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Danish Kids Songs Sites plus a Danish Children’s Song

Thursday, February 19th, 2009

Richard wrote to me recommending a Danish kids song site…

Hi

On this web page Rimogremser.dk there are several Danish kids songs with midi files.

Thanks for a good a good web-site ;)

Best regards

Richard

Thanks for the recommendation Richard. The site is nice! It has cool line drawings to go with most of the songs and tunes – though no English translations.

I picked one of the songs on the site that’s in the public domain (possibly 100 years+ old) and tried my hand at translating it. Below you’ll find the lyrics in Danish, the illustration from the site, a link to the midi and my translation…

Når vi sejler op og ned

Når vi sejler op og ned,
ser vi fisken svømme.
Ære, være, du er min.
Lise, Lise, hvor vi elsker dig.

Når vi sejler op og ned,
ser vi fisken svømme.
Ære, være, du er min
Michael, Michael, hvor vi hader dig.

Midi of Når vi sejler op og ned

Rough English Translation:

When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
Glory, be, you are mine,
Lisa, Lisa, we love you.

When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
Glory, be, you are mine,
Michael, Michael, we hate you.

I welcome improvements to my translation!

I searched around some more and found another nice Danish site called Dansk Folkemindesamling (the link here is for the kids song section of the site). This one had a different version of the same song (also in Danish only). This one also had a Quicktime recording of children singing it. It’s where I learned that the song goes back to at least 1900. It’s a circle game. One goes “swimming” under the “circles” raised arms. At the end of each verse one joins the circle. One joins them to walk around so that together they form a chain which gets longer and longer.

Here’s the second version of the song…

1 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Mia, Mia hvem elsker du?

2 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Per, Per hvem elsker du?

3 Når vi sejler op og ned
så ser vi fisken svømme
ære være vi er her
for Ebbe, Ebbe hvem elsker du?

This version is friendlier. Here’s the English translation I came up with:

1 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Mia, Mia, who loves you?

2 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Per, Per, Who loves you?

3 When we sail up and down,
We see the fish swim.
We are honored to be here
For Ebbe, Ebbe, Who loves you?

Once again, I welcome improvements to my translation!

Mama Lisa’s World also has some Danish kids songs with English, French and Spanish translations and midis. We always welcome more songs if anyone would like to contribute any and also if anyone would like to sing any for us… Feel free to comment below or email me!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Children's Songs, Circle Games, Countries & Cultures, Danish, Danish Children's Songs, Denmark, Games, Language Sites, Languages, Mama Lisa, Midis, Recommendations, Recordings of Songs, Sites about Music | 5 Comments »

Obwisana Song with a Translation and YouTube Video

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

LisaMarie wrote to me asking about the Ghanaian song Obwisana. I posted her email below, followed by the lyrics, an English translation, two YouTube videos of the song and finally a link to the score.

Here’s LisaMarie’s email…

Hi

I was hoping you could help. I’m training to be a teacher and for my music assessment I have to discuss a piece of music and have chosen to look at Obwisana but was wondering if you could tell me where I could obtain a free version of the traditional song.

Yours
LisaMarie Sheppard

Here are the lyrics to Obwisana:

Obwisana

Obwisana sa nana
Obwisana sa
Obwisana sa nana
Obwisana sa.

English Translation of Obwisana:

The rock has crushed my hand, grandma
The rock has crushed my hand.
The rock has crushed my hand, grandma,
The rock has crushed my hand.

Here are two YouTube renditions of Obwisana. The first video is an expanded version of the song that includes other lyrics…

The second version includes lots of sound effects and beats…

Obwisana is a circle game. Kids sit in a circle while singing ob-wi-sa-na and they pass around a rock. Each kid taps the rock on the ground and passes it to the next kid. The taps make a beat at each syllable of the song.

Susan Arnold wrote me:

“I know this song as an Akan song from Ghana. ‘Obo asi me nsa, nana, obo asi me nsa’ which is sung in a circle by children. The Akan place great importance on co-operation and this circle game can’t be played without that and a high degree of accuracy when placing the stone, especially as it gets faster and faster and more intricate with 2 stones tapped together or going round in the opposite direction.”

Here is an Obwisana Score.

You can visit our Obwisana song page for a midi tune and for Spanish and French translations!

I hope this all helps you LisaMarie!

Mama Lisa

PS If anyone knows more about the extended lyrics to this song, please let us know about it in the comments below. Thanks in advance!

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Posted in Akan, Children's Songs, Circle Games, Countries & Cultures, Games, Ghana, Ghanaian Children's Songs, Languages, Mama Lisa, Obwisana, Questions | 3 Comments »

Can Anyone Help with a Polish Circle Game Song?

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Lorena wrote:

Hi,

I’m Argentinian, my grandfather was Polish and he would always sing a circle game song in Polish. Now that I’m a Mommy, I’d like to sing it to my daughter. I don’t remember it well. Since my grandfather passed away some years ago, I’m writing to you to see if you can help me.

The song goes phonetically something like this…

Kowo miski sa te de reski, kowo…

I’m sorry but I don’t know anything about Polish, I remember that we used to end the game sitting on the floor.

Thanks so much… Lorena

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

Thanks!

Mama Lisa

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Posted in Children's Songs, Circle Games, Countries & Cultures, Games, Languages, Poland, Polish, Polish Kids Songs, Questions, Readers Questions | 5 Comments »

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Danish Kids Songs Sites plus a Danish Children’s Song

Obwisana Song with a Translation and YouTube Video

Can Anyone Help with a Polish Circle Game Song?