Carnival took place last Tuesday, and last week I presented different songs for the occasion from around the world. Here’s one that I was sent yesterday, from Malta. It’s a little late, but I really like it!
Perlini u prinjolata
(Maltese)Perlini u prinjolata
matul il-karnival
dawn huma jiem ta briju
ghall-kbar w ghalina tfal
min jilbes ta xi buffu
min jilbes ta pirat
ilkoll incapcpu u nidhku
hadd ma jkun irrabjat
evviva l-maskarati
evviva l-hmerijiet
ninghqadu llkoll mal-follol
naraw il-karrijiet
viva viva l-karnival
viva viva l-karnivalCarnival
(English)Pine-nut cake and sugared almonds
Coloured like these carnival days,
Full of noise and joy and laughter,
Of young and old with childish ways.Some will dress as mighty pirates,
Some will dress as funny clowns,
We’ll all clap and laugh together,
No one should be wearing frowns!So long live the masquerades and
Long live all the foolish deeds!
Let’s all join this crowd of people,
And see the floats parade the streets.Long, long live the carnival!
Long, long live the carnival!
Many thanks to Christine George for sending me this song in Maltese. Thanks also to The Ministry for Tourism and Culture of Malta and Adrian Grimas of Inizjamed for all their help, and for Roderick Mallia of Inizjamed for translating this wonderful song.
Inizjamed is a cultural organization that supports culture and artistic expression in the Maltese Islands and actively promotes a greater awareness of the cultures of the Mediterranean.
Come visit the Mama Lisa’s World Malta Page for Maltese songs and rhymes.
This article was posted on Saturday, March 4th, 2006 at 12:05 pm and is filed under Carnival, Carnival Songs, Countries & Cultures, Holiday Songs, Holidays Around the World, Languages, Malta, Maltese, Perlini u prinjolata - Maltese Carnival Song. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.
11 Responses to “Carnival Song from Malta, with an English Translation”
Leave a Reply
March 6th, 2006 at 5:05 am
this is a wonderful website which I sang songs to my children from THANKS
March 6th, 2006 at 5:08 am
I agree with madge every night I seranade my children with this wonderful song ( my proffesion is opera singing)
March 6th, 2006 at 10:45 am
I’d be happy to post a recording of you singing the Carnival Song to your children!
June 19th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
How will I be able to hear the song?
June 19th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
Unfortunately, we don’t have a recording of this song yet. If anyone would like to sing it for us, that would be great!
-Lisa
June 19th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Yes, the song was originally composed and sung by Johnny Catania, a Maltese singer/comedianne, deceased.
Mildred
June 19th, 2007 at 4:13 pm
Joseph,
Are you the Joseph we saw a year ago in Los Angeles @ Dorothy Chandler Pavilion?
Mildred
May 27th, 2009 at 7:56 am
Hi, I am maltese and I would love to say a huge well done to whoever translated this song :) its really accurate
January 3rd, 2012 at 9:51 am
has anyone found a recording! I’d like my students to hear it
November 29th, 2013 at 8:11 am
The maltese language is pretty interesting.
April 21st, 2016 at 6:08 pm
Hi I am researching Maltese Nursery Rhymes. My Mother is Maltese and I was brought up as a child in Malta. I am an artist and am doing a project with performers and installation on Nursery Ryhmes from Europe. I would like to know if there is a tradition of Maltese Nursery Rhymes and where I can find this information.
Many Thanks
Mary