Can you imagine impassioned rock songs in modern Chinese Popular culture? Tyson Gibb just did a great blog post with his 10 top rock songs from China along with translations and language suggestions.
Drop by his post to hear and read about these powerful songs that comment, question, protest and generally turn rock music into a vehicle for mainstream Chinese voices.
(Pictured above is lead singer and guitarist from a modern Chinese band known as Omnipotent Youth)
Did you know that there is a special day earmarked for worldwide celebration and promotion of diverse languages and multiculturalism? International Mother Language Day was created by UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and is held annually on February 21st. Made official in 2008 by the United Nations General Assembly, the chosen date marks an event in 1952 when students were shot and killed in present-day Bangladesh while demonstrating for the recognition of their national language, Bangla. Currently gathering momentum around the world, IMLD is the subject of many world-wide activities as well as a variety of great features from Multicultural Kid Bloggers whose posts can be found here at the special Facebook Page below.
Using Music To Encourage Language
Along with being a great way to celebrate world cultures, IMLD is an excellent opportunity to focus on world languages and to use music and the arts as a way to encourage diversity and multiculturalism, especially with young children. Although learning a new language can seem difficult at first, using music and games is a great way to connect with new sounds, words and phrases. In the process of singing or simple music activities or games, kids (or people of any age) begin to make sense of phrases and words and can build their competency and enjoyment of speaking another language.
Would you like to learn a bit of Quechua – the language used by the Incan Empire of South America? Here’s a little song or rhyme popular in Peru:
What Does The Song Say?
Essentially this is an “I’m gonna tell on you” song. Here’s what the words you’re hearing mean.
“Yaw”, means “Hey!”
“Puka” is the color red and a pollera or polleracha (little pollera) is a traditional skirt.
So the first phrase is
“Hey, girl in the little red skirt”.
The next verse asks “What are you doing?”, in Quechua “Imata ruwanki?”
It also talks about a corn field – and the word “sara” means corn.
The song then says “I am going to tell your mom and your dad” and you can easily hear the words “Mamayki” (your mom) and Taitayki (your dad).
Although it takes more then one song or game to learn a new language, it’s a great start and a fun way to build bridges between cultures – especially in languages like Quechua that may be in danger of being left behind or lost.
E-Book and CD About Quechua Culture
Want to learn more about the Quechua culture? Check out the E-book and companion CD below. And if you are a classroom or homeschooler with limited budgets, please contact us as we would be happy to get you a free copy for your use. To get a free copy, e-mail dariamusic at yahoo dot com and put “Free E-book” in the subject line.
Wishing everyone a happy International Mother Language Day!
Resources And Links
Wikipedia’s International Mother Language Day entry
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Mother_Language_Day
Multicultural Kid Bloggers – IMLD Activities
https://www.facebook.com/internationalmotherlanguagecelebration
A Child’s Life In The Andes from TPT
https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/A-Childs-Life-In-The-Andes-E-Book-Plus-Music-CD-639838
Cancioncitas De Los Andes – From Itunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/cancioncitas-los-andes-little/id602798167
Popular music in the USA in the 1960’s spoke out on many topics.
Although this balled (written in 1968 by Dick Holler and first recorded by Dion) “spoke out quietly”, it tied together a string of assassinated leaders that were loved, admired and changed the course of American politics.
On MLK Day 2015, we thought we’d share the lyrics and video with you. Mentioned in the song by name are Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King, Jr., John F. Kennedy and Robert F. Kennedy. The video below is a moving version of the song, remade by Marvin Gaye.
“Abraham, Martin and John”
Has anybody here seen my old friend Abraham?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
You know, I just looked around and he’s gone.
Anybody here seen my old friend John?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked around and he’s gone.
Anybody here seen my old friend Martin?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
He freed a lot of people,
But it seems the good they die young.
I just looked ’round and he’s gone.
Didn’t you love the things that they stood for?
Didn’t they try to find some good for you and me?
And we’ll be free
Some day soon, and it’s a-gonna be one day…
Anybody here seen my old friend Bobby?
Can you tell me where he’s gone?
I thought I saw him walkin’ up over the hill,
With Abraham, Martin and John.
With Brazil hosting the FIFA World Cup, we wanted to share the song “Futebol” by Chico Buarque that is so popular it even has it’s own documentary.
Written and performed below by Brazil’s Chico Buarque, this samba compares the art of a great soccer player with the artistry of a music composer or painter. The lyrics in Brazilian say that the soccer player is as creative as an artist looking for just the right moment for inspiration to come and acting upon it – with the precision of an arrow. And since Chico Buarque and most of Brazil are enthusiastic soccer fans, the song is filled with imagery from the game and the names of famous players such Pelé, Mané, Didí, Pagão, and Canhoteiro. You can see a live version (with Portuguese subtitles) of “Futebol” here:
The documentary that mixes soccer and soccer music is called “O Futebol” and is an homage to the Brazilian love of the game.
More Songs of Soccer
This song is actually one of three soccer songs from Brazil chosen by Betto Arcos, a writer and Latin American Music maven. Want to see his two other picks for great soccer songs? Check them out at this NPR Global Hit post from the show called “The World”
As long as there have been wars, there have been sad songs about war – and losing children or loved ones to the devastation of war. However, with the recent protests in Maiden, Ukraine, this old song has taken on a new life, mourning the loss of those killed while unarmed at the recent protests.
“Plyve Kacha” or “Plyve Kacha Po Tysyni” translates literally to “the duckling swims”, but the lyrics are a dialogue between a mother and a son going off to war, according to the BBC’s Irena Taranyuk. She translates two of the most moving lines of the song this way:
“My dear mother, what will happen to me if I die in a foreign land?”
“Well, my dearest, you will be buried by other people.”
Dozens of people were killed by snipers in Maidan on February 18th and 20th, 2014 and were buried and mourned in a mass funeral on February 21st, with this song being used to memorialize their lives.
You can see images of those lost in that conflict in this video along with a version of this poignant song. Lyrics to the song appear below (in Ukrainian).
“Plyve Kacha” (Lyrics in Ukranian)
Plyve kacha po Tysyni,
Oy, plyve kacha po Tysyni.
Mamko moya, ne lay meni,
Mamko moya, ne lay meni.
Zalayesh my v zlu hodynu,
Oy, zalayesh my v zlu hodynu.
Sam ne znayu, de pohynu,
Sam ne znayu, de pohynu.
Pohynu ya v chuzim krayu,
Pohynu ya v chuzim krayu.
Chto z my bude braty yamu?
Chto z my bude braty yamu?
Vyberut mi chuzi lyude,
Oy vyberut mi chuzi lyude,
Cy ne zal ty, mamko, bude?
Oy, cy ne zal ty, mamko, bude?
Oy yak z meni, synku, ne zal?
Yak ze meni, synku, ne zal?
Ty na moyim sercyu lezav,
Ty na moyim sercyu lezav.
Plyve kacha po Tysyni,
Oy, plyve kacha po Tysyni.
Mamko moya, ne lay meni,
Mamko moya, ne lay meni.
Although Earth Day began in the USA in 1970, the idea of loving and caring for our planet is a universal concept. When I was growing up, I remember hearing a Native American group sing the words: “The Earth Is Our Mother, We Must Take Care of Her”. All over the globe, people express their love for “Mother Earth” through music, songs, culture and in so many other meaningful ways.
In 2004, I adapted a new version of the beautiful African-American spiritual: “He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands” and added lyrics based on a project done with elementary school students. Since that time, the song has been used in China, Singapore, South America, Scotland and in dozens of other venues across the world. This year, a wonderful bilingual blogger translated the lyrics into Spanish.
Spanish Translation
The Spanish version was written by Cecilia Fencer, head and heart of Spanglish.house.com . She loves diversity and equality. Translating this spiritual to an Earth Day captured her imagination because she believes God made us responsible to take care of his creation.
(Lyrics to the original “We’ve Got The Whole World In Our Hands” song can be seen below as well as a video of a project using the song in Malaysia.)
Tenemos Todo El Mundo En Nuestras Manos
New version of lyrics in English
c 1994 Daria Marmaluk-Hajioannou
c 2104 Spanish translation Cecelia Fencer
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Debemos reciclar, ahora que podemos.
Reducir, reusar y reciclar
Reducir y reciclar ahora que podemos.
Tenemos al mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos plantas y animales en nuestra tierra,
plantas y animales en nuestra tierra.
Tenemos plantas y animales en nuestra tierra.
Tenemos al mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tomemonos de las manos, como hermanos.
Tomemonos de las manos como hermanos.
Tomemonos de las manos como hermanos,
tenemos al mundo en nuestras manos
Encuentra tus sueños y haz lo que puedas,
ten tus anhelos y lucha por ellos.
Encuentra tus sueños y haz lo que puedas,
tenemos al mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
Tenemos todo el mundo en nuestras manos.
We’ve Got The Whole World In Our Hands
(Sung To The Tune of: He’s Got The Whole World In His Hands)
new lyrics © D.A. Marmaluk-Hajioannou
We’ve got the whole world, in our hands
We’ve got the whole world, in our hands
We’ve got the whole world, in our hands
We’ve got the whole world in our hands
We should recycle now – all that we can
Recycle now – all that we can
Recycle now – all that we can
We’ve got the whole world in our hands
Be kind to the plants and animals – of our land
Be kind to the plants and animals – of our land
Be kind to the plants and animals – of our land
We’ve got the whole world in our hands
Join hands with sisters and brothers – throughout the land
Join hands with sisters and brothers – throughout the land
Join hands with sisters and brothers – throughout the land
We’ve got the whole world in our hands
Clean up pollution – everywhere we can
Clean up pollution – everywhere we can
Clean up pollution – everywhere we can
We’ve got the whole world in our hands
Dream your bright dream – then do all that you can
Dream your bright dream – then do all that you can
Dream your dream – then do all that you can
We’ve got the whole world in our hands
We’ve got the whole world, in our hands
We’ve got the whole world, in our hands
We’ve got the whole world, in our hands
We’ve got the whole world in our hands
Resources
Free During April 2014
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Rock Out! E-book of 10 Recycled Musical Activities
http://www.dariamusic.com/monthly_song.php
History of Earth Day
http://www.earthday.org/earth-day-history-movement
DARIA Songs For Earth Day – from TeachersPayTeachers
www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/EARTH-DAY-SONGS-DARIA-SINGS-FOR-EARTH-DAY-545561
DARIA Songs For Earth Day – From Itunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/daria-sings-for-earth-day-ep/id428500463
The sound of the tiny but mighty ukulele plays a big role in the folk music and dance of Hawaii. But, did you know that it was originally modeled after a Portuguese instrument called the machete, brought to the islands in the 1800’s? From there is evolved into the ukelele we recognize now, with a guitar-shaped body and 4 nylon or gut strings.
An Unusual Name
How did the ukulele (or oo-koo-le-le) get it’s name? Some people translate the name from the Hawaiian to mean “jumping flea” and say that it describes the “fidgety” movements of the musician’s hands when the instrument is being played. Others translate it a bit differently. One of the last Hawaiian queens, Queen Lili’uoklani, said the name stood for “the gift that came here” by combining the Hawaiian words: uku (gift or reward) and lele (to come).
A Family of Instruments
Like many stringed instruments, there are several different types of ukuleles that vary in size and tone. Most commonly, you can find these four different types: soprano, concert, tenor, and baritone. The instrument pictured here is a smaller-sized soprano ukulele.
Traditional Ukulele Songs
Here’s a short video that shows two ukulele players talking about how they began playing their instruments and performing a duet of a traditional Hawaiian song called “Noho Paipai” as part of a Hawaiian music festival.
Color A Ukulele
You can find a ukulele coloring page on DARIA’s world music for kids site at:
You can also find a full color uke poster plus coloring page at her TeachersPayTeachers store (.99) here:
Another folk instrument of Russia, here’s a short post about a beautiful and well-loved instrument that might be heard at the Winter Olympics this year in Sochi.
A balalaika is a three-stringed instrument from Russia that is known and loved all over the world. Although it hails from Russia, you can hear it in many of the regions that made up the former Soviet Union (USSR) and it has also become popular in different countries around the world. If you listen to pop music, you will hear the balalaika mentioned in the Beatles song “Back in the USSR” as well as the Scorpions “Winds of Change”. You can hear Ian Anderson play balalaika on the Jethro Tull album Stand Up and Oleg Bernov plays a huge red electric contrabass balalaika with the popular Russian-American rock band, the Red Elvises.
So what is a balalaika? Well, it actually is a family of stringed instruments that are triangular in shape. They range from the smaller, mandolin-sized prima balalaika to the huge contrabass balalaika which is so large that it needs wooden legs to support it as it stands on the floor. Most often the prima balalaika is heard as the solo instrument and is generally strummed or played with the fingers. The larger balalaikas (listed below in order of size and tone) are generally played with a pick. The largest contrabass balalaika needs a pick so large it may be made from a large piece of leather or even a boot heel – wow!
Types of balalaikas (from smallest and highest in tone to largest and lowest in tone) are:
· Piccolo (rare)
· Prima
· Sekunda
· Alto
· Bass
· Contrabass
Would you like to hear a balalaika played with an orchestra? Check out this version of the popular Russian song – the Volga Boatmen. You will see the large contrabass balalaika right in the center of the orchestra behind the vocalist.
Want To See A Balalaika Dance?
I’ve just finished recording and creating a video animation for the song Tum Balalaika. It’s a Yiddish folksong and the title of the song talks about strumming the balalaika. You can see and hear the song here.
Want To See a Balalaika Orchestra?
In this group, you can see kids and adults in a balalaika orchestra performing a beautiful version of the Beatles song “Yesterday”.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JjdDq0IqBDc&feature=related
Color A Balalaika And More Fun Things To Do
You can also find a great balalaika coloring page below as well as links to other fun balalaika-related info! What a great way to share beautiful music and learn about the exciting cultures of the world!
Balalaika Coloring Page
http://www.dariamusic.com/images/Balalaika%20Coloring%20Page.pdf
The Wikipedia balalaika page
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balalaika
Videos
Tum Balalaika – Daria’s Video
Multicultural Kids Music Vid’s
Shares many videos from all over the world
Yesterday (The Beatles) is played by Balalaika Orchestra
BALALAIKA VIRTUOSO DMITRY BELINSKIY, Moscow
Even Santa plays the balalaika
In 2014, January 31st marks the first day of the Chinese New Year and we welcome in the year of the horse.
The Chinese New Year is a feast for all the senses! It brings delicious foods, parades, firecrackers, red envelopes and family gatherings. And, of course, the popular song: Gong Xi Gong Xi.
Lyrics to this song are simple and easy to learn. Here is a version in pinyin and English as well as two video versions to help you sing or share this song with children at this exciting time of year.
Gong Xi Gong Xi
Měi tiáo dà jiē xiǎo xiàng (Every big street little alley)
Měi gè rén de zuǐ lǐ (In everyone’s mouth)
Jiàn miàn dì yī jù huà (The first sentence (we) say when (we) see each other)
Jiù shì gong xǐ gong xǐ (Must be” “Congratulations! Congratulations!”)
Gōng xǐ, gong xǐ, gong xǐ nǐ ya, (Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations to you!)
Gong xǐ, gong xǐ, gong xǐ nǐ (Congratulations! Congratulations! Congratulations to you!)
Videos
Ni Hao Kai Lan Gong Xi Gong Xi
Generations of music fans have learned to say Merry Christmas in Spanish from this popular holiday song. Written by Jose Feliciano, a singer, songwriter and virtuoso guitarist from Puerto Rico, this happy little song is perfect for teaching easy phrases in Spanish or for just adding to your family’s soundtrack of Christmas fun.
The lyrics are simple. The first verse is in Spanish:
Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad,
Feliz Navidad, Prospero año y felicidad . . .
Feliz Navidad, Feliz Navidad,
Feliz Navidad, Prospero año y felicidad . . .
And the second verse is in English:
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
And, although “Feliz Navidad” is loved all around the world, you can use the song to learn more about music and holiday traditions from other lands, such as Puerto Rico.
Did you know that there are musical groups that go door to door serenading during six weeks of Christmas festivities in Puerto Rico? Called “parrandas”, “asaltos” or “trullas”, these music groups go from home to home and play bright, upbeat songs, with the same instruments you hear in the version of Feliz Navidad below – guitars, bongo drums and a percussion instrument called a guiro.
Music is important all aspects of the extended holiday celebration in Puerto Rico and the Christmas tree is decorated to symbolize the musical groups as well as the Magi or Three Kings. For many, the Christmas season begins after Thanksgiving and ends in early January. During that time you may often get a visit from a band of musicians who will celebrate the season with you and stop to eat and drink at your house as they travel on their way.
Want to learn more about Christmas in Puerto Rico? Check out the great links below. Or have fun with your own version of the holiday, wherever you are. Color a festive guitar. Make your own guiro!
Or wish someone you love a “Feliz Navidad!”
Links And Activities
Puerto Rican Christmas Traditions from El Boricua
http://www.elboricua.com/traditions.html
Folklore and Christmas Traditions From “Welcome To Puerto Rico”
http://www.topuertorico.org/culture/folklore.shtml
Guitar Coloring Page
Click to access Guitar%20Coloring%20Page.pdf
Hear a Guiro
http://www.dariamusic.com/guiro.php
Color A Guiro Online
http://www.dariamusic.com/color_Guiro.php
Make Your Own Guiro from Recycled Materials
http://www.dariamusic.com/make_Guiro.php
Feliz Navidad Lyric Sheet Print Out
http://www.dariamusic.com/feliznavidad.php
DARIA’s Feliz Navidad on I tunes
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/celebrate-season-multicultural/id344193347
DARIA’s Feliz Navidad Amazon mp3
Making Multicultural Music 