She is the Belle of Belfast City / I’ll Tell me Ma / lyrics mp3

She is the Belle of Belfast City / I’ll Tell me Ma

She is the Belle of Belfast City mp3

Tell my ma when I go home,
The boys won’t leave the girls alone,
They pulled my hair and stole my comb,
But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city,
She is courting, one two three
Please won’t you tell me who is she?

 Albert Mooney says he loves her,
All the boys are fighting for her,
Knock on the door and they ring the bell
Oh my true love, are you well?

Here she comes, as white as snow,
Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,
Old Johnny Mary she says she’ll die
If she doesn’t get the boy with the roving eye.

Tell my ma when I go home,
The boys won’t leave the girls alone,
They pulled my hair and stole my comb,
But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city,
She is courting, one two three
Please won’t you tell me who is she?

Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high
And the snow come tumbling from the sky
She’s as nice as apple pie
She’ll get her own boy, by and by

When she gets a lad of her own,
She won’t tell her ma ’till she comes home,
Let the boys stay as they will,
For it’s Albert Mooney she loves still.

 Tell my ma when I go home,
The boys won’t leave the girls alone,
They pulled my hair and stole my comb,
But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city,
She is courting, one two three
Please won’t you tell me who is she?

 Tell my ma when I go home,
The boys won’t leave the girls alone,
They pulled my hair and stole my comb,
But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city,
She is courting, one two three
Please won’t you tell me who is she?

 Tell my ma when I go home,
The boys won’t leave the girls alone,
They pulled my hair and stole my comb,
But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty
She is the belle of Belfast city,
She is courting, one two three
Please won’t you tell me who is she?

Molly Malone / Cockles and Mussels / lyrics mp3

Molly Malone or Cockles & Mussels or In Dublins fair city

Molly Malone or Cockles & Mussels or In Dublins Fair City mp3

  1. In Dublin’s fair city,
Where girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”!

Chorus:
Alive, alive oh! alive, alive oh!
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”!

2. Now she was a fishmonger,
And sure twas no wonder,
For so were her mother and father before,
And they each wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”!
Chorus:

3. She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”!
Chorus:

The Lychen Choir!

Joy to the World & Happy New Year – A message from Rudie the Harp Playing Reindeer (aka Alan Mars)

Soon the hoar old year must leave us,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.
But the parting must not grieve us
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.
When the new year comes tomorrow
   Fa la la la la, la la la la
Let him find no trace of sorrow
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.

He our pleasures may redouble,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.
He may bring us store of trouble,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Hope the best and gaily meet him,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.
With a jovial chorus greet him,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.

At his birth, he brings us gladness,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Ponder not on future sadness,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Anxious care is now but folly,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.
Fill the mead-cup, hand the holly,
   Fa la la la la, la la la la.

Lyrics from Mudcat

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Haike recites the Persian Sufi poet Jalaluddin Rumi…   please send both English and German translations!

concert-master-haeke-recites-a-poem-by-rumi1

History and biography of Rumi:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jalal_ad-Din_Muhammad_Rumi

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Glenn introduces the Grand Lychen Concert

glenns-intro-to-the-grand-lychen-concert

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Glenn, Jamie and Alan:

somewhere-over-theover-the-rainbow-some-enchanted-evening-more-beer

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http://thetechnique.co.uk/

      alan.mars@yahoo.co.uk

Links to related singing & Alexander Technique articles

Alexander Technique & the Choral Singer

Singing Health & Happiness

20/10/08 Who is Bob Dylan’s major songwriting influence? What do the Lychen singers and Bob Dylan have in common?

Yes, that’s right… Robert Burns! Our old friend Bob Dylan has cited Scottish poet and songwriter, Robert Burns, as his major influence.

We, the Lychen singers, finished our little concert with the most famous song in the world, Auld Land Syne,  written by Robert Burns. Why is it the most famous song in the world? Because on MIllenium Night, Year 2000, it was sung, nation by nation, all the way across the planet, in a massive, twelve hour Mexican wave. When will that happen again? And, yes, I am totally biased.

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 Scotland – featuring Alan Mars, Harriet Anderson and the ancient Lychen swamp people!

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Auld Lang Syne wav + Auld Lang Syne mp3

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Auld Lang Syne

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And never brought to mind?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
And auld lang syne!

Chorus:
For auld lang syne, my jo,
For auld lang syne,
We’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne.

And surely you’ll be your pint stoup,
And surely I’ll be mine,
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet
For auld lang syne!

Chorus

We twa hae ran about the braes,
And pou’d the gowans fine,
But we’ve wander’d monie a weary fit
Sin’ auld lang syne.

Chorus

We twa hae paidl’d in the burn
Frae morning sun til dine,
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
Sin’ auld lang syne.

Chorus

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere,
And gie’s a hand o’ thine,
And we’ll tak a right gude willie waught
For auld lang syne!

Chorus

Meaning of unusual words:
Auld lang syne = Old long since (old time’s sake)
jo = dear
stoup = tankard
gowans = daisies
braid = broad
Gude willie waught = a friendly drink and blether

 

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18/10/08 Jamie bridges the divisions…. Jamie & Glen photo (Jamie on left) .  Belfast and  Dublin . She is the Belle of Belfast City mp3BELLE OF BELFAST CITY / I’LL TELL ME MA

Tell my ma when I go home,

The boys won’t leave the girls alone,

They pulled my hair and stole my comb,

But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty

She is the belle of Belfast city,

She is courting, one two three

Please won’t you tell me who is she?

 

Albert Mooney says he loves her,

All the boys are fighting for her,

Knock on the door and they ring the bell

Oh my true love, are you well?

Here she comes, as white as snow,

Rings on her fingers and bells on her toes,

Old Johnny Mary she says she’ll die

If she doesn’t get the boy with the roving eye.

 

Tell my ma when I go home,

The boys won’t leave the girls alone,

They pulled my hair and stole my comb,

But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty

She is the belle of Belfast city,

She is courting, one two three

Please won’t you tell me who is she?

 

Let the wind and the rain and the hail blow high

And the snow come tumbling from the sky

She’s as nice as apple pie

She’ll get her own boy, by and by

When she gets a lad of her own,

She won’t tell her ma ’till she comes home,

Let the boys stay as they will,

For it’s Albert Mooney she loves still.

 

Tell my ma when I go home,

The boys won’t leave the girls alone,

They pulled my hair and stole my comb,

But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty

She is the belle of Belfast city,

She is courting, one two three

Please won’t you tell me who is she?

 

Tell my ma when I go home,

The boys won’t leave the girls alone,

They pulled my hair and stole my comb,

But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty

She is the belle of Belfast city,

She is courting, one two three

Please won’t you tell me who is she?

 

Tell my ma when I go home,

The boys won’t leave the girls alone,

They pulled my hair and stole my comb,

But that’s all right ’till I go home.

She is handsome, she is pretty

She is the belle of Belfast city,

She is courting, one two three

Please won’t you tell me who is she?

 

Molly Malone or Cockles & Mussels or In Dublins Fair City mp3

 

Molly Malone or Cockles & Mussels

 

 

1. In Dublin’s fair city,
Where girls are so pretty,
I first set my eyes on sweet Molly Malone,
As she wheeled her wheelbarrow
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”!

Chorus:
Alive, alive oh! alive, alive oh!
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”!

2. Now she was a fishmonger,
And sure twas no wonder,
For so were her mother and father before,
And they each wheeled their barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”!
Chorus:

3. She died of a fever,
And no one could save her,
And that was the end of sweet Molly Malone.
Now her ghost wheels her barrow,
Through streets broad and narrow,
Crying, “Cockles and mussels, alive, alive oh”!
Chorus:

 

 

 

 

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14/10/08 England, USA and Bavaria – A Grand Triangulation

The Lychen / AMMAS singers are steadily becoming a global force. Eurovision is so yesterday! Introducing the Bob the “Britton” from California, Ulrike with a song from Bavaria and Vida Hedley from… a garden somewhere in the English countryside.

 

I have no information for Ulrike or her song. Can any one help?

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USA & Bavaria

USA + Bavaria streaming MP3 audio & USA + Bavaria wav

Summertime

And the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’
And the cotton is high

Your daddy’s rich
And your mamma’s good lookin’
So hush little baby
Don’t you cry

One of these mornings
You’re going to rise up singing
You’re gonna spread your wings
And take to the sky

But till that morning
There’s a’nothing can harm you
With daddy and mamma standing by

Summertime,
And the livin’ is easy
Fish are jumpin’
And the cotton is high

Your daddy’s rich
And your mamma’s good lookin’
So hush little baby Don’t you cry

England

An English Country Garden – streaming MP3 & English Country Garden wav

An English Country Garden 

How many kinds of sweet flowers grow

 

 

In an English country garden?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’ll tell you now of some that I know

Those I miss you’ll surely pardon

Daffodils , heart’s ease and flox

Meadowsweet and lady smocks

Gentian, lupin and tall hollihocks

Roses, foxgloves, snowdrops, blue forget-me-nots

In an English country garden

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How many insects come here and go

In an English country garden?

I’ll tell you now of some that I know

Those I miss you’ll surely pardon

Fireflies, moths, gnats and bees

Spiders climbing in the trees

Butterflies drift in the gentle breeze

There are snakes, ants that sting

And other creeping things

In an English country garden

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How many songbirds fly to and fro

In an English country garden?

I’ll tell you now of some that I know

Those I miss you’ll surely pardon

Bobolink, cuckoo and quail

Tanager and cardinal

Bluebird, thrush and nightingale

There is joy in the spring

When the birds begin to sing

In an English country garden.

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09/10/08 Stop Press! A contribution from Austria. Harriet and Pia call to their sweethearts across the Alps. A powerful delivery is essential – especially if it’s going to reach as far as Brighton. No concession to English here. Mmm, yes, but – does anyone have the English translation? PS Keep scrolling down for Graham Fox, France & Frere Jaques. And a little further still for my trip to Irish Alexander School (with a song)

Austria / Osterreich – Bibibe boba (downloadable wav file) + Bibibe boba (streaming mp3)

Bibibe boba

 Bibibe boba bi bibibe bo,

bibibe boba bi bibibe bo

bibibe boba bi bibibe bo

bibibe boba bubi

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08/10/08 It’s official – we are now the standard bearers of traditional culture. And, according to Graham Fox, we are responsible for the “preservation of linguistic diversity”. Apparently even France enters it’s Eurovision songs in English now. Sacre B..! erm, I mean… Shocking! Speaking of which here is Graham leading us in a rousing and powerful Frere Jaques.

Frere Jaques + Frere Jaques-wav downloadable audio file

Frère Jacques, frère Jacques,
Dormez-vous? Dormez-vous?
Sonnez les matines! Sonnez les matines!
Din, dan, don. Din, dan, don.

Richard Brennan kindly invited me to teach Alexander Technique & singing at his training course in Galway last week. I had a truly wonderful time. Here are the students and I singing that beautiful and haunting Irish ballad She Moved Through the Fair.  I’m really hoping to hear a few more songs from that direction. Here is the downloadable version She Moved Through the Fair – wav

She Moved Through the Fair

My young love said to me,
”My mother won’t mind
And my father won’t slight you
For your lack of kind”
And she stepped away from me
And this she did say:
”It will not be long, love,
Till our wedding day”

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  She stepped away from me
And she moved through the fair
And fondly I watched her
Move here and move there
And then she went homeward
With one star awake
Like the swan in the evening
Moves over the lake

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  The people were saying,
”No two e’er were wed
But one had a sorrow
That seldom was said”
And I smiled as she passed by
With her goods and her gear,
And that was the last
That I saw of my dear.

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I dreamed it last night,
That my young love came in
So softly she stepped that
Her feet made no din
And she laid her hand on me
And this she did say
”It will not be long, love,
‘Til our wedding day”

 

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26/09/08. Watch out Eurovision – the Lychen International Alexander Singers are snapping at your heels! Two more nuggets of gold – one from Lis representing Denmark and another from Antonio representing Portugal  (with some collaboration from Ulli & Germany).

Denmark song + Denmark song wav download

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Portugal song + Portugal song wav download

The song was “Somos Livres” from Ermelida Duarte
and the words for the short part which we sang was

Uma gaivota voava, voava,
asas de vento,
coração de mar.
Como ela, somos livres,
somos livres de voar.

Uma papoila crescia, crescia,
grito vermelho
num campo qualquer.
Como ela somos livres,
somos livres de crescer.

The complete original words can be found f.i. here. And for for a listening experience of the original *************************************************************

AMMAS members of the world, lend me your ears! Two more vocal gems for your pleasure and delectation! The Aussie and the Kiwi each give us a travelling song from down under.

Glen tells and sings us the true story of Waltzing Matilda

Download 50meg wav file here:-“australia-waltzing-matilda“ – might take a bit of time.

Louise sings No More Double Bunking – does that sound a bit racey or what? You be the judge!

Download 20meg wav file here:- “new-zealand-no-more-double-bunking“ – Everyone sounds in fine voice as usual.

As usual I can be emailed through the link at the bottom of my homepage.

Love,

Alan

Waltzing Matilda

Once a jolly swagman sat beside the billabong,
Under the shade of a coolabah tree,
And he sang as he watched and he waited till his billy boiled
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me
And he sang as he watched and he waited till his billy boiled
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Down came a jumbuck to drink beside the billabong
Up jumped the swagman and seized him with glee
And he sang as he tucked jumbuck in his tucker-bag
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me
And he sang as he watched and he waited till his billy boiled
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Down came the stockman, riding on his thoroughbred,
Down came the troopers, one, two, three.
“Where’s the jolly jumbuck you’ve got in your tucker-bag?
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me

Waltzing matilda, waltzing matilda
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me
And he sang as he watched and he waited till his billy boiled
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

Up jumped the swagman and plunged into the billabong,
“You’ll never catch me alive,” cried he
And his ghost may be heard as you ride beside the billabong,
You’ll come a waltzing matilda with me.

http://www.glennbswift.com/alexander/about.html

No More Double-Bunking

I heard this sad song-oh
In the Orongorongo:
“There’ll be no more double-bunking, double-bunking for me.”
I said to the vocalist,
“Oh, why do you so insist,
‘There’ll be no more double-bunking, double-bunking for me’?”

There’ll be no more double-bunking,
Double-bunking, double-bunking.
No more double-bunking, double-bunking for me.

He said, “I’ve had a gutsful
Of tramps where the hut’s full.
There’ll be no more double-bunking, double-bunking for me.
I’ve weakened and lost weight.
I’m nervously prostrate.
There’ll be no more double-bunking, double-bunking for me.”

My tongue’s covered with fur too,
And I can’t eat my burgoo.
There’ll be no more double-bunking, double-bunking for me
I’m washed out like a dish rag,
And, I’ve ruptured my sleeping bag.
There’ll be no more double-bunking, double-bunking for me.

http://www.alexandertechnique.org.nz/teachers.html

email – louisegauld@xtra.co.nz

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Dear AMMAS members,

Here is the next vocal offering! It’s one of the German songs taught to us by Petra – introduction; demo; the group sings in unison; two part canon; four part canon – all done with movements! If somebody can send the song title and text I’ll put them up here as soon as possible. I can’t tell you what a pleasure it has been listening to all the songs – it’s brought so many happy memories streaming back.

germany-1

You can email me through the link at the bottom of my homepage.

Best wishes,

Alan

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For the AMMAS members who attended our annual gathering in Lychen 2008. This year we had a continuing theme of songs from all the countries represented at the gathering. Jamie MacDowell (Britain, Northern Ireland) took us through a Welsh song inspired by Dylan Thomas. Hover over the link & a window should come up. Click on the “play” button and you should get streaming audio… lychen-chorus-02-master1

Jamie photo

Not bad for 20 minutes rehearsal – even if I do say so myself!

The photos are by Ralf Hiemisch – Alexander teacher & photographer.

The words are below. I’ll get more of the songs up as I get to grips with the technology. Enjoy!

Best wishes,

Alan

Every morning, when I wake,
Dear Lord, a little prayer I make,
O please to keep Thy loving eye
On all poor creatures born to die.

And every evening at sun-down
I ask a blessing on the town,
For whether we last the night or no
I’m sure is always touch-and-go.

We are not wholly bad or good
Who live our lives under Milk Wood,
And Thou, I know, wilt be the first
To see our best side, not our worst.

O let us see another day!
Bless us this holy night, I pray,
And to the sun we all will bow
And say, goodbye – but just for now!