LL-L: "Songs" LOWLANDS-L, 06.FEB.2000 (05) [E/LS]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 06.FEB.2000 (05) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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From: R. F. Hahn [sassisch at yahoo.com]
Subject: Songs

Sandy wrote:

> You may remember some time ago when we were discussing bawdy songs here, I
> quoted parts of a song called "Wap an Rowe" from the Merry Muses of
> Caledonia. Imagine my surprise to find this selfsame song turning up in not
> one but two collections of nursery rhymes, one published in the
> mid-nineteenth century, one in the mid-twentieth (but the later one
> acknowledges copying from the earlier one).

This kind of thing seems to happen almost as often as street songs turning into
supposed folk songs.  Please remember the supposed French folksong "Au claire de
la lune," which is decidedly on the naughty side, being frequently presented as
a children's song.  However, I suppose this happens mostly in non-Francophone
countries where people don't really understand the meaning of the song and think
the melody is perfect for a children's ditty.  Similarly, though violent rather
than bawdy, the French round "Alouette."

Another such case is the Low Saxon (Low German) song "Dat du mien Leevsten
büst."  It may be *the* Lowlands song in Germany and sometimes appears in
children's books and primers, but it is somewhat naughty, though not exactly
bawdy, certainly was "immoral" at the time it was created.  I suppose there is
no well-known Low Saxon singer in Germany who has not published his or her own
version of it (also with gender switch to feminine as "Dat du mien Leevste büst"
because the majority of well-known Low Saxon singers are male).  It is featured
at numerous websites, usually grossly misspelled and mangled by speakers of
German or English with little or no Low Saxon proficiency.  (The most common
error is German _dann_ for Low Saxon _denn_.)  It's not so naughty that it can
not appear on Lowlands-L, so you will find it below, with a singable translation
by me.

Best regards,

Reinhard/Ron


DAT DU MIEN LEEVSTEN BÜST

(1)
Dat du mien Leevsten büst, dat du wull weest.
|: Kumm bi de Nacht! Kumm bi de Nacht! Segg, wo du heest! :|

(2)
Kumm du üm Middernacht! Kumm du Klock een!
|: Vadder slöppt. Moder slöppt. Ick slaap alleen. :|

(3)
Klopp an de Kammerdöör! Fatt an de Klink!
|: Vadder meent, Moder meent, dat deit de Wind. :|

(4)
Kummt denn de Morgenstund, kreit deen de Hahn.
|: Leevsten mien, Leevsten mien, denn muttst du gahn. :|

(5)
Sachten den Gang henlang! Lies' mit de Klink!
|: Vadder meent, Moder meent, dat deit de Wind. :|

(6)
Dat du mien Leevsten büst, dat du wull weest.
|: Kumm bi de Nacht! Kumm bi de Nacht! Segg, wo du heest! :|


THAT YOU'RE MY DARLING

(1)
That you're my darling you know all the same.
|: See me tonight! See me tonight! Whisper your name! :|

(2)
Come in the dark of night, when the clock has struck one!
|: Dad will be asleep, Mom will be asleep, and I sleep alone. :|

(3)
Knock on the chamber door! Enter quietly please!
|: Dad will believe, Mom will believe the wind moved the trees. :|

(4)
Once the new day has dawned the rooster will crow.
|: Darling, my darling, oh, then you must go. :|

(5)
Then tiptoe down the hall! Leave quietly please!
|: Dad will believe, Mom will believe the wind moved the trees. :|

(6)
That you're my darling you know all the same.
|: See me tonight! See me tonight! Whisper your name! :|

                                              ©2000, English version by R.F.
Hahn

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