Singalong

In a recent post I told you I met my ‘Mug Gang’ at Larissa and H-D’s nice house in the country north of Berlin. After eating, drinking and being merry, we ended the evening sitting around a campfire. Larissa and H-D led the singing.

I really like this for they mostly sing old German folks songs. The one I always want repeated is, ‘(Dr)unten in der grünen Au. You have to sing it with great gusto and it always makes me smile.

This time our guests said I had to learn it so at the next campfire session I will have to sing it out nice and loud! I found a version on the internet so my homework is to learn all nine verses!  I also read a history of the song.

I read that it is first recorded in 1580 in an area called Bavaria in the south of Germany. There were many changes over the years and I even saw a version in a southern dialect with 15 verses. The one I printed was from a collection called ‘Popular Folk Songs in the DDR’.

Here is the final verse so you can learn it and the next time we meet around a campfire you can also singalong! I’ll learn them all and you just learn this. If you do then you can have a beer! It’s all part of the fun.

9. Strophe:
Was liegt in dem Bett? Ein wunderschönes Kind!   Kind im Bett, Bett aus den Federn, Federn am Vogel, Vogel im Ei, Ei im Nest, Nest auf’m Zweig, Zweig am Ast, Ast am Baum, Baum in der Au. Drunten in der grünen Au, steht ein Birnbaum, schau, schau, juche! Drunten in der grünen Au, steht ein Birnbaum, schau, shau.