Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Lullaby

So what are lullaby's anyway, something to sing to calm or entertain a child.

I am apparently not very good at them, while I can recognize them when people sing them, I have the hardest time remembering one to sing in the middle of the night.

One song my father used to sing to me was San Toki (sp). It is Korean, and because of my unfamiliarity with Korean I will not attempt to type it in Korean letters. But here is how I recall it. Pardon my romanization.

San Toki Toki ya (bunny fingers aka peace sign)
O dido kanen ya (move bunny back and forth)
Gonshu Gonshu dimyon so (hop up and down then run around)
O did kanen ya (go back to swaying the bunny)

Basically it is about a bunny and you are asking where is is going, he is just jumping and running around. Not really a lullaby but a fun kids song. I will need to clarify the translation and make sure my memory is accurate as to how it went. But how is that, odd white guy remembering korean kid's songs. (My father went on an ecclesiastical mission to Korea when he was young, that is why a farmer turned doctor born in Idaho knows korean)

So now I just need to learn a bigger variety of songs.

Edit: I should have checked more before starting the post. I did find an online reference to Santoki.

Here it is from the wikipedia article. I never knew there was a second verse. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santoki)

First Verse:
산토끼 토끼야 어디를 가느냐
깡총깡총 뛰면서 어디를 가느냐
Second Verse:
산고개 고개를 나혼자 넘어서
토실토실 알밤을 주워서 올테야

Transliterated

First Verse:
San-toki, toki-ya
Uh-dee-reul gah-neu-nyah?
Kang-choong, kang-choong tee-myun-suh
Uh-dee-reul gah-neu-nyah?
Second Verse:
San-go-gae go-gae-reul
Nah-hon-jah nuhm-uh-suh
to-shil to-shil ahl-bahm-eul
Joo-wuh-suh ol-tae-yah

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