the northern hemisphere, the Winter Solstice falls on the 21st or the 22nd.)

    In Sweden, and other Scandinavian countries, Santa Lucia Day is seen as being the beginning of the Christmas season. It starts the Twelve Days of Christmas.

    St. Lucia Photo

    The tradition on Santa Lucia Day is for the oldest girl in the family to dress in a white robe with a red sash and wear a crown of candles and lingonberry leaves (lingonberries are popular berries in Sweden). She’s supposed to be dressed as St. Lucia. The other girls dress in white with silver crowns. The boys wear pointed silver hats and carry wands with stars on them. They’re called stjärngossar (star boys). Some kids dress up as tomtar which are like gnomes.

    Tomtar Photo

    On the morning of Santa Lucia, the children in the family will often wake their parents with a breakfast of Lussekatter (a special St. Lucia bun made with saffron), ginger cookies, coffee and glögg (hot spiced wine). The kids will be dressed in their special Santa Lucia costumes and they’ll sing Santa Lucia songs.

    Throughout the day girls will be dressed as Santa Lucia in schools, malls, churches and other public places singing and handing out ginger cookies. There are also Luciatags – St. Lucia processions in which the children dress in their white costumes and sing St. Lucia Day songs.

    St. Lucia Day songs coming soon!

    Many thanks to Edward M. Gawlinski for the photos!

    Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Sweden Pages for Songs from Sweden, including Swedish Christmas songs.

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    Can Anyone Help with the Lyrics to a Norwegian Christmas Song called “Christmas Bells”?

    Tuesday, November 27th, 2007

    Ed wrote:

    Lisa,

    I sing in a choral club which is sponsored by Travelers Insurance, in Hartford, Connecticut. It is the oldest company sponsored choral club in the country. This Christmas we are doing a piece called Christmas Bells, which is a Norwegian Folk Carol. I am wondering if you posted the lyrics and midi of this piece someone might recognize it and provide the Norwegian words to it. I have no idea if the English words are a translation of the original or the lyricist just came up with words that matched the tune. The tune however, is quite nice and would be a very good children’s song.

    Thanks

    Ed

    Here are the lyrics Ed sent me:

    Christmas Bells

    Christmas is coming and sleigh bells are jingling and
    Faces are tingling in frost and in snow
    Riding along with the reindeer together in
    Cold frosty weather we sing as we go.

    See! The lights of the home are glowing;
    Warmth and welcome clear they’re showing.

    Journey’s end comes soon in sight, with the sleigh bells
    A jingle in the bright starry night.

    Listen to the midi tune of Christmas Bells

    If anyone can help with the Norwegian lyrics to this song, please comment below or email me.

    Thanks!

    Lisa

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    Great Photo of the Beach in Norway

    Thursday, August 9th, 2007

    Monique, my colleague at Mama Lisa’s World en français, sent me this lovely photo of the beach in Norway, which she recently returned from visiting.

    Beach in Norway

    It looked to me like such a perfect vacation photo, that I had to ask Monique if I could share it with all of you. So here it is. Thanks Monique!

    If anyone else would like to share a great photo from around the world, feel free to email me.

    -Lisa

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    Do You Know the Lyrics to “The Sandman’s Coming in his Train of Cars”?

    Saturday, February 17th, 2007

    Lee Shipton wrote looking for the lyrics to a lullaby…

    I am trying to find the full set of lyrics to a children’s lullaby which my father used to sing. The words are something like this:

    The Sandman’s Coming in his Train of Cars

    The Sandman’s coming in his train of cars
    With moonbeam windows and with wheels of stars
    So hush you little ones and have no fear
    The man in the moon he is the engineer
    The railroad track it is a moonbeam bright
    That leads right up into the starry night
    So come you little ones and run up the stairs
    Put on your ‘jamas and say your prayers
    And ride with Mr. Sandman
    Ride with Mr. Sandman
    ‘Til daylight comes again
    An you’ll see all the wonders of wonderland
    In the Sandman’s Train

    I have had suggestions that “my Sandman” is the Dream God and Ole Lukoie from old Danish or Norwegian folklore but the words are not the same as mine.

    Elsewhere in mythology the Sandman is an evil character and not a bit like mine.

    Can you help please?

    Lee Shipton

    If anyone can help with infomration about this lullaby, please let us know in the comments below.

    Thanks!

    Lisa

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    Can You Help with a Norwegian Song?

    Thursday, January 18th, 2007

    Clay wrote:

    Hi: My name is Clay and I live in Canada. My grandfather decended from Norway. He taught my mother a song when she was little and we are trying to find the lyrics to the whole song. All I know is jeg ere sa glad til yewl kevll. I don’t know how to spell in Norwegian, so I’m not sure if this makes any sense at all. If it does, I would sure appreciate it if you could send me the words to this song.

    Thank-you

    If anyone can help, please comment below.

    Thanks!

    Lisa

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    St. Knut’s Day – Looting the Christmas Tree

    Wednesday, January 17th, 2007

    Last year I wrote about St. Knut’s Day, a holiday celebrated on January 13th, in Sweden, Finland and Norway. St. Knut’s Day is all about getting rid of all the Christmas decorations and throwing out the tree, thus ending the Christmas season.

    When I wrote about it last year, I asked if anyone knew of any St. Knut’s Day songs. Recently Kristina wrote in with a song, and with interesting information about the holiday…

    There is one song that is sung on Knut:

    In Swedish:

    Nu är glada julen slut, slut, slut.
    Julegranen bäres ut, ut, ut.
    Men till nästa jul igen,
    kommer han vår gamle vän,
    för det har han lovat.

    In English:

    Now the merry Christmas is over, over, over,
    The Christmas tree is carried out, out, out,
    But for next Christmas again,
    He is coming our old friend
    Because he has promised that.

    Knut was/is a rather festive day. At least up until 50 years ago. Children liked it a lot as the tree was often decorated with candy (candy canes, sugar decorations and smällkarameller / crackers with hidden bits of candy). All Christmas they had to look at these sweets without eating them, but on Knut all decorations were taken down and the candy could be eaten. That is called julgransplundring (Christmas tree looting).

    As we no longer have much candy on the trees and few people want to eat old candy, it’s not as big as it used to be. Some still see it as a festive day and invite kids over for a kids party where they hand out candy. There are also some different local traditions.

    Thanks for writing in Kristina! If anyone else would like to share a St. Knut’s Day song or tradition, feel free to comment below.

    -Lisa

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    How to Find Sheet Music, Tunes and MP3’s on Mama Lisa’s World

    Saturday, January 6th, 2007

    In addition to this blog, I also host Mama Lisa’s World. Mama Lisa’s World is a large collection of children’s songs and rhymes from countries all around the globe.

    Matt, a music teacher from Rhode Island, wrote a question to me, the other day, about Mama Lisa’s World:

    Hey Mama,

    I love the concept of your site. It’s been exciting to watch it grow. My only frustration is not being able to find either written (preferably) or audio music to accompany the lyrics. How do I find the tunes for all these great lyrics?

    Matt
    Music Teacher, Rhode Island, USA

    Here’s what I wrote back, I’m sharing it with you, in case it helps you too…

    Hey Matt,

    Thanks for writing!

    We’ve just added basic sheet music to a lot of songs on the Germany, France, Hungary, Spain and Mexico pages – plus many others.

    We’re now in the process of converting the whole site to a database. We’re halfway through. Hopefully by the summer we’ll have a feature that will let you do a search on songs that have sheet music, midis or mp3’s. Midis play the tune of a song. MP3’s are recordings – usually of someone singing the song.

    But for now, the songs on the countries that are in the database are working on a simple system. On the country pages they have symbols next to the song if they have special features. Here’s the key…

    KEY TO SYMBOLS

    Musical Symbol – this song has sheet music
    Midi – this song has a Midi tune
    MP3 – this song has an MP3 recording
    Video Icon – this song has a Video recording

    If there’s anything in particular you’re looking for, you’re welcome to ask – in case I know if we have it or not – I may be able to guide you to the right place to find what you’re looking for.

    And, of course, we’re always looking for more sheet music, midi’s and mp3’s, so if you’d like to contribute any from your culture, we’d be thrilled!

    I hope this helps!

    Mama Lisa

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    Free Online Language Dictionaries

    Friday, December 22nd, 2006

    While I have this link at hand, I’d like to recommend www.freedict.com. It’s a site devoted to free online language dictionaries. You can translate between English and the following languages:

    Afrikaans
    Danish
    Dutch
    Finnish
    French
    Hungarian
    Indonesian
    Italian
    Japanese
    Latin
    Norwegian
    Portuguese
    Russian
    Spanish
    Swahili
    Swedish

    I find that it can usually succeed at translating the words I need.

    Feel free to recommend other language dictionaries that you like in the comments below.

    -Lisa

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    The Origins of Some Scandinavian Toe Naming Rhymes

    Wednesday, December 13th, 2006

    Julie and Beth wrote looking for the origins of two Scandinavian rhymes that are played with little kids while touching their toes. We’re wondering if anyone’s ever heard of these rhymes and perhaps knows what country they’re from and/or anything else about their origins. Here’s what Julie wrote:

    I have been searching for the origin of a nursery rhyme that my friend said to her kids. The child has his/her shoes off and starting with the little toe, she names the toes:

    Little Pea (little toe)
    Peter Lou (next toe)
    Oosey Nossey (next toe)
    Toosey tossey (next toe)
    And a Great Big Oppososso (big toe)

    I am not sure of the spelling. However, the University of Wisconsin Children’s Library assures me that this toe rhyme has Scandinavian roots. They said: Scandinavia is known for naming toe rhymes.

    Please help me, I have been searching the origin of this toe playing game for years with my friend’s blessing. My friend is Scandinavian and she doesn’t remember where she heard this toe playing game. I assume that she heard it as a child.

    Julie

    Beth Bookschlepper wrote in looking for the origin of a similar rhyme:

    I know this as…

    Little Pea,
    Penny Rou,
    Judy Whistle,
    Mary Tossle,
    And Big Tom Bumble.

    I am also interested in its origins.

    If anyone can help, or would like to share other similar rhymes, please comment below.

    Thanks!

    Lisa

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    Mama Lisa’s World News and Multimedia Features

    Thursday, November 30th, 2006

    A significant part of the Mama Lisa sites is a large collection of songs and nursery rhymes from around the world. We currently have about 750 songs from around 90 countries and cultures.

    When you consider how many languages there are in those cultures – that’s a lot of information! In order to make it easier to access all of the songs, we are in the process of converting the sites to a database. The database allow our visitors to search for songs on the site by language, by songs with sheet music, recordings, etc.

    While we’re putting the songs into the database, we’re trying to obtain as much information as possible about each song. So if we can find the tune, we’ll include a midi tune and sheet music. If we find a recording of the song on the internet, we’ll provide a link to the recording. Sometimes we’ll make a recording ourselves. Anything we can do to help you know everything possible about that song.

    If you happen to see any songs on the site that are missing a tune or recording and you know it, we’d be very pleased if you could help us get the tune. We’re able to make midis from sheet music, if that’s what you can send. We’re also happy to post recordings if you’d like to sing the song, play it on an instrument, or even hum it. Really, anything to help others get an idea how to sing or play the song.

    Once the database is complete Mama Lisa’s World will have 98 countries and cultures and over 850 songs. How great is that!

    -Lisa

    UPDATE: The Database is now complete! We have 100 countries and cultures. We’re now working on a Spanish version of Mama Lisa’s World which will feature children’s songs, folks songs and nursery rhymes from around the world with Spanish translations.

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    Questions about Norwegian Songs/Rhymes “Comin a man” and “Panneben”

    Sunday, May 7th, 2006

    Jennifer wrote…

    My mom’s Norwegian father taught her two little ditties and I would love to know if we have them correct and what the correct spelling is. I’m going to spell phonetically…

    Comin a man
    Loppin a stoppin
    Ca-sis ta-baggin
    ta-bick-en ta-boose (tickle, tickle)

    and

    Panabene (point to forehead)
    Oyestene (point to eyes)
    Nasatip (point to nose)
    Monalip (point to lip)
    Hagafip (point to chin)
    (tickle under chin

    Thank you! Jennifer – granddaughter of Tobias Trygsland

    Please comment below if you can help Jennifer.

    Thanks!

    Lisa

    Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Norway Page for Norwegian songs and rhymes.

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    ________

    Copyright ©2009 by Lisa Yannucci. All rights reserved.
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