Lyr Req: Ah, Lovely Meadows (Czech or Polish?)

Subject: Ah, lovely meadows
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 08 Aug 00 - 09:19 AM

There is a Polish folksong that I learned in school and the English translation starts, "Ah, lovely meadows green and wide." I remember two verses, that one and another one that starts, "Here how the watchman blows his horn. Waken my steward..."

Does anybody know any more verses to this song?

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: Sorcha
Date: 19 Aug 00 - 12:16 AM

Well, anybody? Refresh

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: rabbitrunning
Date: 19 Aug 00 - 12:20 AM

Sounds vaguely familiar, but I need more clues. Can you put in the verses you remember?

Subject: ADD: Ah, lovely meadows
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Aug 00 - 01:37 AM

Ah, lovely meadows green and wide!
Grasses are growing, grasses are growing.
Ah, lovely meadows green and wide!
Growing so high on every side.

CHORUS: Water from mountain flows (or Streams from the mountains flow)
Melted from winter snows
Turning it gaily goes
Circling the maple tree
Water from mountain flows
Melted from winter snows.
Turning it gaily goes, calling to me.

It's Polish. I grew up around Chicago, and Chicago has the world's largest population of Polish people outside of Poland. It was considered de rigeur to know this song.

I was singing it for my DH the other night, and it occurred to me that I wished I knew more verses.

Subject: Lyr Add: AH, LOVELY MEADOWS
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 01 Oct 02 - 11:54 PM

Copied from http://www.fourwindscamp.org/songs/songbook/#Anchor-Ah-34807

AH, LOVELY MEADOWS
Folk Song from "Highways and Byways"

Ah, lovely meadows, green and wide,
Grasses are growing. Grasses are growing.
Ah, lovely meadows, green and wide,
Growing so high on every side.

CHORUS: Water from mountain flows,
Melted from winter's snows,
Turning, it gaily goes,
Circling the maple tree.
Water from mountain flows,
Melted from winter's snows,
Turning, it gaily goes,
Calling to me.

Loudly the baron blows his horn.
Wake up, my steward. Wake up, my steward.
Reaping begins at early morn;
Wake up, my steward. Day is born.

Harness your horse. The hours are few.
Working together, working together,
Off to the fields of golden hue,
Gather the grain, ere falls the dew.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: masato sakurai
Date: 02 Oct 02 - 01:08 AM

If the song is "Aj Lucka, Lucka Siroka" (Click here for sound clip), it is Czech (Bohemian). Midi (with Japanese lyrics!) is HERE. Another site (in Japanese) says it is a Slovakian song "HORELA LIPKA" (The lyrics are HERE too).

~Masato

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: GUEST,Dionysios
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 03:29 AM

Does anyone have the lyrics for Aj Lucka, Lucka, Siroka? Thanks

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: masato sakurai
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 12:52 PM

From here (Japanese site).

Aj, lúčka, lúčka široká

Aj, lúčka, lúčka široká, roste naní ｔｒáva,
roste naní ｔｒáva./vysoká, hej !
Teče voda z hora, čistá ja jako já,
toči se do kola, okolo javora;/okolo mńa.

Žali tam na ní dｖĕ panny, obĕ žalostnĕ,
obĕ žalostnĕ./plakaly, hej !

Díval se na nĕ z hradu pán, na sve pachole,
na sve pachple;/zavolal, hej !

Vstávej, pachole, stroj konĕ; pojedeme spolu,
pojedeme spolu;/do boje, hej !

Co pak tam budem dĕlati, když nemáme pušky,
když nemáme pušky,/nabity ? Hej !

Budem tam lovit srnčata, osmnácti-letá,
osmnácti-letá;/dĕvčata, hej !

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 08 Aug 08 - 03:12 PM

Thanks for the new verse, Masato.

I suspect that the song has crossed so many borders that it is impossible to say exactly which country it "belongs" to.

The sound clip is very, very similar to the tune I learned in grade school.

Subject: ADD: Ah, Lovely Meadows
From: Joe Offer
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 04:14 AM

The Silver Burdett Music in Our Country songbook lists the estate of American folklorist Stella Marek Cushing as the source of this song.

The 1956 Silver Burdett Music for Living textbook has the song in the fifth-grade Music in Our Country book, and also in the sixth-grade MusicAround the World book (but the 6th grade book has harmony.

Here are the lyrics from those books (almost the same as what Jim Dixon posted above):



AH, LOVELY MEADOWS
Czech Folk Song

Ah, lovely meadows, green and wide,
Grasses are growing. Grasses are growing.
Ah, lovely meadows, green and wide,
Growing so high on every side. Hey!

CHORUS:
Water from mountain flows,
Melted from winter snows,
Turning, it gaily goes,
Circling the maple tree.
Water from mountain flows,
Melted from winter snows,
Turning, it gaily goes,
Calling to me. Hey!

Loudly the baron blows his horn.
Wake up, my steward. Wake up, my steward.
Reaping begins at early morn;
Wake up, my steward. Day is born. Hey!

Harness your horse. The hours are few.
Working together, working together,
Off to the fields of golden hue,
Gather the grain, ere falls the dew. Hey!

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 09:48 AM

'The Silver Burdett Music in Our Country songbook lists the estate of American folklorist Stella Marek Cushing as the source of this song.'


I suppose an American folklorist might have a legit copyright to the translation, which requires some effort. As somebody sang in another context:

We think this song has lasted
almost long enough.
The subject is most int'resting,
but rhymes are mighty rough!

I do wonder if the original verses were on the topic of getting up early and going out to swink in somebody else's field.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: Little Robyn
Date: 09 Aug 08 - 05:59 PM

Our High school music teacher must have had that Silver Burdett book - we were sing that song in 1959, here in New Zealand!
Rousing stuff!
Robyn

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: GUEST
Date: 18 Sep 09 - 11:09 PM

Learned this is second grade (1963!!) ... only remembered the first verse and the chorus. Thanks for posting.

Wasn't there a "Hey!" at the end of the verses going into the chorus? i.e., "Growing so high on every side, hey!"

Maybe we just improvised that.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Sep 09 - 01:00 AM

Good thing you refreshed this thread. I was meaning to post a MIDI. The Silver Burdett school songbook certainly does have a "Hey!" at the end of each verse and chorus (I added it to my post above today). I wasn't sure how to enter it on the MIDI. Hope you like my solution.
-Joe-

---

Click to play

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 19 Sep 09 - 02:56 PM

Joe, you rascal! That doesn't sound like a hey, it sounds like the raspberry.

Is that in response to being rousted out of bed at dawn?

When I play this with my guitar, I simply strike a chord (several strings on one beat) to represent the hey.

When I learned it in school, we sang, "Waken my steward," rather than "Wake up, my steward." I prefer 'waken,' which seems more elegant somehow.

Thanks for posting all those lyrics.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: Joe Offer
Date: 19 Sep 09 - 11:11 PM

Well, I wanted a handclap, but couldn't find one. What I came up with was labeled "gunshot"....

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Ah, lovely meadows
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 20 Sep 09 - 10:06 PM

Gunshot? Well, maybe if the gun was loaded with bubblegum, rather than bullets. I can imagine wet bubblegum making that splat sound when coming out of a barrel.

This song is in 4/4 time. A long time ago, I read about a guitar strum which sounds Eastern European. The beats go

quarter quarter eighth eighth eighth eighth

(coke coke henietta)

and on the eighth notes you hit progressively higher strings to make a chord that runs upward.

I like to use this strum at times in this song and make it sound from far away.