Global Voices Blog 12/1/14 - multicultural holiday songs

Monday, December 1st was our last meeting for this semester. We enjoyed singing a variety of multicultural and American holiday songs. The songs we sang are below...

War Is Over (Happy Xmas) - John Lennon and Yoko Ono (1971):

So this is Xmas
And what have you done
Another year over
And a new one just begun
And so this is Xmas
I hope you have fun
The near and the dear one
The old and the young

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Xmas (war is over)
For weak and for strong (if you want it)
For rich and the poor ones (war is over)
The world is so wrong (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
For black and for white (if you want it)
For yellow and red ones (war is over)
Let's stop all the fight (now)

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

And so this is Xmas (war is over)
And what have we done (if you want it)
Another year over (war is over)
A new one just begun (if you want it)
And so happy Xmas (war is over)
We hope you have fun (if you want it)
The near and the dear one (war is over)
The old and the young (now)

A very Merry Xmas
And a happy New Year
Let's hope it's a good one
Without any fear

War is over, if you want it
War is over now
Happy Xmas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yN4Uu0OlmTg

Guten Abend, schön' Abend, es weihnachtet schon (German Christmas Song):
(Submitted by one of our German members)

Guten Abend, schön' Abend, es weihnachtet schon.
Guten Abend, schön' Abend, es weihnachtet schon.
Am Kranze die Lichter, sie leuchten so fein.
sie geben der Heimat einen hellichten Schein.

Guten Abend, schön' Abend, es weihnachtet schon.
Guten Abend, schön' Abend, es weihnachtet schon.
Der Schnee fällt in Flocken und weiß steht der Wald,
nun freut euch, ihr Kinder: Die Weihnacht kommt bald.

Guten Abend, schön' Abend, es weihnachtet schon.
Guten Abend, schön' Abend, es weihnachtet schon.
Nun singt es und klingt es so lieblich und fein.
Wir singen die fröhliche Weihnachtszeit ein.

crude google translation:

Good evening, beautiful 'evening, it's Christmas already.
Good evening, beautiful 'evening, it's Christmas already.
On the wreath lights, they shine so fine.
they give the home a broad daylight glow.

Good evening, beautiful 'evening, it's Christmas already.
Good evening, beautiful 'evening, it's Christmas already.
The snow falls in flakes and white stands of forest,
now rejoice, ye children: The Christmas is coming soon.

Good evening, beautiful 'evening, it's Christmas already.
Good evening, beautiful 'evening, it's Christmas already.
Now it sings and it sounds so sweet and fine.
We sing the merry Christmas time.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=umdvjJa9-Ds

Tausend Sterne sind ein Dom (German Christmas Song):
(Submitted by one of our German members)

Tausend Sterne sind ein Dom
in stiller, weltenweiter Nacht.
Ein Licht blüht auf im Kerzenschein,
das uns umfängt und glücklich macht.

All dies Schweigen macht uns froh,
ein Leuchten durch die Herzen geht.
Und silbern schwingt der hohe Dom,
vom Hauch der Weihnacht still umweht.

Alles Dunkel sinkt hinweg,
wir haben unser Licht entfacht.
Es leuchtet uns zum neuen Jahr in tiefer,
sternverklärter Nacht.

Rough English translation:

A thousand stars are a Cathedral
in the quiet, wide world overnight.
A light flourishes in the candlelight,
that surrounds us and makes us happy.

All this silence makes us happy
a glow through the heart goes.
And the high dome silver swings,
by the breath of Christmas quietly fanned.

All darkness falls away,
we have ignited our light.
It lights us to the new year in deeper,
star transfigured night.

 http://musescore.com/node/81550

Feliz Navidad (Jose Feliciano - Puerto Rican Singer-Songwriter - 1970):

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.

(Meaning: Merry Christmas, a prosperous year and happiness - a traditional Christmas/New Year greeting)

Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Feliz Navidad
Prospero Ano y Felicidad.

I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
I wanna wish you a Merry Christmas
From the bottom of my heart.

[repeats]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RTtc2pM1boE 

Ocho Kandelikas: 

From Wikipedia: (English, Eight Little Candles) is a Jewish song celebrating the holiday of Hanukkah. The song is sung in Ladino, a Spanish-derived language traditionally associated with the Sephardic Jewish community, whose ancestors lived in Spain before the 15th century CE.^[1] The song is often performed in an Argentine tango-rhythm with accompanying accordion and violins. Despite its traditional-sounding tone, "Ocho Kandelikas" is a modern composition, written by the Jewish-American composer Flory Jagoda in 1983.^[2] The lyrics of the song describes a child's joy of lighting the candles on the menorah.

I really enjoyed singing this song and had it in my head for days afterward! :)

OCHO KANDELIKAS  1. Chanukah linda sta aki, ocho kandelas para mi (2x) Chorus: O --- Una kandelika, dos kandelikas, tres kandelikas, kuatro kandelikas sintyu kandelikas, sej kandelikas, siete kandelikas, ocho kandelas para mi 2. Muchas fiestas vo fazer, kon alegriyas y plazer (2x) Chorus 3. Los pastelikos vo kumer, kon almendrikas y la myel (2x) Chorus

LADINO - EIGHT CANDLES  1. Beautiful Chanukah is now here And eight candles for me appear. Chorus: Oh – one little, two little, Three little, four little candles; Five, six, seven little candles, Eight little candles for me. 2. Lots of parties for my leisure So much fun and so much pleasure. Chorus 3. Dainty pastries for me to eat With almonds and honey so sweet. Chorus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TppuADq9JWs 

Silent Night in 11 Languages:

(English, Irish, German, Norwegian, French, Portuguese, Italian, Spanish, Romanian, Russian and Swedish)

English lyrics:

Silent night, holy night!

All is calm, all is bright.

Round yon Virgin, Mother and Child.

Holy infant so tender and mild,

Sleep in heavenly peace,

Sleep in heavenly peace

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsUTfmThODY 

Jingle Bells (American Christmas Carol):

(Background to this song: http://www.jingle-bells-lyrics.com/)

Dashing through the snow
In a one-horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bobtail ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to ride and sing
A sleighing song tonight!
(chorus)

Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way.
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.
Jingle bells, jingle bells,
Jingle all the way;
Oh! what fun it is to ride
In a one-horse open sleigh.

                                      

A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon, Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side,
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
He got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot.

|: chorus:|

A day or two ago,
The story I must tell
I went out on the snow,
And on my back I fell;
A gent was riding by
In a one-horse open sleigh,
He laughed as there I sprawling lie,
But quickly drove away.

|: chorus:|

Now the ground is white
Go it while you're young,
Take the girls tonight
and sing this sleighing song;
Just get a bobtailed?bay
Two forty as his speed
Hitch him to an open sleigh
And crack! you'll take the lead.

|: chorus:|

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PgNPc-iFW8 

Oh what fun it was to sing these songs! :)

 

Global Voices Blog 11/3/14

Last week we reviewed the two African songs we had learned the week before (one from South Africa, and one from Ghana), and we added a German song (Die Gedanken Sind Frei) and an American song (We're All Swimming to the Other Side). One of our German members was there, so she gave me a German lesson, and helped guide us about the song a bit. We focused on the English version of the song last week, but we will try to learn the German part soon. Since we have 3 German members, we should have plenty of help! :)

I realized during last week's meeting that I haven't been researching the background of the songs well enough, especially the cultural aspects. I feel this is quite an oversight on my part, and I will try to do better from now on. When I realized this I felt very bad, because GV is a place where we're supposed to be developing cross-cultural awareness, respect, and understanding. I will strive to make sure this goal is focused on more in the future.

As always, I welcome feedback and suggestions from the group. I'm hoping to do some winter holiday songs from around the world during our meeting(s) in December. It would be great if each member could bring a song to share. Obviously there are many different types of holidays celebrated in the winter, and some countries don't have any, but we would like to enjoy a few different songs from those that do. It would be really great if the songs focused on peace as well.

Unfortunately, we won't be able to have a meeting tomorrow night because I have been diagnosed with a sinus infection. I look forward to resuming on Nov. 17th. We won't be meeting the week of Thanksgiving, and we will wrap up for this semester on Dec. 1st or 8th. We're going to try to have a party before the semester ends, either the first or second weekend of Dec. Stay tuned for more details as we get closer... And feel free to invite friends or family members who would like to check out the group!

We will be meeting again next semester, starting the second week of classes (Jan. 19th), which I believe is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. day - very appropriate! There is a chance we will need to change the day of the week next semester, however, depending on my schedule. I will be in touch in early January about these details. Faith UCC won't be able to let us use the room we've been using for 2 weeks in Jan., but we may be able to use a different room during that time. All this will be worked out as we get closer...

I hope everyone has a good week, and I will miss seeing you tomorrow night.

Global Voices Blog 10/27/14

Last week we had two new ladies join us from Germany. It was nice having them join the group. Now we have 3 German women! I guess we’ll have to learn some German songs soon! :)

Last week we started with our Global Voices theme song (the chorus to “We Are The World”) and then sang an old familiar song “Stand By Me.” As many of you know, “Stand By Me” emphasizes that we all need each other in this world and we can lend a helping hand to those around us. Then we sang two new songs, both from Africa. One was “Funga Alafia,” a greeting/welcome song from Ghana, and the other one was a South African hymn “Siyahamb ekukhanyen kwenkhos,” which literally means “We Are Walking In The Light Of God.” Because we are a secular group, I changed some of the English lyrics from “God” to “Peace.” Some of the verses were:

“We are walking with the hope of peace”

“With are loving with the hope for peace”

“We are singing with the light of peace”

Even though the African Zulu words look very hard to learn and pronounce, it’s a lot easier if you learn by listening to the song and get the feel for it without looking at the words. Here is how the words break down when you sing them:

African words: Siyahamb' ekukhanyen' kwenkhos'

                                                                    

Broken down: Siya hambe kukha nyen-ee kwen khos

                                                  

It is a fun song to sing! I think we all enjoyed both of the African songs. I encourage you to look up some recordings on youtube. :)

The last song we learned was “Everyday People” by Sly and the Family Stone. This song is a groovy tune from 1969, but has some very meaningful lyrics in it.

I think I’m finally starting to strike a better balance between singing more and talking less, and introducing more multicultural songs. :)

At our meeting tomorrow night (11/3/14) we will be reviewing some of our previous songs: “Imagine,” “Funga Alafia,” and “Siyahamb ekukhanyen kwenkhos” – we’re still mastering the lyrics in these two different African languages! We will also be learning two new songs and maybe more: “Die Gedanken Sind Frei” and “Swimming to the Other Side.” I’m really enjoying learning these songs! Here are some recordings below:

“Die Gedanken Sind Frei”- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbwQXVcbkU0

“Swimming to the Other Side” - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wCcQPDQfOL8

I would love some help from our German members with some of the German lyrics! I look forward to seeing those of you who can make it tomorrow! :)