THE INTERNATIONAL SONG PROJECT

TONGSONGUES

THE INTERNATIONAL SONG PROJECT

NOT AN OLD MAN'S BLUES BUT HIS MOONS

Start 2 February 2022 [Restart 10 September 2022] Finish 28 April 2023

ORIGIN & ORIGINALITY

After completing my Marlowe Project, October 2021, I knew I would soon be starting the long deferred Brick Project. But I also felt I should start a Music Project : it being several months since the Bolan Project ended. The Covid-era spat between the octogenarians McCartney-Jagger made me smile. Though I affirmed Paul's judgement as being the infinitely greater songwriter, I still felt regret at my failing to imitate Ian MacDonald's perfect listening of the Fab corpus in Revolution in the Head : headphones, stopwatch, pen and paper. In December I decided to watch half a dozen unwatched Fab-docs recorded over the previous year and bought the first two LPs and McDonald's book for the third time.

But I didn't start: and not because of the mighty time and heart marker of finishing my Euthyphro book and trying to get it elegantly printed and posted to a world authority on Plato. Perhaps I felt a Fabs project was over-determined by too much familiar emotion. A new project must generate enough new emotions which one might enjoy for and as themselves and then enjoy describing in words.

One evening I decided to watch a documentary on Callas, recorded some months earlier. My principal motive was to do with psychoanalytic theory: whether her rage at her mother was due to being pimped to Nazis during the war: a conjecture from an older documentary. I don't have the European languages or the vocabulary of opera to judge her famed voice. But, decades ago, even an ignoramus like me was fascinated enough to buy a tape of her most famous arias: which I recall listening to every night on my exercise-bike in my tiny room at Kingston Street. The two high points were L'oiseau in Carmen and then an aching turn of voice in an aria I could never recall the title of. I deleted the documentary, again feeling I had done Callas, albeit badly! But a week later I recovered it in my TIVO and then watched the beginning. I was struck by Callas' stillness on stage - and in that very song I could not name. A singer's decision to move his/her body - as well as the vocal chords and chest - is perhaps based more on audience expectation in that genre than a correlate to the song. Imagine Elvis singing Blue Suede Shoes without moving. She seemed instantly more mature. My TV default setting is to show subtitles and so I was able to see the lines of the aria. I felt satisfied : and, though there was much more of the programme to come, I switched it off. For I had my Music Project : about songs, long-cherished, but whose words I never knew clearly - for I never knew the original languages.

****************************************************

LEARN TO SING THESE IN THE ORIGINAL

AND THE GRAMMAR OF THE LYRICS

(In dreamland I would learn the simplest piano transposition) .

	Song Title	Language	Writer /Composer	Definitive Singer

1	L'Amour Oiseau	French	Berlioz	Callas
2	Goddess	Italian		Callas
3	La Donna e Mobile	Italian	Mozart
4	Figaro	Italian
5	Chi vuole con le donne	Italian	Trad	Death in Venice
6	Stille Nacht	German	Trad
7	Mac the Knife	German	Weil Brecht	Lotte lenya
8	La Vie En Rose	French	Piaf	Piaf
9	Man Dole	Hindi		Lata
10	Mudne bah re	Hindi		Lata
11	Guantanamera	Spanish	Cuban
12	La Bamba	Spanish	Trad	Ritchie Valens

This is the starting selection.. It's enough but spontaneous memories will be honoured. One finish date would be this coming Christmas 2022. Yesterday as I was doing my new daily stint at Greek, I thought I will spend a month on the first five pages, or even the first two. It felt a good decision for I had done the like a few times. Most of my failures at skills comes from not doing that. So tomorrow or the day after I will buy L'oiseau.

A fortnight later, as I continued to work slowly and found and enjoyed more complications, I suddenly recalled how apposite were Kennedy's declarations in 1963 about going to the moon:

“We choose to go to do this and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard, because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one that we are willing to accept."

Underneath all this is the abiding force of two mighty theses /principles which I first read almost fifty years ago. Marx on Feuerbach...

Das gesellschaftliche Leben ist wesentlich praktisch [.]

The social/societal life is essential[ly] practical

AD-n-nom Aj N-sg-n-nom V-3sg-Pr Aj<>Av Aj

sein

Alle Mysterien, welche die Theorie zum Mysticismus verleiten,

All mysteries which the theory to-the mysticism mislead/tempt

Aj-pl N-pl-n-nom Pn-rel AD-f N-f- Pp N V-3pl-Pr

mysterium Mystizismus rare verleiten

finden ihre rationelle Lösung in der menschlichen Praxis

find their rational/efficient solution in the human practice

V-3pl-Pr Pn Aj N-f-sg Aj N-f

finden menslich

und im Begreifen dieser Praxis [.]

and in comprehension /understanding this practice

Cj Pp N-sg-nt /V-Pr-Inf

Begreifen

.... and Benjamin on Marx.

The current amazement that the things we are experiencing are ‘still’ possible in the twentieth century is not philosophical. This amazement is not the beginning of knowledge—unless it is the knowledge that the view of history which gives rise to it is untenable.

It is a mystery that one can be 20, or 40 or 60, and yet be so ignorant of a song, that one has been so charmed by since childhood :

but - only until one begins studying it, for then wonder and joy arrive.

********************************

1: HABANERA

V1	L'amour est un oiseau rebelle
	The-love is a bird rebellious
	N-m-Abs V-3sg-Pr AD N-m Aj
	être

2	Que nul ne peut apprivoiser
	That no /nothing/noone not can/may/is-able to-tame
	Pn-rel Aj/Pn Av-Ng V-3sg-Pr V-Inf-Pr
	pouvoir

3	Et c'est bien en vain qu' on l' appelle
	And [it]-is well in vain that one it/him calls
	Cj Pn-V-3sg-Pr Av Pp Aj Cj Pn-nom DObj V-3sg-pr
	(---------Av-Ph---------------)
	être appeler

4	S' il lui convient de refuser
	If it him agrees-to/suits of to-refuse
	Cj Pn-nom Pn-D-Obj V-3sg-Pr Pc V-Pr-Inf
	convenir

V2	Rien n' y fait , menace ou prière
	Nothing not there does menace/threat or prayer
	N/Pn Av-Ng Pc-Av V-3sg-Pr N-f Cj N-f
	faire

2	L' un parle bien , l' autre se tait :
	The one speaks well the other itself silences
	AD Pn-m V-3g-Pr Av DA Pn-Dem Pn-Rfx V-3sg-Pr-Rfx :
	parler se taire

3	Et c' est l' autre que je préfère
	And it/that is the other that/which I prefer
	Cj Pn-Dem V-3sg-Pr AD Pn-Dem Pn-Rel Pn-nom V-1sg-Pr
	être préférer

4	Il n' a rien dit mais il me plaît
	He not/never has nothing said but he me pleases
	Pn-nom Av-Ng Aux N-acc Ppl-Pt Cj Pn-Nom Pn-acc V-3sg-Pr
	dire : a dit = Pr Pf plaire

CHORUS

Ch1	L' amour ! L' amour ! L' amour ! L' amour !
	(The) Love (The) Love (The) Love (The) Love
	AD+ N-m=Abs

2	L'amour est enfant de Bohême
	(the)Love is child of Bohemia(ns)
	AD+N-m=Abs V-3sg-Pr N-m Pp N-f
	être

3	Il n' a jamais , jamais connu de loi
	He not has ever ever known of law
	Pn-3sg Av-Ng Aux AvNg Av-Ng Ppl-Pt Ppn N-f
	connaître: a connu = Pr Pf

4	Si tu ne m' aimes pas, je t' aime
	If you not me love not I you love
	Cd Pn-nom Ng Pn-acc V-2sg-Pr Neg Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr
	aimer aimer

5	Si je t' aime , prends garde à toi !
	If I you love [you] take! guard/caution to yourself
	Cd Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr V-2sg-Pr-Ipv N-f Pp Pn-Rfx
	prendre

6	Si tu ne m' aimes pas,
	If you not me love not
	Cd Pn-nom Ng Pn-acc V-2sg-Pr Ng
	aimer

7	Si tu ne m' aimes pas , je t' aime ,
	If you not me love not I you love
	Cd Pn-nom Ng Pn-acc V-2sg-Pr Ng Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr
	aimer

8	Mais si je t' aime ,
	But if I you love
	Cj Cd Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr
	aimer

9	Si je t' aime , prends garde à toi !
	If I you love [you] take! guard/caution to yourself
	Cd Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr V-2sg-Pr-Ipv N-f Pp Pn-Rfx
	prendre

10	Si tu ne m' aimes pas,

11	Si tu ne m' aimes pas , je t' aime ,

12	Mais si je t' aime ,

13	Si je t' aime , prends garde à toi !

V3	L'oiseau que tu croyais surprendre
	The bird that you used-to-think to surprise
	AD N-m Pn-rel Pn-nom V-2sg-Imp V-Inf-Pr
	croire

2	Battit de l' aile et s' envola ...
	flapped/batted of the wing and itself enveloped/hid
	V-3s-Pt Pp AD N-f Cj Pn-Rfx V-3sg-Pt
	battre s' + envoler

3	L' amour est loin , tu peux l' attendre
	The Love is far/away you can it to-wait
	AD N-m-Abs V-3sg Av Pn-nom V-2sg-Pr Pn-acc V-Inf-Pr
	être pouvoir

4	Tu ne l' attends plus , il est là !
	You not it wait-for more it is t/here
	Pn-nom Ng Pn-acc V-2sg-Pr Av Pn-nom V-3sg-Pr Av
	attendre être

V4	Tout autour de toi, vite, vite
	All around of you quickly/fast quickly/fast
	Aj Pp Pp Pn-acc Av Av

2	Il vient, s' en va , puis il revient
	He/it comes self in goes then he returns
	Pn-nom V-3sg-Pr Pn Pp V-3sg-Pr Cj Pn-nom V-3g-Pr
	venir s'en aller revenir

3	Tu crois le tenir, il t' évite
	You believe it to-hold he you evades/escapes
	Pn-nom V-2sg-Pr Pn-acc V-Inf-Pr Pn-nom Pn-acc V-3sg-Pr
	croire éviter

4	Tu crois l' éviter, il te tient
	You believe it to evade it you holds
	Pn-nom V-2sg-Pr Pn-acc V-Inf-Pr Pn-nom Pn-acc V-3sg-pr
	croire tenir

CHORUS

Ch1	L' amour ! L' amour ! L' amour ! L' amour !
	(The) Love (The) Love (The) Love (The) Love
	AD+ N-m=Abs

2	L'amour est enfant de Bohême
	(the)Love is child of Bohemia(ns)
	AD+N-m=Abs V-3sg-Pr N-m Pp N-f
	être

3	Il n' a jamais , jamais connu de loi
	He not has ever ever known of law
	Pn-3sg Av-Ng Aux AvNg Av-Ng Ppl-Pt Ppn N-f
	connaître: a connu = Pr Pf

4	Si tu ne m' aimes pas, je t' aime
	If you not me love not I you love
	Cd Pn-nom Ng Pn-acc V-2sg-Pr Neg Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr
	aimer aimer

5	Si je t' aime , prends garde à toi !
	If I you love [you] take! guard/caution to yourself
	Cd Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr V-2sg-Pr-Ipv N-f Pp Pn-Rfx
	prendre

6	Si tu ne m' aimes pas,
	If you not me love not
	Cd Pn-nom Ng Pn-acc V-2sg-Pr Ng
	aimer

7	Si tu ne m' aimes pas , je t' aime
	If you not me love not I you love
	Cd Pn-nom Ng Pn-acc V-2sg-Pr Ng Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr
	aimer aimer

8	Mais si je t' aime ,
	But if I you love
	Cj Cd Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr
	aimer

9	Si je t' aime , prends garde à toi !
	If I you love [you] take! guard/caution to yourself
	Cd Pn-nom Pn-acc V-1sg-Pr V-2sg-Pr-Ipv N-f Pp Pn-Rfx
	prendre

10	Si tu ne m' aimes pas,

11	Si tu ne m' aimes pas , je t' aime

12	Mais si je t' aime ,

13	Si je t' aime , prends garde à toi !

********************************

NOTES ON HABANERA

VARIATIONS

1: Maria Callas Live: Hamburg 1962

This introduces the song with the opera's main melodies.

The lyrics are as above: sung only by Callas.

2: Maria Callas Paris

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u9SlnynUMkE&list=RDu9SlnynUMkE&index=1

This has Callas and Chorus

It is a different pleasure of call and response

Thursday 13 April 2022

I finally began to understand the other-audience's desire to hear Callas. At the final crescendo there is the elongation of the vowel + rhotic gaaaa...rrrrr .... . The listener knows it must end with the dental ...d... The paradox is that as her chest is expanding one feels an unusual pressure on one's own: (or, if not paradox, what). One feels one is being both squeezed and lifted but there does not feel any danger of a fall to come. Tears form - but barely connected to the menacing imperative. When the song ends, one feel one has been truly thrilled. I can see why grown men of all ages would want to keep hearing this and feeling this.

This is the sound-wave for her singing of the word l'amour' five times in succession.

I think of Ian McKellan's famous masterclass on Macbeth's threnody to his wife: how to say the repeated word "Tomorrow". Olivier, the greatest master, varied "Is it safe" thirteen times.

As I said above, there is also something profoundly intriguing about Callas's stillness and self-enclosing arms as she sings of quiet rapture in the Italian song Chaste Goddess. Again, I understand better now why one would want to see her also.

12 September 2022

I watch for the first time - after an eleventh wait/preparation - the Callas tv video sequence of her Habanera. It is wonderful to see her acting - simultaneously temperate and enraptured: and to know the words!

********************************

FRENCH REVISION AFTER 58 YEARS

You must learn your verbs!

Yes, Mrs Berry

-er

vowl

sib

vowel

-re

sib

dent

-ir

sib

dent

-oir

sib

dent

avoir

vowel

sib

vowel

parl-er

aim-er

refus-er

préfér-er

envol-er

jur-er

prend-re

attend-re

croi-re

connait-re

perd-re

part-ir

ten-ir

venir

v-oir

pouv-oir

parl-e

aim-e

prend-s

attend-s

croi-s

connai-s

pars

tiens

viens

vo-is

peux

parl-es

aim-es

prend-s

attend-s

croi-s

connai-s

pars

tiens

viens

vo-is

peux

parl-e

aim-e

prend

attend

croit

connai-t

part

tient

vient

vo-it

peut

IMP

parl-e / parl-ez

prends/prenez

attends/ attendez

crois/croyez

pars /partez

tiens/tenez

viens/venex

vois/voyez

********************************

I can't recall exactly when I heard La Vie En Rose. It might have been around the time of the 1978 play Piaf by Pam Gems. I surely knew the phrase before then. Google has just told me that Grace Jones's version came out around the same time. I got to know and enjoy this first : then Louis Armstrong's 1950 version some decades later. Piaf's own version I really only heard properly for a music party On Cover Songs that I gave for some friends in 2012. But I didn't think about the French lyrics until this year.

DIAMOND LIFE

He's laughing with another girl

And playing with another heart

Placing high stakes making hearts ache

He's loved in seven languages

Diamond nights and ruby lights high in the sky

Heaven help him when he falls [Smooth Operator : Sade 1984]

It was only during my fourth reading of Ann Diamond's charming novel Dead White Males that I understood the narrative weight of the protoganist suddenly saying " prends garde à toi ! It is no doubt an ordinary resource in the minefield of dating for those in an Anglo-French city : but, had I not started this project, I'd never have got the joy from the allusion. And I'd forgottten how multilingual Sade's treacherous lover was.

********************************

2: LA VIE EN ROSE .


Des yeux qui font baisser les miens	Some eyes ... that make to lower mine	faire + baisser / le œil
Un rire qui se perd sur sa bouche	A laugh that is lost on his lips	se-perdre / la-bouche
Voila le portrait sans retouches	Here is.. the portrait without touch-ups	la retouche
De l'homme auquel j'appartiens	Of the man.. to whom ... I belong	appartenir

*Quand il me prend dans ses bras*	When he takes me into his arms	prendre / le bras
*Il me parle l'a tout bas*	He speaks to me... has it... softly	parler / avoir / softly
*Je vois la vie en rose*	And I see life... in/as rose-hued	voir / la rose

*Il me dit des mots d'amour*	He speaks some words of love to me	dire / le mot / le amour
*Des mots de tous les jours*	Some words .. of all days	le mot / le jour
*Et ça m' fait quelque chose*	And this does some thing to me	ça / faire / la chose

*Il est entré dans mon coeur*	He is entered into my heart	entrer
*Une part de bonheur*	A bit of happiness	la part / le bonheur
*Dont je connais la cause*	That I know the cause of	of-which / connaitre

*C'est lui pour moi*	It's only him for me
*Moi pour lui dans la vie*	And me for him, for life
*Il me l'a dit, l'a jure pour la vie*	He told me, he swore to me, for life	dire / jurer

*Et, dès que je l'aperçois*	And, as soon as .... I notice him	dès que / apercevoir
*Alors je sens en moi*	So-then...I feel inside me	sentir
*Mon coeur qui bat*	My heart that beats	battre

Des nuits d'amour à plus en finir	Some nights of love... to more...to finish
Un grand bonheur qui prend sa place	A great happiness..that takes its place	prendre... la place
Les ennuis, les chagrins, s'effacent	The pain... the bothers.... fade away	N-pl-m.... le chagrin s'effacer
Heureux, heureux à mourir	Happy Happy to die	Aj-m-pl .... à mourir

REPEAT ITALICS Quand il ...qui bat
Lalalala, lalalala
La, la, la, la

********************************

CAN'T GET YOU OUT OF MY HEAD !

THE FLY PAPER OF MEMORY

I am making a very simple point. Some tunes - in whatever language - are so catchy. It is as if they turn one's brain and memory into vocabulary fly-paper. Somehow the structure of the rhythm becomes instantly fixed and inescapable. One's heart, one's limbs, one's personality, one's character all seem to accept the tune as good to keep, almost necessary for one's well-being. Even if one doesn't know the language and can't translate the words, one might recall a few of the actual original syllables and then fill in plausible ones from one's own language, just for the sheer joy of it. What is remarkable is that just as one can't fake sexual fancying, so one can't fake having been caught by a catchy tune. The genius illustrator, Robert 'Big Ass Comics' Crumb, would pass on Twiggy and even Marilyn Monroe. Either the foreign song-tune is somehow fixed inside you or it isn't. But if it is, then it becomes a unusual resource for play, mucking about in your head or even learning the new language to communicate with the people of that country.

I have enjoyed enormously doing this song project : taking barely twenty minutes a day, after breakfast with Law & Order SVU. Before I had the idea of suggesting to an old, widowed friend in Spain that he write a song for his dead beloved based on a classic, I had been thinking of an idea of teaching a language first through half a dozen songs : singing before speaking. Though I never actually used the teaching qualification - English & RE - that I got in 1984, I've always been interested in new ideas for teaching.

THE REVOLUTIONARY TEACHER OF LANGUAGES

A Pub or Dinner-Party question.

Imagine the invitation to teach your own language as-a-foreign-language to non-natives: kids, teens, or pensioners. In Lesson 1, one-hour long, there would be no reading or writing, or even speaking. The room would have no desks but only chairs. There is a sound system with good speakers and a microphone that you control with a remote : and it is loaded with four extraordinarily catchy songs you have chosen. You will play each a few times, in an order that feels right to you for your students on the day. The students are invited to sit, dance or sing along as they please. The Question is : Which Songs?

TEACHING ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE : LESSON 1

English Country Garden

John Sinclair

Sisters, O Sisters

Anything Goes

Route 66

TEACHING SPANISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE : LESSON 1

La Bamba

Guantanamera

These are the two I'd choose. My friend in Spain surely has his own preferred versions of these songs. The internet links I give are to the versions that gave me most joy & helped me to write this essay. I offer below material for the 'lessons' after the one above. I suggest the Reader listens to (and watches) the songs before reading on.

(i) Ritchie Valens

(ii) Playing for Change www.youtube.com/watch?v=k5dkwQY-_tk

(i) Compay Segundo youtube.com/watch?v=gdYIpvnzoW8

(ii) Playing for Change youtube.com/watch?v=blUSVALW_Z4&list=RDgdYIpvnzoW8&index=5

********************************

3: LA BAMBA

SHOWING FOR PRONUNCIATION : SYLLABLES SEPARATED AND THE ACCENTS

AND FOR INFORMATION : ENGLISH LITERAL WORD-BY-WORD TRANSLATION

	Pa-ra bai-lar La Bam-ba
	for to dance the bamba-dance

	Pa-ra bai-lar La Bam-ba
	for to dance the bamba-dance

	Se ne-ce-si-ta u-na po-ca de gra-ci-a
	it/one needs a little (bit) of grace

	U-na po-ca de gra-ci-a pa-ra mí , pa-ra tí
	a little (bit) of grace for me for you

	Ya ar-ri-ba, Ya ar-ri-ba
	now upward /come-on! now upward/come-on !

	Ya ar-ri-ba, Ya ar-ri-ba
	now upward /come-on! now upward/come-on !

	Por tí se-ré por tí se-ré , por tí se-ré
	For you [I]-will-be for you [I]-will-be for you [I]-will-be

	Yo no soy ma-ri-ne-ro
	I not am sailor

	Yo no soy marinero , soy ca-pi-tán
	I not am sailor am captain

	Soy ca-pi-tán , soy ca-pi-tán
	am captain [I] am captain

Bamba, bamba

Bamba, bamba, bamba

REPEAT WHOLE SEQUENCE

THE BASIC LIST

OF ALL THE DIFFERENT SPANISH WORDS

in alphabetic order

Amazingly - there are only twenty-one words in this song

(bamba is obviously sung more than twenty times)


1	arriba
2	bailar
3	bamba
4	capitán
5	de
6	gracia
7	la
8	marinero
9	mí
10	necesita
11	no
12	para
13	poco
14	por
15	se
16	seré
17	soy
18	tí
19	una
20	ya
21	yo

THE BASIC LIST

OF ALL THE DIFFERENT SPANISH WORDS

in alphabetic order

& THE ENGLISH TRANSLATIONS

	SPANISH	English

1a	arriba	come-on!
1b	arriba	up, above
2	bailar	to dance
3	bamba	dance-name
4	capitán	captain
5	de	of
6	gracia	grace
7	la	the
8	marinero	sailor
9	mí	me
10	necesita	needs
11	no	not
12	para	for
13	poca	little
14	por	for
15	se	one
16	seré	will-be
17	soy	am
18	tí	you
19	una	a/one
20	ya	now
21	yo	I

NOW, READER,

YOU KNOW FLUENTLY TWENTY-ONE SPANISH WORDS!

LA BAMBA (in my interlinear protocol)

	Pa-ra bai-lar La Bam-ba
	for to dance the bamba-dance
	Pp V-Inf-Pr AD-f-sg N-f-sg
	bailar

	Pa-ra bai-lar La Bam-ba
	for to dance the bamba-dance
	Pp V-Inf-Pr AD-f-sg N-f-sg
	bailar

	Se ne-ce-si-ta u-na po-ca de gra-ci-a
	it/one needs a little (bit) of grace
	Pn V-3sg-Pr AI-f-sg Aj<>N-f-sg Pp N-f-sg
	necessitar poco

	U-na po-ca de gra-ci-a pa-ra mí , pa-ra tí ,
	a little (bit) of grace for me for you
	IA-f-sg Aj<>N-f-sg Pp N-f-sg Pp Pn Pp Pn
	poco

	Ya ar-ri-ba, Ya ar-ri-ba
	now upward /come-on! now upward/come-on !
	Av Exc Av Ex or V-2sg-Pr-Imperative
	This word has two possible meanings

	Ya ar-ri-ba, Ya ar-ri-ba
	now upward /come-on! now upward/come-on !
	Av Exc Av Ex or V-2sg-Pr-Imperative
	This word has two possible meanings

	Por tí se-ré por tí se-ré , por tí se-ré
	for you [I]-will-be for you [I]-will-be for you [I]-will-be
	Pp Pn V-1sg-F Pp Pn V-1sg-F Pp Pn V-1sg-F
	ser ser ser

	Yo no soy ma-ri-ne-ro
	I not am sailor
	Pn Av-Ng V-1sg-Pr N-m-sg
	ser

	Yo no soy ma-ri-nero , soy ca-pi-tán
	I not am sailor [I] am captain
	Pn Av-Ng V-1sg-Pr N-m-sg V-1sg-Pr N-m-sg
	ser ser

	Soy ca-pi-tán , soy ca-pi-tán
	[I] am captain [I] am captain
	V-1sg-Pr N-m-sg V-1sg-Pr N-sg-m
	ser ser

Bamba, bamba

Bamba, bamba etc

4 : GUANTANAMERA

CHORUS

	Guan-ta-na-me-ra
	female from-Guantánamo
	N-f-sg Alas, since 9-11, Guantánamo has terrifying associations
	guantanamero

	Gua-ji-ra Guan-ta-na-me-ra
	country girl female from Guantanamo
	N-f-sg
	Guajira : Alternative meaning : Cuban peasant dance tune or song whose rhythm shifts from 6/8 to 3/4 time

Guan-ta-na-me-ra

Gua-ji-ra Guan-ta-na-me-ra

VERSE 1

1	Yo soy un hom-bre sin-ce-ro
	I am a man honest
	Pn V-1sg-Pr AI-sg-m N-sg-m Aj-m-sg
	ser

2	De don-de cre-cen las pal-mas
	from/of where grow the palms-[trees]
	Pp Av V-3pl-Pr AD-f--pl N-f-pl
	crecer la palma

3	Yo soy un hom-bre sin-ce-ro
	I am a man honest
	Pn V-1sg-Pr A-I-sg-m N-sg-m Aj-m-sg
	ser

4	De don-de cre-ce la pal-ma
	from/of where grows the palm[tree]
	Pp Av V-3sg-Pr AD-f-sg N-f-sg
	crecer

5	Y an-tes de mo-rir yo qui-e-ro
	And before of to-die I want
	Cj Pp Pp V-Pr-inf Pn-1sg V-1sg-Pr
	( 4 words = and before I die) morir querer

6	Ec-har mís ver-sos del al-ma
	to-throw my verses from-the soul
	V-Inf-Pr Aj-pl N-m-pl Pp+AD N-f-sg
	echar verso de+el /la

7	Y an-tes de mo-rir yo qui-e-ro
	And before of to-die I want
	Cj Pp Pp V-Pr-inf Pn-1sg V-1sg-Pr
	( 4 words = and before I die/dying) morir querer

8	Ec-har mís ver-sos del al-ma
	to-throw my verses from-the soul
	V-Inf-Pr Aj-pl N-m-pl Pp+AD N-f-sg
	echar verso de+el /la

CHORUS

VERSE 2

1	No me pon-gan en lo os-cu-ro
	Not me put! in the dark [place]
	Av-Ng Pn-sg V-3pl-Pr-Ipv Pp AD-m-sg Aj<>N-m-sg
	poner

2	A mo-rir co-mo un traí-dor
	to to-die as/ like a traitor
	Pp V-Inf-Pr Cj AI-sg-m N-sg-m
	morir

3	No me pon-gan en lo os-cu-ro
	Not me put! in the dark [place]
	Av-Ng Pn-sg V-3pl-Pr-Ipv Pp AD-m-sg Aj<>N-m-sg
	poner

4	A mo-rir co-mo un traí-dor
	to to-die as/ like a traitor
	Pp V-Inf-Pr Cj AI-sg-m N-sg-m
	morir

5	Yo soy bu-e-no y co-mo bu-e-no
	I am good and eat well/rightly
	Pn-1p V-1sg-Pr Aj-m Cj V-1sg-Pr Av
	ser comer

6	Mo-ri-ré de ca-ra al sol
	[I]-will-die of face to-the sun
	V-1sg-F Pp N-f Pp+AD N-m-sg
	morir a + el

7	Yo soy bu-e-no y co-mo bu-e-no
	I am good and eat well/rightly
	Pn-1p V-1sg-Pr Aj-m Cj V-1sg-Pr Av
	ser comer

8	Mo-ri-ré de ca-ra al sol
	[I]-will-die of face to-the sun
	V-1sg-F Pp N-f Pp+AD N-m-sg
	morir a + el

CHORUS

VERSE 3

1	Con los pob-res de la ti-er-ra
	With the poor [folk] of the earth
	Pp AD-m-pl N-pl-m Pp AD-f-sg N-f-sg
	pobre
2	Qui-e-ro yo mí su-e-rte ec-har
	want I my luck to-cast
	V-1sg-Pr Pn-1p Aj-sg N-f-sg V-Pr-Inf

3	Con los pob-res de la ti-er-ra
	With the poor [folk] of the earth
	Pp AD-m-pl N-pl-m Pp AD-f-sg N-f-sg
	pobre

4	Qui-e-ro yo mí su-e-rte ec-har
	want I my luck to-cast
	V-1sg-Pr Pn-1p Aj-sg N-f-sg V-Pr-Inf

5	El ar-ro-yo de la si-er-ra
	The creek/stream of the mountain-range
	AD-m-sg N-sg-m Pp AD-f-sg N-f-sg

6	Me comp-la-ce más que el mar
	me pleases more than the sea
	Pn-sg V-3sg-Pr Av Cj DA-m-sg N-m-sg
	complacer

7	El ar-ro-yo de la si-er-ra
	The creek/stream of the mountain-range
	AD-m-sg N-sg-m Pp AD-f-sg N-f-sg

8	Me comp-la-ce más que el mar
	me pleases more than the sea
	Pn-sg V-3sg-Pr Av Cj DA-m-sg N-m-sg
	complacer

CHORUS

VERSE 4

1	Ti-e-ne el le-o-par-do un a-bri-go
	has/holds the leopard a coat
	V-3sg-Pr AD-m-sg N-m-sg AI-m-sg N-m
	tener

2	En su mon-te se-co y par-do
	in his/its mountain dry and brown
	Pp Aj-sg-Possessive N-m-sg Aj-m-sg Cj Aj-m-sg

3	Ti-e-ne el le-o-par-do un a-bri-go
	has/holds the leopard a coat
	V-3sg-Pr AD-m-sg N-m-sg AI-m-sg N-m
	tener

4	En su mon-te se-co y par-do
	in his/its mountain dry and brown
	Pp Aj-sg-Possessive N-m-sg Aj-m-sg Cj Aj-m-sg

5	Yo ten-go más que el le-o-pa-rdo
	I have more than the leopard
	Pn-1sg V-1sg-Pr Av Cj AD-m-sg N-m-sg
	tener

6	Por-que ten-go un buen a-mí-go
	Because [I]-have a good friend
	Cj V-1sg-Pr AI-m-sg Aj-m-sg N-m-sg
	tener

Chorus x 2

Fade Out : Guantanamera x 7 = Chorus

	OTHER TRADITIONAL VERSES
	Mi verso es de un verde claro
	Y de un carmín encendido:
	Mi verso es un ciervo herido
	Que busca en el monte amparo.

	Cultivo una rosa blanca
	En julio como en enero,
	Para el amigo sincero
	Que me da su mano franca.

	Y para el cruel que me arranca
	el corazón con que vivo
	cardo ni oruga cultivo
	cultivo la rosa blanca.

	Yo sé de un pesar profundo
	entre las penas sin nombre:
	la esclavitud de los hombres
	es la gran pena del mundo.

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NOTES on the SPANISH SONGS

I began this Project in February 2022. It was done at what might be called my Plague-Time Standing Desk Spot. When the First Lockdown began I decided I would write in a journal each day. This would be after breakfast with Law & Order SVU and before my shower and getting ready for the day in clean clothes and a clean room. Qucikly, I decided to write standing-up, at the stair-head. I kept the journal without fail for one year. After it ended, I decided it was still a good time to think, begin new ideas. There were other projects sketched in this 20 minutes slot..

I was too young, and a migrant without radio or tv, to have heard La Bamba in 1958. But when it was rerelased it, I too felt its power instantly : though, in 50 years, I never bothered to learn the Spanish words. So too with the second catchiest Spanish song Guantanamera. I must have first heard this fifty years ago, in 1972. I can't recall the singer. My Greek friend Stavros had in his bathroom, in Cambridge in 1998, a Spanish cartoon about the song: which of course I couldn't understand. I can recall a street singer in Barcelona in 2019. He was clearly a tourist-pleaser, and I was pleased to have heard it sung in Spain. Long after I'd stopped going to matches, it was a football chant. My brother told me of the variation "Two Andy Gorams, there's only two Andy Gorams" : about the poor player who'd been diagnosed with a mild form of schizophrenia. It later became a book-title of The Funniest Scottish Football Songs Ever!

I'd often sing the first word. But more often I would sing to myself, using the same tune, the words Swahili Wontanamera , and sometimes about a Russian painter, Wasilly Kindinsky, There's only one Wassily Kandinsky. I don't quite know why, as the syllables didn't quite fit!..

********************************

NOTES on the ITALIAN SONGS

La donna è mobile is a line almost everyone gets on first hearing, aswell as the infection from the tune. It is slightly less puzzling to English users than Dylan's reference to the American city of Mobile, inside of which he was stuck!. The first hearing might have been on the tv - for I had no opera records - in 1970. I do remember my brief rapture when I first saw the words written down in my Study Italian book in 1990. "I know what that means!". But even then I could not imagine reading Dante in the original. Hearing Pavarotti's version revealed to me for the first time, at aged 70!, the true meaning of the adjective operatic : a mixture of rapture and joyous showboating. It is worth keeping in mind that showboating by a centre-forward in football is considered insulting to the defenders.

The second song is the first Italian song that truly intrigued me : Chi Vuole Con Le Donne Aver Fortuna. In May 1972, the love of my life asked me to take her troubled middle-sister to the pictures. I had no idea what Death in Venice was about or why Dirk Bograde was in such a foreign film. This was the film which gave me my first joy in a lifelong joy in Fur Elise. I did read the novella and bought the record. I think I saw the film once more a dozen years later. Though I have not seen it in forty years, the feel of the film has always stayed with me. The Italian song is quite strident, and almost irritating the way some folk songs can be and - looking back - is there perhaps as a contrast to the use of Fur Elise. I don't think I even knew what the title meant until I bought the CD again in 2010. But still I didn't go past the first line. Every teenage het-male (and gay-girl) in the world wants, but will never admit that s/he wants, to know what the singer is promising to give. By now I had aged out of my preferrred demographic, so the knowledge was not for purpose, only anthropology. Of Casta Diva I have spoken above.

********************************

5: LA DONNA È MOBILE


La donna ~ è mobile	Woman-[kind] is unstable/fickle	essere / mobile (Aj)
Qual piuma ~ al vento,	What-a feather in-the wind	qual (Aj) / piuma (f) a + il vento
Muta ~ d' accento	[She] changes of [the/her] voice	mutare / accento (m)
E ~ di pensiero.	And of [the/her] mind	pensiero (m)

Sempre ~ un amabile	Always a sweet
Leggiadro ~ viso	Pretty face	viso (m)
In pianto ~ o in riso	In tears or in laughter	pianto (m) / riso (m)
È ~ menzognero.	[It/she] -is deceitful	essere

La donna ~ è mobile	Woman-[kind] is unstable/fickle	essere / mobile (Aj)
Qual piuma ~ al vento,	What-a feather in-the wind	qual (Aj) / piuma (f) a + il vento
Muta ~ d'accento	[She] changes of [the/her] voice	mutare / accento (m)
E ~ di pensier [o]	And of [the/her] mind	pensiero (m)
E di ~ pensier [o]	And of [the/her] mind	pensiero (m)
E di ~ pensier [o]	And of [the/her] mind	pensiero (m)

Sempre ~ misero	[He is ] always miserable	essere
Chi a lei ~ s'affida,	Who to her trusts-himself	affidare[si]
Chi ~ le confida	Who them confides-in	Pn-rel / Pn-pl / confidare
Mal cauto ~ il cuore!	Ill /badly cautious the heart	Av / Aj / cuore (m)

Pur mai ~ non sentesi	But never-not [he] calls/feels himself	Cj / Ng / Ng sentire[si]
Felice ~ appieno	Happy fully	Aj / Av
Chi ~ su quel seno ~	Who on/from that bosom	Pn-rel / Pp/Aj-dem / seno (m)
Non liba ~ amore!	Does not drink love	libare

La donna ~ è mobile	Woman-[kind] is unstable/fickle	essere / mobile (Aj)
Qual piuma ~ al vento,	What-a feather in-the wind	qual (Aj) / piuma (f) a + il vento
Muta ~ d'accento	[She] changes of [the/her] voice	mutare / accento (m)
E ~ di pensier [o]	And of [the/her] mind	pensiero (m)
E di ~ pensier [o]	And of [the/her] mind	pensiero (m)
E di ~ pensier [o]	And of [the/her] mind	pensiero (m)

6: Chi Vuole Con Le Donne Aver Fortuna

Chi vuole con le donne aver la fortuna	He/who wishes with the women to-have the fortune Pn-rel V-3sg-Pr Pp N-f V-Inf-Pr N-f-Abs volere donna avere
non deve mai mostrarsi innamorato.	not must (n)ever show-himself in-love V-3sg-Pr V-Inf-Pr Aj dovere mostrarsi innamorato.
Dica alla bionda che ama più la bruna,	tell to-the blonde that [he] loves more the brunette V-Ipv-Pr N-f-Abs Cj V-3sg-Pr Av N-f-Abs dire amare
dica alla bruna che dall'altra è amato,	tell to-the brunette that by the other [she] is loved V-Ipv-Pr N-f-Abs Cj Pp Aj/Pn-f Aux +Past-Ppl dire altro amare
se vuole con le donne aver fortuna.	If [he]-wishes with the women to-have [the] fortune Cd-rel V-3sg-Pr Pp N-f V-Inf-Pr N-f-Abs volere donna avere

Giochi di azzardo	Games of hazard = gambling N-m Pp Nm = Noun-Phrase gioco d' azzardo
senza ritardo,	without delay Pp N-m
con fatti e non parole	with deeds/facts and not speech/words Pp Nm N-f fatto parola
e poi vedrà come otterrà	and then [he] will see how [he] will get Cj Av V-3sg-F Av V-3sg-F vedere ottenere
tutto quello che vuole.	all that what [he]-wants Aj Aj Pn V-3sg-Pr volere

Quando l'amica mia volle andar via	When the friend my wanted to-go away Av N-f Aj-f V-3sg-Pt V-Inf-Pr Av amico mio volere andare
ebbi una stretta al cor ma non fiatai.	[I] had a squeeze to-the heart but [I] did not breathe V-1sg-Pt N-f N-m Cj V-1sg-Pt avere cuor[e] ma fiatare
Prese la roba sua, lasciò la mia	[He]-took the stuff his [he] left the my V-3g-Pt Nf Aj-f V-sg-Pt Aj prendere suo lasciare mio
come se non m'avesse amato mai:	As if [he] not me had + loved never Av Cd Pn-Dobj V-3sg-Pf Ppl-Pt Av me avere amare
così l'amica mia se n'andò via.	So the friend my went away Cj N-f Aj-f V-3sg-Pt Av mio se n' = ? andare[si]

Ma il mese appresso	But the month following Nm Av mese
ebbi un espresso	[I] had an espresso V-1sg-Pt avere
dalla mia bella ingrata:	from-the my beautiful ingrate Pp Aj-f Aj-f Aj<>Nf da mio bello ingrato
era pentita della sua vita	[she] was penitent of-the her life V-3sg-Imp Ppl-Pt/Ajf Pp Aj N-f essere pentire /pentito
e s'era avvelenata .	and [she ] was [self]-poisoned essere V-3sg-Imp avvelenare Ppl-Pt

Il cuore delle donne è una fortezza	The heart of the women is a fortress Nm Nf V-3sg-Pr N-f essere
che prender non si può senza assaltare.	that to-take not one can without to-attack. Cj V-Inf-Pr Pn V- 3sg-Pr Pp V-Inf prendere potere assaltare
Lotta con forza e cede per dolcezza	[He] fights with force and [he]-yields for sweetness V-3sg-Pr Pp N-f Cj V-3sg-Pr N-f lottare cedere
e, vinta, ne puoi far quel che ti pare.	and, won, [you] can to do that- what to-you seems Cj Ppl-Pt Pn V-2sg-Pr V-Inf Pn Pn Pn V2sgPr vincere potere fare parere
Il cuore delle donne è una fortezza.	The heart of the women is a fortress Nm Nf V-3sg-Pr N-f essere

Prima non cede ,	First not [she] cedes Av V-3sg-Pr cedere
dopo concede,	After [she] concedes Av V-3sg-Pr concedere
perché alla donna piace	Because to the woman [it]- pleases Cj Pp N-f V-3sg-Pr piacere
fare la guerra per la sua terra	to make the war for the her earth V-Inf-Pr N-f Pp Aj-f N-f fare suo


Passo sul ponte a sera e guardo il fiume	[I] pass on the bridge at evening & [I] look-at the river V-1sgPr N-m Pp N-f V-1sg-Pr N-m passare guardare
e vedo tutto il cielo rispecchiare.	& [I] see all the sky to reflect/mirror V-1sg-Pr Aj N-m V-Pr-Inf vedere rispecchiare
Vedo la luna in mezzo che fa lume,	[I] see the moon in middle that makes the light V-1sg-Pr N-f Pp- N/Aj-m Pn-rel V-3sg-Pr N-f vedere fare
vedo le mille stelle scintillare.	[I] see the thouand stars to sparkle V-1sg-Pr AjNum N-f V-Inf-Pr- vedere stella scintillare.
Come mi attira il letto di quel fiume!	How me [it] attracts the bed of that river Av Pn V-3sg-Pr Nm Nm attirare

Vorrei morire per non soffrire	[I] would-like to die for not to suffer V-1sg-Pr-Cd V-Inf V-Inf volere morire soffrire
ma il cuore si ribella.	but the heart it rebels Cj Nm V-3sg ribellare[si]
Dice perché	[It] says why V-3sg-Pr Intg dire
tante ce n'è,	many [women] there is [are] Aj-f V-3sg-Pr essere
la troverai più bella.	her/it [you] will find more beautiful Pn-f V-2sg-F Av Aj-f trovare bello

REPEAT VERSE ONE	As above

7: Casta Diva


Casta Diva, che inargenti		Chaste Goddess, that silvers
queste sacre antiche piante,		these sacred ancient plants
a noi volgi il bel sembiante		to us turn the beautiful face
senza nube e senza vel...		without cloud and without veil

Tempra, o Diva,		Temper, O Goddess
tempra tu de’ cori ardenti		temper you of [the] ardent choruses
tempra ancora lo zelo audace,		temper still the bold zeal
spargi in terra quella pace		spread in earth that peace
che regnar tu fai nel ciel…		that you make to reign in the sky

VERBS	NOUNS	PRONOUNS	ADJECTIVES	PREPS	OTHER	CONTS
6	10	3	8	4	5

inargenti 2sgPr inargentare silver	diva fsg goddess	che xxx that who/ that	casta fsgxxx -o chaste	a fsgxxx -o to	il ADmsg the/your	nel in + il in the
volgi 2sgPrIpv volgere turn	piante fpl -a plants	noi 1pl xxx us	queste fplxxx -o this	senza fplxxx -o without	lo AD-msg
tempra 2sgPrIpv temprare temper	sembiante msg aspect/face	tu 2sg you	sacre fplxxx -o sacred	de fplxxx -o of	O exc O
spargi 2sgPrIpv spargere spread	nube fsg cloud		antiche fplxxx -o ancient	in fplxxx -o in	ancora Av x still/againx
fai 2sgPr fare make/cause	vel msg velo veil		bel msg beautiful		e Cjxx - and
regnare Inf-Pr - reign	cori mpl -o choruses		ardenti mpl -e ardent /fiery
	zelo msg - zeal		audace msg - bold
	terra fsg - earth		quella fsgxxx -o that
	pace fsg - peace
	ciel msg - sky/heaven

********************************

8: A Hindi Song

Man Dole

मन डोले

मन डोले मेरा तन डोले

मेरे दिल का गया करार रे

ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया

मन डोले मेरा तन डोले

मेरे दिल का गया करार रे

ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया

मधुर मधुर सपनों में देखी मैने राह नवेली

छोड़ चली मैं लाज का पहरा जाने कहाँ अकेली

चली रे मैं जाने कहाँ अकेली

रस घोले धुन यूँ बोले

जैसे ठंडी पड़े फुहार रे

ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया

मन डोले मेरा तन डोले

मेरे दिल का गया करार रे

ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया

कदम कदम पर रंग सुनहरा ये किसने बिखराया

नागन का मन बस करने ये कौन सपेरा आया

कदम कदम पर रंग सुनहरा ये किसने बिखराया

नागन का मन बस करने ये कौन सपेरा आया

न जाने कौन सपेरा आया

पग डोले दिल यूँ बोले

तेरा होके रहा शिकार रे

ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया

मन डोले मेरा तन डोले

मेरे दिल का गया करार रे

ये कौन बजाये बांसुरियान

SONG IN ROMAN SCRIPT

Man dole, mera tan dole

Mere dil ka gaya karaar re

Ye kaun bajaaye baasuriyaan

Man dole, mera tan dole

Mere dil ka gaya karaar re

Ye kaun bajaaye baasuriyaan

Madhur madhur sapanon men dekhi maine raah naweli

Tod chali main laaj ka pahara jaane kahaan akeli

Chali main jaane kahaan akeli

Ras ghole, dhun yun bole,

Jaise thhndi pade puhaar re

Ye kaun bajaaye baasuriyaan

Man dole, mera tan dole

Mere dil ka gaya karaar re

Ye kaun bajaaye baasuriyaan

Kadam kadam par rng sunahara ye kis ne bikharaaya

Naagan ka man bas karane ye kaun sapera aya

Kadam kadam par rng sunahara ye kis ne bikharaaya

Naagan ka man bas karane ye kaun sapera aya

Ye kaun sapera aya

Pag dole, dil yun bole, tera ho ke raha shikaar re

Ye kaun bajaaye baasuriyaan

Man dole, mera tan dole

Mere dil ka gaya karaar re

Ye kaun bajaaye baasuriyaan

********************************

PRESENTING THE SONG

I have placed in a separate document the notes that I made as I tried to learn enoug Hindi to parse this song. Below I will present the song in my intelineal protocol : which records phonetics, grammar, dictionary, translations - literal and free and questions

Hindi script (from song)	मन डोले,
Hindi letters in Hindi script	म न डो ले,
Hindi letters in Roman Script unwritten vowel schwa [a] given as [/a] retroflex consonant with [<]	m/a n/a d</o l/e
Grammatical value of word	N-m-sg V-3sg-Pr
HINDI DICTIONARY form Noun &Adjective : masculine : Verb-Infinitive Present	डोल / ना
Literal translation of each word Word in square-brackets implied	[my] mind shakes
Free translation : T1	My mind shakes
Free translation variant T2	My soul sways
QUESTIONS

A PROJECT UPDATE

24 October 2022

I started this project in February 2022. It has been a strange year: but perhaps only typical.

"On being asked, even teased about the worth of philosophy, Isiah Berlin replied 'It might help one resist the fallacy of hasty generalisation' ". So began a lecture by my great tutor Dieter, in 1976, better remembered than the lecture: and lived as a rule of life forever after. This year I have had two of the best experiences of my life and two of the worst and many horrors still in abeyance. Professor Christopher Rowe ( a world authority on Plato) & Paul ( my second friend in Cambridge, met in 1986) validated my philosophical identity in a way I had so long dreamed. I won't sully this cherished song-project by naming those who have insulted me by their silence and withholding this year. It's been a difficult summer and Autumn but I have continued my Greek and snooker and thought of changing to guitar.

And I restarted this Song Project with what I always knew would be the most challenging song: both intellectually and emotionally. This song, Man Dole, I have gradually realised, might have been the true motive for the entire project. I think it is the first song that my consciousness registered as a mystery, at perhaps seven or eight. In a poor migrant's house in the slums there were no telecoms: tv, radio, record player. So I could have only heard the song at the cinema: but we had little money for even going to the rare showings in town. So I can't recall going : or even one scene from the film. But the song burned into my soul, with scarring too: for I, unlike my sister, had not been given the Indian language. Brando called his autobiography Songs My Mother Taught Me. My mother did not teach me this or any other such. But a song which one is caught by becomes one's own and an experience and memory of all purity. I never saw the film later: and though I did buy the CD which included it, that was for my parents. A few weeks after my mother's death, in 2004, I was alone in my father's house. I put this track on, and was soon sobbing in grief for the first and only time. "Oh Mother" I said. The wrong language - neither hers nor the song's. I did not play it again until this Autumn. Last week I felt again the mixture of rapture and distress in the song.

I have now completed the first part of my plan for this song : a first draft of it in my protocol. I began the book "Teach Yourself Hindi" and can decipher the Hindi script! Marx and Benjamin are proven true once again: a mystery dissolves: I can read and follow the Hindi. There is also Brecht's counsel "Learn the ABC. It's not much but learn it" . Here's a happier maternal memory from the 1990s. My mother climbed the two flights to my old bedroom, where I was staying during my visit. (Twenty years earlier, driven mad by my anguish at untransmitted and forbidden languages, I had attempted suicide there.) "I bought this book" I said excitedly "with the money you and dad gave me for my birthday. It is some poems by a German writer." She smiled another blessing. We both knew there was nothing else possible that could be spoken: but we were both deeply glad of this much.

My biological memory has been fragmenting since 2013 : but I got to Rowe's compliment. And in 45 days I have dissolved a mystery that had kept me trapped, but not bewildered, for 60 years. My methodology was anchored in this song and my interlinear protocol : not in a formal teaching method. About thirty days in, I recall a sense of Brechtian horror at the inertia of most migrants, anywhere in the world. All those poor women experiencing decades of self-abnegation - born of language mystery - in a foreign land. It was then that I realised for the first time the real reason I have never returned to India.Though it is true that my disgust at the caste system is unquenchable and would suffice, it was mostly the imagined horror of arriving in Dehli and seeing the baffling Hindi script and feeling a sense of shame and rage at becoming my muted sightless mother in a foreign land. Of course it's ridiculous to ask adults of any culture in history "Why don't you make a tiny effort ?" It's their revenge and masochism. I also wish to honour my Chemistry teacher's Brechtian counsel from 1970: "Ten minutes a day during the holidays." Yes, I scorned it then: but it came back as good counsel will: and became my personality for decades.

I have made the most rudmentary beginning. I will now read a proper grammar properly.

And then perhaps write to an Hindi interlocutor. Before Christmas, I hope.

USING MAPS AS MY IDEAS AS MY MAPS

This map shows the land, and precise province, of my ancestors.

It is also inscribed with the four main languages, and scripts of the region.

I learned them in this order: English, Punjabi, Urdu, Hindi.

My mother told me me that she named me to salve the broken soul of a wandering stranger.

Almost seventy years later, how amazing to see my name on this map,

to reflect on nominative determinism, my solitary death, like his,

but feel rapture that I can read it in English & Indian.

Kullu.

********************************

THE SONG IN PROTOCOL FORM

CHORUS

	मन डोले , मेरा तन डोले
	म न डो ले मे रा त न डो ले
	m/a n/a d</o l/e m/e r/aa t/a n/a d</o l/e
Gram	N-m-sg Ppl-Pfv-m-pl = V-3sg-Pr Aj-m-sg N-m-sg Ppl-Pfv-m-pl = V-3sg-Pr
Dict	डोल+ना डोल / ना
T-Lit	[my] mind shaked/swayed my body shakes
T1	My mind shakes , my body shakes
T2	My soul sways, my body sways
Q	Construction Ppl-Pfv + N + Aux/be = Possv Aj + N + V-3sg-Pr
	Shaked mind is = My mind shakes

	मेरे दिल का * गया * करार रे
	मे रे दि ल का ग या क रा र रे
	m/e r/e d/i l/a k/aa g/a y/aa k/a r/aa r/a r/e
Gram	Aj-ps-m-sg-acc N-sg-m Pp Ppl-Pt-sg N-m-sg Pc
Dict	मेरा जा ना When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	( my heart of ) gone ( agreement/peace ) ha!
T1	My heart's peace has gone
T2	My heart has lost its peace really
Q	Is रे a particle OR an elision : र + hey auxilliary verb

	ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया
	ये कौ न ब जा ये बां सु रि या
	y/e k/ou n/a b/a j/aa y/e b/aa n s/u r/i y/aa
Gram	Pc/Aj-dem Pn-Intg V-Pr-3sg N-f-pl
Dict	बजा ना बाँसुरी > बांसुरियां When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	this who plays [the] - flute
T1	Who plays the flute?
T2	Who is this playing the flute?
Q	Is nasalation option in b-aan~s-u~r-i~yan
Q	why not किसने as GS to Vb Pfv + Dobj

REPEAT CHORUS

	मन डोले , मेरा तन डोले
	म न डो ले मे रा त न डो ले
	m/a n/a d</o l/e m/e r/aa t/a n/a d</o l/e
Gram	N-m-sg Ppl-Pfv-m-pl = V-3sg-Pr Aj-m-sg N-m-sg Ppl-Pfv-m-pl = V-3sg-Pr
Dict	डोल+ना डोल / ना
T-Lit	[my] mind shaked/swayed my body shakes
T1	My mind shakes , my body shakes
T2	My soul sways, my body sways
Q	Construction Ppl-Pfv + N + Aux/be = Possv Aj + N + V-3sg-Pr
	Shaked mind is = My mind shakes

	मेरे दिल का * गया * करार रे
	मे रे दि ल का ग या क रा र रे
	m/e r/e d/i l/a k/aa g/a y/aa k/a r/aa r/a r/e
Gram	Aj-ps-m-sg-acc N-sg-m Pp Ppl-Pt-sg N-m-sg Pc
Dict	मेरा जा ना When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	( my heart of ) gone ( agreement/peace ) ha!
T1	My heart's peace has gone
T2	My heart has lost its peace really
Q	Is रे a particle OR an elision : र + hey auxilliary verb

	ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया
	ये कौ न ब जा ये बां सु रि या
	y/e k/ou n/a b/a j/aa y/e b/aa n s/u r/i y/aa
Gram	Pc/Aj-dem Pn-Intg V-Pr-3sg N-f-pl
Dict	बजा ना बाँसुरी > बांसुरियां When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	this who plays [the] - flute
T1	Who plays the flute?
T2	Who is this playing the flute?
Q	Is nasalation option in b-aan~s-u~r-i~yan
Q	why not किसने as GS to Vb Pfv + Dobj

VERSE 1a

	मधुर मधुर सपनों में * देखी मैने * राह नवेली
	म धु र म धु र स प नों में दे खी मै ने राह न वे ली
	m/a dh/u r/a m/a dh/u r/a s/a p/a n/au n m/e n d-e~kh-i m/ae n/e r/aa h/a n/a v/e l/i
Gram	Aj Aj N-m-pl-oblq Pp V-Pt-1sg Pn-1sg-obq N-f Aj-f
Dict	सपना देख +ना नवेला
T-Lit	sweet sweet dreams in saw I path/way new
T1
T2	In my sweet dreams I saw a unique path
Q	Hist Present ? trans

REPEAT LINE -1

	मधुर मधुर सपनों में * देखी मैने * राह नवेली
	म धु र म धु र स प नों में दे खी मै ने राह न वे ली
	m/a dh/u r/a m/a dh/u r/a s/a p/a n/au n m/e n d-e~kh-i m/ae n/e r/aa h/a n/a v/e l/i
Gram	Aj Aj N-m-pl-oblq Pp V-Pt-1sg Pn-1sg-obq N-f Aj-f
Dict	सपना देख +ना नवेला
T-Lit	sweet sweet dreams in saw I path/way new
T1
T2	In my sweet dreams I saw a unique path
Q	Hist Present ?

	छोड़ चली मैं * लाज का पहरा * जाने कहाँ अकेली
	छो ड़ च ली मैं ला ज का प ह रा जा ने क हाँ अ के ली
	Chh/o d</a ch/a l/i m/ae n l/aa j/a k/aa p/a h/a r/aa j/aa n/e k/a h/aa n a/ k/e l/i
Gram	V-stem Ppl-Pf-sg-f Pn-1sg N-f Pp N-m V/gerund Av Aj
Dict	छोड़+ना = let-go/leave जा+ना अकेला छोड़ +चल+ना = go away
T-Lit	leave go I shame of guard go/going for where alone
T1	I broke the guard of shame where I am alone
T2
Q	Is V-stem + ने a gerund-oblique = V-ing for

	चली रे * मैं जाने * कहाँ अकेली
	च ली रे मैं जा ने क हाँ अ के ली
	ch/a l/i r/e m/ae n j/aa n/e k/a h/aa n a/ k/e l/i
Gram	Ppl-Pfv-sg-f Pc Pn-1sg V/gerund Av Aj-f
Dict	जा+ना अकेला
T-Lit	go really I know/knowing-for where alone
T-1	Not knowing where I am going alone
T-2
Q

VERSE 1b

	रस घोले , धून यूँ बोले ,
	र स घो ले धू न यूँ बो ले
	r/a s/a gh/o l/e dh/oo n/a y/oo n b/o l/e
Gram	Nm-sg/pl Ppl-Pfv-m-pl N-m-sg/pl Av Ppl-Pfv-m-pl
Dict	घोल +ना बोल+ना
T-Lit	juice[s] mixed tune/zest thus/just-so spoke
T-1	The tune is so euphoric as if
T-2
Q

	जैसे ठंडी पड़े फुहार रे
	जै से ठं डी प ड़े फु हा र रे
	j/ae s/e th</a n d</ee p/a d/r</e ph/u h/aa r/a r/e
Gram	Cj Aj Ppl-Pfv-m-pl N-f-sg Exc
Dict	ठंडा
T-Lit	just cold felled/ laid-down drizzle /wind really
T-1	Spring season is there with cool wind
T-2
Q	Agreement of Ppl and N

	ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया
	ये कौ न ब जा ये बां सु रि या
	y/e k/ou n/a b/a j/aa y/e b/aa n s/u r/i y/aa
Gram	Pc/Aj-dem Pn-Intg V-Pr-3sg N-f-pl
Dict	बजा ना बाँसुरी > बांसुरियां When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	this who plays [the] - flute
T1	Who plays the flute?
T2	Who is this playing the flute?
Q	Is nasalation option in b-aan~s-u~r-i~yan
Q	why not किसने as GS to Vb Pfv + Dobj

REPEAT CHORUS

	मन डोले , मेरा तन डोले
	म न डो ले मे रा त न डो ले
	m/a n/a d</o l/e m/e r/aa t/a n/a d</o l/e
Gram	N-m-sg Ppl-Pfv-m-pl = V-3sg-Pr Aj-m-sg N-m-sg Ppl-Pfv-m-pl = V-3sg-Pr
Dict	डोल+ना डोल / ना
T-Lit	[my] mind shaked/swayed my body shakes
T1	My mind shakes , my body shakes
T2	My soul sways, my body sways
Q	Construction Ppl-Pfv + N + Aux/be = Possv Aj + N + V-3sg-Pr
	Shaked mind is = My mind shakes

	मेरे दिल का * गया * करार रे
	मे रे दि ल का ग या क रा र रे
	m/e r/e d/i l/a k/aa g/a y/aa k/a r/aa r/a r/e
Gram	Aj-ps-m-sg-acc N-sg-m Pp Ppl-Pt-sg N-m-sg Pc
Dict	मेरा जा ना When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	( my heart of ) gone ( agreement/peace ) ha!
T1	My heart's peace has gone
T2	My heart has lost its peace really
Q	Is रे a particle OR an elision : र + hey auxilliary verb

	ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया
	ये कौ न ब जा ये बां सु रि या
	y/e k/ou n/a b/a j/aa y/e b/aa n s/u r/i y/aa
Gram	Pc/Aj-dem Pn-Intg V-Pr-3sg N-f-pl
Dict	बजा ना बाँसुरी > बांसुरियां When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	this who plays [the] - flute
T1	Who plays the flute?
T2	Who is this playing the flute?
Q	Is nasalation option in b-aan~s-u~r-i~yan
Q	why not किसने as GS to Vb Pfv + Dobj

VERSE 2a

	कदम कदम पर रंग सुनहरा ये किसने बिखराया
	क द म क द म प र रं ग सु न ह रा ये कि स ने बि ख रा या
	k/a d/a m/a k/a d/a m/a p/a r/a r/a n g/a s/u n/a h/a r/aa this k/i s/a n/e b/i kh/a r/aa y/aa
Gram	Nm Nm Pp Nm Aj-m Aj Pn-Intg-obq V-3sg-m-Pfv
Dict	बिखर+ना
T-Lit	step step on/at colour golden who radiated
T1	Who has spilled the golden colour at every step
T2
Q

	नागन का मन * बस करने ये * कौन सपेरा आया
	ना ग न का म न बस क र ने ये कौ न स पे रा आ या
	n/aa g/a n/a k/aa m/a n/a b/a s/e k/a r/a n/e y/e k/au n/a s/a p/e r/aa aa y/aa
Gram	Name Pp Nm V-stem V/gerund Aj Ajv-Intg N V-3sg-Pfv
Dict	बस+ना कर+ना आ+ना settling for
T-Lit	Nagan of mind settle do this which snake-charmer came
T1	Which snake charmer came to settle Nagan's mind?
T2	Who has come to tantalize my heart who know
Q

REPEAT LINES 1 & 2

	कदम कदम पर रंग सुनहरा ये किसने बिखराया
	क द म क द म प र रं ग सु न ह रा ये कि स ने बि ख रा या
	k/a d/a m/a k/a d/a m/a p/a r/a r/a n g/a s/u n/a h/a r/aa this k/i s/a n/e b/i kh/a r/aa y/aa
Gram	Nm Nm Pp Nm Aj-m Aj Pn-Intg-obq V-3sg-m-Pfv
Dict	बिखर+ना
T-Lit	step step on/at colour golden who radiated
T1	Who has spilled the golden colour at every step
T2
Q

	नागन का मन * बस करने ये * कौन सपेरा आया
	ना ग न का म न बस क र ने ये कौ न स पे रा आ या
	n/aa g/a n/a k/aa m/a n/a b/a s/e k/a r/a n/e y/e k/au n/a s/a p/e r/aa aa y/aa
Gram	Name Pp Nm V-stem V/gerund Aj Ajv-Intg N V-3sg-Pfv
Dict	बस+ना कर+ना आ+ना settling for
T-Lit	Nagan of mind settle do this which snake-charmer came
T1	Which snake charmer came to settle Nagan's mind?
T2	Who has come to tantalize my heart who know
Q

	ना जाने कौन सपेरा आया
	ना जा ने कौ न स पे रा आ या
	n/aa j/aa n/e k/au n/a s/a p/e r/aa aa y/aa
Gram	Ng V/gerund Ajv-Intg N-m V-3sg-Pf
Dict	जान ना आ+ना
T-Lit	not know/knowing which snake-charmer came
T1	I don't know who came
T2	I don't know who this snake charmer is
Q

VERSE 2b

	पग डोले , दिल यूँ बोले ,
	प ग डो ले दि ल यूँ बो ले
	p/a g/a d</o l/e d/i l/a y/oo n b/o l/e
Gram	Nm-sg/pl Ppl-Pfv-m-pl Nm Av Ppl-Pfv-m-pl
Dict	डोल+ना बोल+ना
T-Lit	feet swayed heart thus spoke
T1	My feet are swinging so is my mind saying
T2
Q

	तेरा होके रहा शिकार रे
	ते रा हो के र हा शि का र रे
	t/e r/aa h/o k/e r/a h/aa sh/i k/aa r/a r/e
Gram	Aj-m-sg V-stem -obq Ppl-Pfv-m-sg N-m Pc
Dict	हो+ना रह+ना
T-Lit	your being? stayed prey ha
T1	My heart says it wants to be your prey and live
T2
Q

	ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया
	ये कौ न ब जा ये बां सु रि या
	y/e k/ou n/a b/a j/aa y/e b/aa n s/u r/i y/aa
Gram	Pc/Aj-dem Pn-Intg V-Pr-3sg N-f-pl
Dict	बजा ना बाँसुरी > बांसुरियां When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	this who plays [the] - flute
T1	Who plays the flute?
T2	Who is this playing the flute?
Q	Is nasalation option in b-aan~s-u~r-i~yan
Q	why not किसने as GS to Vb Pfv + Dobj

REPEAT CHORUS

	मन डोले , मेरा तन डोले
	म न डो ले मे रा त न डो ले
	m/a n/a d</o l/e m/e r/aa t/a n/a d</o l/e
Gram	N-m-sg Ppl-Pfv-m-pl = V-3sg-Pr Aj-m-sg N-m-sg Ppl-Pfv-m-pl = V-3sg-Pr
Dict	डोल+ना डोल / ना
T-Lit	[my] mind shaked/swayed my body shakes
T1	My mind shakes , my body shakes
T2	My soul sways, my body sways
Q	Construction Ppl-Pfv + N + Aux/be = Possv Aj + N + V-3sg-Pr
	Shaked mind is = My mind shakes

	मेरे दिल का * गया * करार रे
	मे रे दि ल का ग या क रा र रे
	m/e r/e d/i l/a k/aa g/a y/aa k/a r/aa r/a r/e
Gram	Aj-ps-m-sg-acc N-sg-m Pp Ppl-Pt-sg N-m-sg Pc
Dict	मेरा जा ना When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	( my heart of ) gone ( agreement/peace ) ha!
T1	My heart's peace has gone
T2	My heart has lost its peace really
Q	Is रे a particle OR an elision : र + hey auxilliary verb

	ये कौन बजाये बांसुरिया
	ये कौ न ब जा ये बां सु रि या
	y/e k/ou n/a b/a j/aa y/e b/aa n s/u r/i y/aa
Gram	Pc/Aj-dem Pn-Intg V-Pr-3sg N-f-pl
Dict	बजा ना बाँसुरी > बांसुरियां When V-Stem ends in Vowel add य before Ppl-msg
T-Lit	this who plays [the] - flute
T1	Who plays the flute?
T2	Who is this playing the flute?
Q	Is nasalation option in b-aan~s-u~r-i~yan
Q	why not किसने as GS to Vb Pfv + Dobj

********************************

SOME NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

I expect the sane Reader to have skimmed a lot of the information about languages he/she does not know. I would have too. I include it only to reassure and encourage him/her that whatever the unknown-language of the song going round and round in his/her mind, it doesn't take much effort to make a beginning at understanding it properly and attaining rapture. Most non-Chinese people imagine Chinese to be as impossible to learn as ancient hieroglyphics. As it happens, no Sino Songs swirl in my mind: but if they did, I no longer feel I couldn't try to know them better. As I say above, perhaps there is no better way to learn a language than by beginning with some songs. After all that's what we all - Frère Jacques et al - did as babies!

********************************

FINAL CHORUSES ON THE PROJECT

FIRST : 28 December 2022

Yesterday afternoon, I edited this 'essay' : removing to a separate document the notes on grammar that I had made as I tried to learn enough Hindi for the song Man Dole. Then, in the evening,

I watched the film Nagin, in which the song appears. As I say above, I can't recall seeing it at the cinema. In fact I could not remember a single image, but I did imagine it would have the same template and cliches of Bollywood. (Of course, Hollywood has its own wearying excess of cliches). So I was gradually surprised and then overwhelmed by its originality, tears of admiration aswell as tears of emotion. It seemed close to Peter Brook's great King Lear in its surely deliberate use of poor production values, more stagey than filmic, to emphasise the story, and here also the use of music. Even a trainee psychoanalyst would note the strangely unconscious and, even more strangely, cross-gendered use of the symbols of the snake and the kite. The basic line of music from Man Dole snakes through the whole film - like the zither in The Third Man. The lyrics are the meaning of the film. It was deeply satisfying to know that I had finally learned the words in both sung and written Hindi. I will consider in the New Year whether or not to read more on the film and to make contact with a Hindi film scholar.

I was most surprised by a sense of recalling one other song: though less resonant in the memory of sixty years, it was still not entirely forgotten : though right now I can't give its title! I rarely watch musicals, in any language, but I do revere Porter's and Sondheim's rhyme & wit. I recall a remark in the great documentary on Fiddler on the Roof. "A song like L' Chaim is heard once and never forgotten." . This has been the guiding emotion of this project. Interestingly, Dylan, in his new masterpiece of writing "The Philosophy of Modern Song", also valorises the experience of being enraptured by songs in languages that one does not know. The Project has been a great pleasure in a difficult year. Next year, I will finally read an intriguingly titled book that I chanced upon last summer, "The World in Six Songs".

********************************

FINAL CHORUSES ON THE PROJECT

SECOND : 28 April 2023

In 2013, my hospital consultant told me that by 2018 my lungs would be irrversibly damaged. But five years later, I was no worse than before. Yet, from the latter date I would sometimes reflect that I shouldn't push my luck: and probably would not need to renew my passport, set to expire in 2023. So it was exhilarating to visit Parker's Piece on New Years Day 2023 and to renew my passport. I felt I should show gratitude of this extra-extra-time by going through the Teach Yourself Hindi book and CD properly : and by reading Rachel Dwyer's two books on Hindi cinema. All three books are excellent and enjoyable : but, alas for me, they do not mention Man Dole!