Does Anyone Know a Song with the Line, “The Ship Sailed for the White Cliffs of Dover”?
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Can Anyone Help with a Czech or Slovak Kids Song?
Hi. My grandmother used to sing a children's song to me in Czech or Slovak. I believe it is about a little hunter. It went along the lines of (phonetically): Ya simali nissli vechek... Any ideas?If anyone can help Lewis, please let us know in the comments below. Thanks! Lisa ...
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Can Anyone Help with a Czech or Slovak Kids Song?
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Lewis Grimm wrote:
Hi. My grandmother used to sing a children’s song to me in Czech or Slovak. I believe it is about a little hunter. It went along the lines of (phonetically):
Ya simali nissli vechek…
Any ideas?
If anyone can help Lewis, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Lisa
Does Anyone Know a Song with the Line, “The Ship Sailed for the White Cliffs of Dover”?
Tuesday, November 17th, 2009Dan wrote,
I went to school in Chilton (England) when I was six (1972), in California now, and my class sang this song, but that is the only line I can recall, I even recall the melody…
“And when the journey was all over /
The ship sailed for the /
White Cliffs of Dover.”Anybody? Was it maybe a song about a ship with two cats and the crew were all mice, and when they got home all that was left were two fat cats?
Dan
If anyone can help Dan, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Korean Kids Song?
Sunday, November 15th, 2009Curtis wrote asking about a Korean kids song…
Have you ever heard of a Korean song that school girls sing as they clap hands that goes like this:
Pong dong pong dong
dolel (stone) donjiora (throw)…Thanks, Curtis
If anyone can help with this song, please email me or comment below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Cool Cuban Kids Song – Tiene Pinochito – Little Pinocchio
Saturday, November 7th, 2009Jeanette wrote to us looking for the lyrics to a Cuban lullaby and I think we can help with this one! Here’s her letter, followed by the song she’s looking for…
Lisa,
There is a nursery rhyme or song that my grandmother used to sing to me (she has been dead about 8 years now) that I can only remember a few lines to… it could be a Cuban nursery song, I’m not really sure… I am dying to find the lyrics to the entire song, I now sing the parts that I can remember to my daughter and wish i could remember it.
It goes something like this…
Quien es me morena que habre su boca, en ella le caben dos mil calabasas un saco de higo y otro de pasas.
I hope you can help me locate this
Thank you so much!!
Jeanette Duque
Here’s a similar version we found in Spanish, with an English translation by Monique Palomares of Mamá Lisa’s World en español…
Original Spanish Lyrics
Tiene Pinochito
Tiene Pinochito
tan pequeña boca
que en ella le caben
cien platos de sopa
trescientos pepinos
y mil calabazas
un saco de higos
y otro de pasas
a la pobre niña
le entró la viruela
calentura mala
y dolor de muelas
el médico le receta
sardinas a la parrilla
a ver si le engordan
esas pantorrillas.Which means in English:
Little Pinocchio has
such a little mouth
that into it fits
a hundred plates of soup,
three hundreds cucumbers
and a thousand pumpkins,
a bag full of figs
and another one of raisins.
He caught the smallpox,
a bad fever
and his back tooth aches.
The doctor prescribes him
grilled sardines
to see if his calves
get bigger.This is a jump rope song.
Monique said regarding the original question, “Jeanette’s grandma’s version must have been : ‘¿Quién es mi morena que habre su boca, en ella le caben dos mil calabazas un saco de higos y otro de pasas…?.’ The ‘quién es mi morena que…’ means ‘who is my little brown girl who opens her mouth, into it fits, etc.’ It could have been a version created by her grandma to fit the situation. Perhaps she could sing it to us to help us figure it out…”
Thanks to Monique for providing the English translation and for helping with this song!
Mama Lisa
Can Someone Help with a German Lap Rhyme?
Wednesday, October 28th, 2009Gloria wrote to me:
Hi, my grandma (born in Eisleben in 1875, emigrating to the Midwest in 1902, married her second husband (my grandfather) in St. Paul, lived most of her life in Wisconsin with her third husband), recited a rhyme when dandling a baby on her extended foot, either with legs crossed at the hips (or just straight out, but the dad’s were best at that). The rest of the family did it for every baby/little child, including myself. We never saw it in print, and we only have the phonetic sound from listening to it. Phonetically, it went something like what follows. I would dearly love to know exactly what it meant, although it is obvious based on what happened to the child:
Grandma (and all the rest of us who had children) would cross her legs at her hips, sit the baby on her upper ankle, hold the baby’s two hands in hers, and bounce the baby lightly up and down, until the end of the rhyme, when she would let the child fall back, laughing, and then lift the child back up, and begin again!
Scheckle, scheckle, reiderlein,
Ven die kinder kleinerschein
Reiden zie auf steckerlein,Ven zie greis auf verten
Reiden zie auferten
Zen zie verten,
Klip, Klop, Klip Klop
Reiden zi (then something like a scary word or sounds)“Boom stehl leckta!” really loud!
The adult lets the child fall back, usually grinning happily. (Sometimes a baby didn’t like it but others wanted you to pull them up onto your ankle and do it again! Some kids got a little dizzy if you did this action too fast! But mostly they loved it. I don’t remember their doing it with me, but I am certain they did, that’s where the phonetic sound and rhythm of the lines as I remember them come in, as well as my mother’s saying it to me when I was older and wanted her to tell me what it was, but it would always have been a phonetic memory, since she never really learned much German except what was common… the words you aren’t supposed to say!) This was done several times, until either one’s leg was tired, or the child needed a rest. I just used the phonetic version when I treated my kids as babies to the fun game, but for some reason I never asked my grandma. I was told that it meant something like, “When a child is little it rides on a stick horse, but when it tries to ride a real horse, he will go faster and fall off.” Have you ever heard this? I possibly have some of the phonetics wrongly remembered, but the rhythm and sounds and actions are still in my brain.
Thanks for any help you can give. I do like your website, I found it by way of BING. I think it is very interesting as to the German, lots of Germans settled in America. My father’s ancestors may have come from Austria, as well as Germany, but came to Wisconsin in the 1840’s, met and married, learned English, so they never spoke German at all when we knew them. A grandson, age 12, who has been learning German, took to it immediately, and loves it, as well as Norwegian, so there must be an inherited acclimation to the sound of a language.
Sincerely,
Gloria Koeser Laundrie
Thanks for sharing your song with us Gloria! If anyone can help with the German version and/or an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.
Cheers!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Greek Translation of Palamakia (Clap)?
Saturday, October 24th, 2009We received a Greek kids clapping song called Palamakia that we could use a little help with. Below is the Greek text, a transliteration and a rough translation. We’d like to know if the English translation is okay or if it needs to be changed at all…
Greek Text
Παλαμάκια
Παλαμάκια παίξετε
κι ο μπαμπάς του έρχεται
και του φέρνει κάτι τι
κουλουράκια στο χαρτίΠαλαμάκια παίξετε
κι η μανούλα έρχεται
να το πάρει αγκαλιά
το μικρούλι της παιδιά.Παλαμάκια, παλαμάκια
παίζουν όλα τα παιδάκια
Παλαμάκια και χορό
νταχ ντιρντι και
νταχ ντιρντοTransliteration
Palamakia
Palamakia Peksete
Kai o babas tou erhete
Kai tou ferni kati ti
Koulourakia sto hartiPalamakia Peksete
Kai i manoula erhete
Kai ta perni agalia
Ta mikroulia tis pethiaPalamakia Palamakia
Pezoun ola ta pethakia
Palamakia kai horo
Tihdidi kai TihdidoRough English Translation by Penelope Karagouni (with some editing by me)
Clap
Clap your hands
His dad is coming
To bring him something,
Cookies in a paper-wrapper.Clap your hands
Mommy is coming
To get the little one
To hug the children!Clap, clap,
All the children clap
Clapping and dancing
Dah didrdi and dah dirdo.**Dah didrdi and dah dirdo’ are sounds only with no meaning.
You can hear part of the rhyme in the 2nd part of the YouTube Video below…
If anyone can help with the translation, or let us know if it’s okay, please let me know in the comments below or by emailing me.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Two French Goodbye Songs with Recordings
Friday, October 23rd, 2009I was recently asked for a Goodbye Song in French. While looking for a song I found out that some French school teachers use the French version of Auld Lang Syne, “Ce n’est qu’un au revoir”, as a Goodbye Song. It’s a Scout song that’s also called “Le chant des adieux”. When teachers use it as a Goodbye song, they sing the 1st two verses. Here they are in French with an English translation….
Faut-il nous quitter sans espoir
Sans espoir de retour ?
Faut-il nous quitter sans espoir
De nous revoir un jour ?Refrain
Ce n’est qu’un au revoir, mes frères,
Ce n’est qu’un au revoir.
Oui, nous nous reverrons, mes frères,
Ce n’est qu’un au revoir.Here’s a literal English translation by Monique Palomares…
Must we leave each other without a hope
To see each other again some day
Must we leave each other without a hope
A hope of returnIt’s only a goodbye, my brothers
It’s only a goodbye,
Yes, we’ll see each other again, my brothers
It’s only a goodbye.Here you can hear the whole song…
Another Goodbye Song we have here today was written and sung by Alain Le Lait. It’s in French and English. Sit back and enjoy the song by clicking the MP3 below. You can read along with the lyrics in French and English…
Listen to Alain’s French Goodbye Song
Au revoir
by Alain Le LaitAu revoir, good bye,
Now it is time for me to go away.
Au revoir, good bye,
But I wish I could stay with you all day.Thanks for your smiles
And for singing along
I hope to see you again before too long.Au revoir, good bye,
Il se fait tard et je dois m’en aller
Au revoir, good bye,
Mais j’aimerais rester toute la journée
Pour vos sourires et vos bien jolies voix
Je vous remercie et a une autre fois.Au revoir, good bye,
Au revoir, good bye,
Au revoir, good bye.(English Translation of French Verse)
Good bye, good bye
It’s getting late and I must go
Good bye, good bye
But I’d like to stay with you all day
For all your smiles and your pretty voices
I thank you and I’ll see you another time.The French and English lyrics to this “Au revoir” song are © 1994 Alain Le Lait.
Alain Le Lait is a French native who grew up near Paris, France. He moved to the United States in the 1970s and now lives in Colorado. Alain writes and performs easy to learn children’s songs in French, Spanish and English. Check out his site www.Yadeeda.com to hear samples of his music and to buy his CD’s or mp3’s.
Merci Alain & Monique!
Feel free to share any French Hello or Goodbye songs you know in the comments below.
Mama Lisa
PS Here are some other Hello and Goodbye Songs…
Can Anyone Help with a Croatian Song that Sounds Like, “Kille killi jakasaka okoama bum”?
Monday, October 19th, 2009Michael wrote:
Hi Lisa,
We just returned from a vacation in Croatia. We are German and have 3 little girls. They learned a song from a “mini disco”. I hope you can tell me the name of the song.
From what we understood it sounds like this:
Kille killi jakasaka okoama bum (repeats) Olee mal jole…….
Do you know how this song is named and what the lyrics are?
Thanks in advance for any information.
Regards,
Michael Andres
If anyone can help Michael, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Polish Lullaby that Translates as “Sleep My Baby Doll”?
Sunday, October 18th, 2009Theresa wrote:
I am looking for a Polish lullaby my mother used to sing…
Śpij laleczko moja mała, czas na ciebie już, ja cię będę kołysała, a ty oczka zmruz…
This is all I remember.
If anyone has all the words, I would be very grateful.
Theresa
A rough English translation of the above text is: Sleep my little baby doll, it is the time for you now, I will, I will rock, and you close your eyes.
This is the tune to the Polish Lullaby.
If anyone can help Therese with the original text of the lullaby and/or an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
UPDATE:
Here’s the text of a slightly different version of the lullaby, thanks to Agnieszka Magnucka:
ŚPIJ LALECZKO
Pod pierzyną czarnej nocy
W blasku srebrnych gwiazd
Gwiżdże swoje kołysanki
Rozśpiewany wiatr.Księżyc wplata w warkoczyki
Kolorowe sny
Śpij laleczko moja mała
Śpij córeczko, śpij.W płatkach herbacianej róży
Calineczka śpi
Nawet przemęczony świerszczyk
Zasnął w trakcie gry.Wszystkie małe grzeczne dzieci
Już od dawna śpią
Dobra wróżka opowiada
Bajkę którą śnią.Księżyc wplata w warkoczyki
Kolorowe sny
Śpij laleczko moja mała
Śpij córeczko, śpij.Agnieszka Magnucka and I came up with this English translation…
SLEEP MY BABY DOLL
Under the blanket of dark night
In the glimmer of silver stars
It is whistling its lullabies…
- Singing wind.The Moon is braiding in plaits
Colorful dreams
Sleep my baby doll
Sleep my daughter, sleep.Between the tea rose* leaves
Thumbelina is sleeping
Also some overtired little cricket
Fell asleep while playing.All the good little children
Are sleeping for so long
The good fairy is telling that story
They are dreaming of.The moon is braiding in plaits
Colorful dreams
Sleep my baby doll
Sleep my daughter, sleep.*Tea Rose is called Herbaciana which is a rose with peachy/yellow leaves that sometimes have a little pink or cream in them.
*****
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
PS Thanks so much for your help Agnieszka!
Pennsylvania Dutch Version of Dies Ist der Daumen – This Is the Thumb
Saturday, October 17th, 2009I’ve been asked several times for the Pennsylvania Dutch Version of the German rhyme Dies Ist der Daumen – This Is the Thumb. Today I received the version below thanks to Luke and Mary Martin. Here’s what Luke wrote…
My wife and I are also familiar with many of the German songs. This morning while looking for them, I found the finger rhyme, and your question about the Pennsylvania German variation. This is the song my father used to sing to us – seven children. Pennsylvania German has many varieties of spelling, and perhaps you can sharpen up the spelling. (My wife, Mary, and I worked at the pronunciation and spelling of the Pennsylvania German Finger Song. Mary grew up speaking Pennsylvania German.) Here it goes…
Des ist die Daume
Des ist die Daume
Der schittelt die Plaume
Der laest sie ouf
Der traught sie Haem
Und des glae Bopplemaul
Bopplet alles mit’n ahnna da Haem.This is the thumb.
This [one] shakes the plums,
This [one] picks them up,
This [one] brings them home,
And this little tattletale tells everyone at home.It was always spoken, not sung.
Thanks for your work in collecting old songs.
Luke Martin
(Pennsylvania)If anyone would like to give other variations of the spelling, feel free to in the comments below. Many thanks to Luke Martin for sending this version of the rhyme to us!
Enjoy!
Mama Lisa
Does Anyone Know an Old Serbian Rhyme that Sounds Like, “Studda Bubba rumpa tee”?
Thursday, October 15th, 2009Connie wrote:
I was hoping you could help me with an old Serbian rhyme. My mother-in-law grew up in a Serbian neighborhood. She always remembered one old rhyme. Now that she has Alzheimer’s that poem is the only thing she connects too. Problem being we only know the beginning of it, don’t know how to spell the words correctly and don’t know what it means.
It goes something like this… (forgive the spelling)
Studda Bubba rumpa tee
Polenta cookin poperdy
Hoy hoy mommy say…That is all she can remember anymore, but it makes her smile and when we say it to her she joins in. I wish we could know how to finish it and what it means. If you have ever heard it and can help I would really appreciate it so much. Thanks for any help you could give me.
Connie
If anyone can help Connie, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Czech Rhyme that Sounds Like “Hou-py, hou-py, hou-py”?
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009Anna wrote:
Do you know the nursery rhyme that begins:
Hou-py, hou-py, hou-py,
Ko-cka sue-dla krou-py
Do-cour hruchI’ll try my best to write this poem-rhyme out for you. Of course, I will not be able to add the correct accent marks, punctuations marks, etc. The writing I have to copy is very small, so I hope my letters are accurate! Here goes!
Hou-pa-cka
hou-py, hou-py, hou-py!
ko-cka sue-dla krou-py,
ko-cour hrac
na ka-mnach;
ko-la-la se hue-va-ly,
ze jim ta-ky ne-da-ly.
hou-py, hou-py, hou-py!
by-ly vsec-ky hlou-py.A friend of mine gave me a beautiful framed gift of this rhyme… he says his grandfather would sing it to him. But he doesn’t know what it means.
My mother is Czech, Vlasta, but she no longer can help me with this.
Your help would be very nice.
Thank you, Anna Vdolek Bratney
If anyone knows the correct spelling of the rhyme and/or if you can provide an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with a Maori Song that Sounds Like, “Nane paku ana”?
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Sharon wrote:
Hi Lisa,
This is really a shot in the dark, but I’m wondering if you know of a song, which I believe is Maori. A friend of mine taught it to me, but she doesn’t know the translation or anything else about it. I’m wondering if you’ve heard of it, and if so, if you could tell me anything about it – what it means, who sings it, etc, and perhaps the proper words. My best attempt at writing it out is as follows:
Nane paku ana
Nane paku ana
eh eh eh ua
ua ua
ipea ipea ipea
Kuana Kuana Kuana Kuana Kua…Choo!
Kuana Kuana Kuana Kuana Kua…Choo!It is a rhythmic song with clapping on the off beats.
Does this seem at all familiar?
Thank you so much!
-Sharon
If anyone can help Sharon with the original Maori words to this song and/or an English translation, please let us know in the comments below. If you have the original text, please email me a copy at lisa@mamalisa.com – so I can make sure the accents show up properly.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Can Someone Help with a Hungarian Lullaby that Sounds Like, “Boulah boulah…”?
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Nicole wrote:
I have been trying to find an old Hungarian lullaby that my grandmother sang to me and I sing to my kids. I do not know what it means and I do not know all the words. The verse is something like:
Boulah boulah, boulah, boulah boopin do ya.
I am sure I am misspelling everything.
Do you know it? Can you help me find the whole song and the meaning?
Thank you,
Nicole
If anyone can help Nicole with the original Hungarian words to this lullaby and/or an English translation, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Can Someone Help with a Swedish Kids Song about Being Little Now, But Soon Being as Big as Mama?
Monday, September 14th, 2009Joyce Johnson wrote:
Does anyone know the Swedish children’s song that goes something like this? (Translation from dictionary is…)
JAG er litten nu , så du se min vän , utom snart I’ll bli så stor så mama.
I believe translates into “I am little now, as you see my friend, but soon I’ll be as big as mama…”
It goes on to say that the child will do the things mama did – cooka, baka, diska… etc.” Does anyone know of this song?
I can’t remember the words but remember the tune very well. Has anyone ever heard this song and do they know the words?
I really want to find this song. My father taught it to my mother and they sang it to us all the time. The family originated in Ostergotland, Sweden.
It seems we never pay enough attention to these things when they are here but yearn for them after they are gone. It is a song for girls and I want to sing it to my granddaughter.
If anyone can help with this song, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Let’s see if any of you know this rhyme…
Thursday, September 10th, 2009Which one do you say? First is the worst, Second is the best, Third is the one with the… a) wedding dress, b) hairy chest or, c) treasure chest ?
My kids and their friends were debating this one. They disagreed over which answer is the most popular… a, b, or c. Google seems to know b the most. Anyone out there know this rhyme? If so, which ending do you say?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Mama Lisa
PS I asked my friends this question on Facebook and no one answered! Which makes me think it’s a new rhyme that this current generation says. I had never heard it before my kids taught it to me either.
Did You Sing the Rhyme “Rubber Dolly”?
Saturday, August 22nd, 2009Ann Marie wrote me looking for information about the “Rubber Dolly” rhyme…
Hi Lisa:
Are you familiar with the rhyme entitled “Rubber Dolly?” It starts out:
My mother told me
If I were goodie
That she would buy me
A rubber dolly . . .These lyrics pop up in an essay I am working on. Specifically, I need to know if this is an American Clapping Song, a Rhyme, a Jump Rope Song, or . . . something else!
Thank for your time.
Best,
Ann Marie
Cleveland, OhioI found information that “Rubber Dolly” was a jump rope rhyme that was popular in the 1950’s.
Here’s a longer version:
My mother told me
If I were goodie
That she would buy me
A rubber dolly.My auntie* told her,
I kissed a soldier,
Now she won’t buy me
A rubber dolly.*Or sister
Some kids also did hand clapping games to “Rubber Dolly”. (I think jump rope rhymes and hand clapping rhymes are often interchangeable.) There’s also a fiddle tune based on the melody of the rhyme. Ella Fitzgerald sang a jazz song based on “My Mother Told Me” too.
If anyone grew up with the rhyme, please share your version if it’s different, also let us know if you played any specific game with it.
Thanks in advance!
Mama Lisa
Can Someone Help with the Lap Rhyme, “Run run horsey with your long hair”?
Friday, August 21st, 2009Karla wrote:
Hi, My name is Karla Wass.
Recently my grandmother has passed, and as a child she would place us (15 grandkids + 10 great grandkids) on her knee and sing to us. Unfortunately, none of us could remember the name and she left so suddenly we were unable to ask her it. I would love to have the lyrics to the song or even some help finding how to sing, well just to know the words that she was saying would be great. She did sing it to us in English, and what i remember is “run run horsey with your long hair, the faster the horsey runs the short goes his hair”. She always said they would sing this while they were sewing.
If you are not able to help i understand, after searching the web and talking with some family members no one can properly sing this song, Her service is next Tuesday and she will be laid to rest with our grand father the following Saturday.
I appreciate and assistance thank you for your time.
If anyone can help Karla, please let us know in the comments below. (Even if it’s after the date of the service, I’m sure Karla will be glad to find the song any time.)
We appreciate it.
Mama Lisa
Can Anyone Help with the Swedish Lullaby, “Spin, spin, spin, min dotter min”?
Friday, July 24th, 2009Wendy wrote:
I can remember my grandfather holding me on his lap an singing the following: (some in phonetics)
Spin, spin, spin, min dotter min
E meran kommer free and fran
dotter spun och tor en run
aldrigt kommer (free and fran?)Does anyone remember the correct wording? My daughter, whom I sang this to when she was little, now has a little one and wants to sing it correctly. Can you help?
Wendy Copeland
If anyone can help with this song, please let us know in the comments below. Thanks!
Mama Lisa
Can Someone Help with the Song, “Down in Mexico It’s Sunny”?
Thursday, July 23rd, 2009Ray asked:
Hi,
I learned this song in the 5th grade (in my 60’s now) and wanting to find the lyrics… Here is what I remember of the song…
Down in Mexico it’s sunny
Days are warm and sweet as honey
Children in the lazy weather
Laugh and sing and play together.Mothers… don’t remember…
Weaving long and weaving well…All I recall…
Just hoping you might have some info… would love lyrics and chords (guitar)… if possible…
Thanks,
Ray C
If anyone can help with this song, please let us know in the comments below.
Thanks!
Mama Lisa
________
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