Monday, December 20, 2010

I wish you all a happy holiday and an even happier 2011!!

Although Christmas isn't my favourite holiday at all (I find it sad, too materialistic and cruelly discriminatory) I want to wish you all the best and here's a nice traditional carol for you to LEARN!!:

"The Twelve Days of Christmas" is a cumulative song, meaning that each verse is built on top of the previous verses. There are twelve verses, each describing a gift given by "my true love" on one of the twelve days of Christmas.
The first verse runs:
On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave/sent to me...
A Partridge in a Pear Tree.
The second verse:
On the second day of Christmas, my true love gave/sent to me...
2 Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
The third verse begins to show some metrical variance, as explained below:
On the third day of Christmas, my true love gave/sent to me...
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
...and so forth, until the last verse:
On the twelfth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...
12 Drummers Drumming
11 Pipers Piping
10 Lords-a-Leaping
9 Ladies Dancing
8 Maids-a-Milking
7 Swans-a-Swimming
6 Geese-a-Laying
5 Golden Rings
4 Calling Birds
3 French Hens
2 Turtle Doves
And a Partridge in a Pear Tree.
There are many variations of this song in which the last four objects are arranged in a different order. 
I'm thinking of recording you singing it for posterity but don't panic, you can't do worse than the Youtube Community Choir:


A very interesting tradition in English speaking countries is the way they celebrate the coming of the new year. Instead of eating the twelve grapes at the stroke of midnight they kiss their loved ones a happy new year and sing Auld Lang Syne.
Auld Lang Syne is a poem by Scottish poet Robert Burns and set to the tune of a traditional folk song.  "For auld lang syne" can be translated as "for (the sake of) old times". Singing the song on Hogmanay or New Year's Eve very quickly became a Scots custom that soon spread to other parts of the British Isles. As Scots (and other Britons) emigrated around the world, they took the song with them.
Though you have here the full version of the song, people usually sing only the first verse and the chorus.

1 comment:

  1. Nice post 8:
    I know this song because last year, Sahra sang it with us, it's a fun song to sing in Xmas. For me is better than our Spanish songs...

    The other song, is very beautiful too.

    Have a good year and happy holidays,

    Natalia

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