We added a song from West Sumatra in Indonesia where they speak Minangkabau.

We also added a Frisian Lullaby in the West Frisian language. The Frisian language is the closest language to English (after Scots – which some consider to be an English dialect as opposed to a separate language).

Here’s a link to our Languages A to Z Page – to access all of our languages.

We now feature 116 countries and cultures. Here’s a link to our Countries and Cultures A to Z Page – to access all of our songs and rhymes by country/culture.

Once again I would like to thank Monique Palomares’ tireless work in France helping me with the material and all the countless people out there who have contributed songs and time to the sites… also to my husband Jason Pomerantz for his technical support, to my kids for speaking quietly when I’m in the middle of a difficult translation (they’re very patient with me) and to my relatives who generally understand when I don’t call back right away because I’ve been lost in my work for hours or days. Merci à tous!

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

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

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

Here’s a nice recording of Frère Jacques in both French and English by Ezwa.

Here are the lyrics of the French and English versions of Frère Jacques. The version on the mp3 recording mixes these lyrics…

Frère Jacques,
Frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous?
Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines.
Sonnez les matines.
Ding, ding, dong.
Ding, ding, dong.

Are you sleeping?
Are you sleeping?
Brother John,
Brother John?
Morning bells are ringing.
Morning bells are ringing.
Ding, dong, ding.
Ding, dong, ding.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

The Babe

On parent knees, a naked new-born child,
Weeping thou sat’st while all around thee smiled:
So live, that, sinking to thy life’s last sleep,
Calm thou may’st smile, while all around thee weep.

William Jones (1746-1794)

William Jones was a Persian scholar and linguist. He translated this poem from a Persian poem by an unknown author. This poem is sometimes called “The Babe”, sometimes “On Parent Knees”, and sometimes “Epigram”. An Epigram is a short, witty poem. It can also mean a paradoxical statement.

If anyone knows the original Persian version, please send me a copy at lisa@mamalisa.com and I’ll add it to this post.

Thanks!

Lisa

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanze.
Seht euch nur die Wanze an,
wie die Wanze tanzen kann!
Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanze.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanz.
Seht euch nur die Wanz an,
wie die Wanz tanz kann!
Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine Wanz.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine Wan.
Seht euch nur die Wan an,
wie die Wan tan kann!
Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine Wan.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine Wa.
Seht euch nur die Wa an,
wie die Wa ta kann!
Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine Wa.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine W.
Seht euch nur die W an,
wie die W t kann!
Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
sitzt ‘ne kleine W.

Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
Sitzt ‘ne kleine -.
Seht euch nur die – an,
wie die – - kann!
Auf der Mauer, auf der Lauer
Sitzt ‘ne kleine -.

This song works a bit like BINGO where you take one letter out of the word in each verse – but you pronounce the word instead of spelling it out like BINGO. In this case there are two words that work like this in the song: “wanze” (bug) and “tanzen” (dance) in German. Wanze means bedbug or bug. I’m going to use “buggy” like the diminutive for bug in my translation to keep a 5 letter word like the German word “wanze”. I used “boogie” for “dance” (the German “tanzen”). I made this change based on the sound of the words, since buggy and boogie are closer to a rhyme like the German “wanze” and “tanzen”.

English Translation

On the wall, on the lookout,
Sits a small buggy.
Look at just the buggy,
How the buggy can boogie!
On the wall, on the lookout,
Sits a small buggy.

On the wall, on the lookout,
Sits a small bugg.
Look at just the bugg,
How the bugg can boog!
On the wall, on the lookout,
Sits a small bugg.

On the wall, on the lookout
Sits a small bug.
Look at just the bug,
How the bug can boo!
On the wall, on the lookout
Sits a small bug.

On the wall, on the lookout
Sits a small bu.
Look at just the bu,
How the bu can bo!
On the wall, on the lookout
Sits a small bu.

On the wall, on the lookout
Sits a small b.
Look at just the b,
How the b can b!
On the wall, on the lookout
Sits a small b.

On the wall, on the lookout
Sits a small ___.
Look at just the ___,
How the ___ can ___!
On the wall, on the lookout
Sits a small ___.

I always welcome comments, criticism or corrections on my translation or on the original German lyrics.

Enjoy!

Mama Lisa

Rain, rain, go away,
And come again another day,
When I brew and when I bake,
I’ll give you a little cake.

Stay dry!

Mama Lisa

PS You can tell it’s raining where I am and that I’m considering baking something yummy!

Dragon fly! Dragon fly!

Dragon fly! dragon fly! fly about the brook,
Sting all the bad boys who for the fish look;
But let the good boys catch all they can,
And then take them home to be fried in a pan,
With nice bread and butter they shall sup up their fish,
While all the little naughty boys shall only lick the dish.

This rhyme can be found in Rhymes Old and New collected by M.E.S. Wright, (1900).

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