Family Songs

At our family gatherings (as Debra, Ann, Terry and the other good folks of the towns of Lafayette and Walnut Creek will testify), a house party is not complete until...

Guitars come out, hands start clapping and a very predictable collection of songs is sung.

How predictable?

Well, let's just say if you don't hear someone break out into these songs during the course of events, something's not right ...

You could be in the wrong house (and you should check your Google or Yahoo calendar, to be sure). Or impostors might have hijacked the house (so you should also check for UFOs in the vicinity).

That's how entrenched these songs are.

Because our family gatherings aren't complete until these predictable songs are sung...

...and we want you to feel at home when your lot is thrown in with our lot...

Here is The Definitive Guide to The Songs of Lobo Nagar.  

It will come in handy at Thanksgiving, Christmas, or on one of our many birthdays...

And for those of you who have been making valiant attempts at winging it so far (such as Ann of the Welcome to My Mind Gallery of Art, for instance), you won't have to anymore. Yeah!!!

So here we go...

The Definitive Guide to The Songs of Lobo Nagar

1. This Land is Your Land, This Land is My Land

This is typically performed on the guitar by the CSO of Samosapedia and Vina Madre cellars chief El Fernandoz, accompanied by his trusty accomplice Sancho Panchez Davuksha on a second guitar.

A famous Woody Guthrie song, it needs no introduction, but here are the lyrics of the first verse along with a link to the song on You Tube:

This land is your land, this land is my land

From California to the New York Island

From the Redwood Forest to the Gulf Stream waters

This land was made for you and me.

Disclaimer:  The communist overtones of this song were not known at the time of incorporating it into our repertoire - so please do not think us unpatriotic when we sing it.

           2. My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean

This was Grandpa Lobo’s favorite song and is therefore loaded with sentimental value. From Wikipedia and other online sources, I learned it is a Scottish folk song and Bonnie refers to Bonnie Prince Charles (hmm).

Here’s a link to the song on You Tube and the first verse and refrain:

My Bonnie lies over the ocean
My Bonnie lies over the sea
My Bonnie lies over the ocean
Oh bring back my Bonnie to me

REFRAIN:
Bring back, bring back
Bring back my Bonnie to me, to me
Bring back, bring back
Bring back my Bonnie to me
 

3. Oh When the Saints Go Marching In

This gospel song turned jazz song was made popular by Louis Armstrong and the New Orleans Saints. It is referred to as The Monster by Dixieland bands (who apparently dread being asked to perform it so much, they charge you for requesting it, according to the Wikipedia entry on it).

As far as we’re concerned, however, (and Mother Superior will bear this out), we carried this song over the Atlantic Ocean with us when we emigrated to the U.S. and have been singing it from our cradle days.

Here are the opening lines followed by a link to a Louis Armstrong rendition of it:

Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, when the saints go marching in
Oh, how I want to be in that number
When the saints go marching in

And here's Louis Armstrong performing Oh When the Saints Go Marching In.

4. Bara Soron

This is a Konkani folk song (Konkani is one of many Indian languages, and a language our family is supposed to know, but doesn’t, ulp!). Bara Soron is such a rare song, it is difficult to find the lyrics or the tune of this song online.  So consider it real precious to hear a Lobo or Fernandez sing it.

However, on no account should you ask Ro or Mo for a translation of it, because with their propensity for risque humor, coupled with the fact that none of us really has a clue to the meaning of the song, you could get taken for a royal verbal ride by Ro and Mo by asking them any questions about it.

The first line of Bara Solon goes like this (I can see some of you sweating bullets with the pronunciation - don't worry - that's par for the course):

Bara soron thera lagli ge mai
Kazar kar ge maka

5.Hava Nagila

Our brother David’s signature song.  I am not sure who taught us this song, but we have been singing this song since our teens and it goes way back to when we learned to play guitar from our dear friend Janet. 

I was curious about how we picked up on this song and asked David.  David thinks Roger Dickson (cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth while doing so) taught us this song.  I will take his word for it; the image of Roger Dickson strumming a guitar with a cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth is a classic childhood image for me and worth preserving in print.

Per Wikipedia, the song is Ukranian in origin. Over here, most people are familiar with it because it is sung at almost all Jewish weddings and Bar Mitzvahs.  It is a popular song and has been sung by many artists, including (and this is for my friend Krysia) the popular Polish artist Justyna Steczkowska.

Also per Wikipedia, Harry Belafonte claims to have introduced the song to America; so perhaps the song was on a Harry Belafonte LP and Roger Dickson picked it up from Harry Belafonte and taught it to us. Here's a link to the Harry Belafonte version.

In any case, when you read the translation of the lyrics (given below), you’ll agree there couldn’t be a more perfect signature song for David – because if you know David, like we know David, he is the ultimate spreader of goodwill and good cheer bar none:

                                       
                                           Hava  Nagila (translation)

Let's rejoice

Let's rejoice and be happy  

Let's sing

Let's sing and be happy  

Chorus:

Awake, awake, brothers!

Awake brothers with a happy heart  

Awake, brothers, awake, brothers!

With a happy heart

6. You are my Sunshine

You may know this song as one of the state songs of Louisiana which was written by Jimmie Davis and Charles Mitchell.

Again it is a perennial family favorite dating back to our childhood, and many are the family voices that have piped in to sing it through the years (including a large number of matriarchal and patriarchal relatives). Here are the opening lyrics:

You Are My Sunshine
My only sunshine.
You make me happy
When skies are grey.
You'll never know, dear,
How much I love you.
Please don't take my sunshine away

7. Easter Bonnet (Grandma Lobo’s favorite song) and 8. She’ll Be Coming Round the Mountain When She Comes round out the songs in this edition of The Definitive Guide to The Songs of Lobo Nagar.

Next : The Definitive Guide To Ro and Mo’s Humor.

P.S:  Hope you enjoyed reading this post about the Songs of Lobo Nagar as much as I enjoyed writing it.

P.S.2 :  Vinitha, that guilt you’ve been carrying about losing my songbook...you can let it go.  Thanks to the internet, I am able to find the lyrics and music to every song that’s ever been written. Except Bara Soron!

P.S. 3:  Curious about Samosapedia?  Here's a link to it.  El Fernandoz was recently appointed CSO - Chief Samosapedia Officer, the equivalent of being knighted in Samosapedia land; this is no mean feat - only an extremely high 'porkiness' quotient can qualify you for this.