Babel

Tag: Language

  • The Importance of Being … Unaware People Understand What I Talk (In a Foreign Language)

    Illustration depicting thought.
    Image via Wikipedia

    With such a long and complicated (but cutely suggestive, right) title, you may wonder what I am on about right now. Well, I came up with the idea a couple of days ago when I was standing in a Costa drinking a green at 6 p.m. (don’t judge me!) and I was absorbed in writing something very sad and serious and, out of nowhere, I hear people talking in Romanian. Now this is not uncommon in London, especially in the area I live in, but when I do it’s often from all the wrong people (the ones I wouldn’t be too happy to go and say “Oh, you’re Romanian, too? Let’s talk about our culture and share our experiences of being Romanians in a quite hostile land – against us, I mean:  I won’t get too much into it, but, what I can say, it’s no picnic being Romanian or Bulgarian in Europe at the moment).

    Well, for a moment I was completely distracted and I got agitated for a (short) while. I knew I shouldn’t eavesdrop on a conversation that was more likely private (even more so when thinking nobody around understood them), but for a second there I just rejoiced hearing my mother tongue being spoken by normal and educated people in a Costa, in London. Yesterday had another not-so-similar experience. This time when I arrived home I was struck by the lack of education two strange men (that is that looked like thugs in leather jackets) that went in the hall right before me, but didn’t bother to hold the door for me. (more…)

  • Mo Ghruagach Dhonn – Julie Fowlis

    Mo Ghruagach Dhonn sung by Julie Fowlis

    Lovely, clear and sweet, Julie’s voice is just beautiful. I enjoy listening to her sing this ancient Gaelic love song about a man’s search.

    Julie says of the song,

    “This is a North Uist love song which I heard for the first time in the house of Kate-Ann MacLellan in Hùna, North Uist (Scotland).”

    Julie Fowlis, Song: Mo Ghruagach Dhonn , Album: Cuilidh  (2007), Label: SPIT & POLISH  Official website: www.juliefowlis.com

    Mo Ghruagach Dhonn (My Brown-haired Lass) Gaelic lyrics in English:

    Hi ho ro, my brown-haired lass,
    whose beauty becomes more beguiling.
    The deep love I have for you
    has left me sorely wounded.

    Your letter arrived on Tuesday
    Telling of what was to be.
    It told that your ship would arrive
    in Glasgow without delay.
    When I read this,
    I immediately headed for the Broomielaw.
    I saw the ship carrying the jewel,
    the maiden, approach.

    When I held out my hand
    you turned  with a slight smile and
    uttered a couple of words
    which left me sleepless many nights

    You have the loveliest hair,
    neither black, nor red nor fair,
    but the colour of the most beautiful gold,
    yellow, braided and curled. 

    I would write for you with a pen.
    I would cultivate  for you with a plough.
    I would captain a ship for you,
    brown haired lass of the deceiving eyes.

    You are skilled at working wool
    and at writing on blank paper.
    But if you have gone overseas, to Australia,
    goodbye to you.

    I will no longer be in despair.
    I’ll grab a new one by the hand.
    Solomon, the wisest man who lived,
    had many sweethearts

    Julie Fowlis born 1979 in North Uist, an island in the Outer Hebrides Scotland is a folk singer instrumentalist who sings primarily in Gaelic. She won the Horizon award at the 2006 BBC Radio 2 Folk Awards and Folk Singer of The Year at the 2008 awards.

    ~Bonnee Klein Gilligan

  • Regresa a mi – Il Divo

    ‘Regresa a mi’ sung by Il Divo

    A beautiful, sad, moving love song, passionately sung by Il Divo.  Longing for love lost. The line, ‘My life turns off without you by my side’ touches me. We often merge our lives so completely with another that when other is gone we turn off or shut down. Sometimes it takes years to come alive again… to become some semblance of what we were before the relationship… forever changed, altered. We may review… as a result grow and become more through love. Life is meant to be poignant… Love is always a Divine gift.

    A dear friend once said to me, ‘I would rather be without love than to accept something ordinary.’  I believe, Love is never ordinary when it comes, treasure it in all its’ forms.  No one… nothing is ordinary, nor is anyone or anything special. Everything is sacred and Divine… everyone Perfect as they are… nothing better, nor worse.. just is. Accept what is given and be filled with joy… a choice. The dance of life and love is full of experiences and choices… a smorgasbord of sensations and feelings. Flow with life… appreciate, accept what is and be grateful for breath. We are given what we need in every moment… relationships, family, friends or sacred time to ourselves… discerning what enhances. Searching leads to more searching, an endless quest… a good game like every undertaking. Fun. Play well. What seems mystical to one is simply life unfolding for another. Everything is a blessing from God… life, love, body, home, family, friends, animals, food, nature, breath… everything! Thank you, thank you, thank you for Love, beloved Creator! 

    Il Divo, Song: Regresa a Mi, Album: Il Divo – Il Divo (2004), Label: Sony BMG, Music video: 2006 Sony BMG Music Entertainment. Sony BMG Music UK (c) 2004 Simco Limited exclusively licensed to Sony BMG Music Entertainment (UK) Limited. Official website: www.ildivo.com

    Regresa a mi (Return to me) lyrics (Spanish) in English (translated by elmarto-ga):

    Don’t leave me like this
    Speaking only of you
    Come and give the smile that went away back to me
    One more time to touch your skin and deep to sigh
    Let’s recover what has been lost
    Return to me

    Love me once again
    Erase the grief I experienced when you left
    when you parted from me
    Tell me yes
    I don’t want to cry
    Return to me

    I miss the love that went away
    I miss the happiness as well
    I want you to come to me and love me again
    I can’t go on if you’re not here; you have to arrive
    My life turns off without you by my side
    Return to me, Return to me

    Il Divo (Italian for ‘star or or celebrity’) was created by music manager Simon Cowell. They are a multinational operatic pop vocal group. Members of Il Divo are singers: Carlos Marín (born October 13, 1968 in Rüsselsheim, Germany, raised in Madrid, Spain), Urs Bühler (born July 19, 1971 in Willisau, Lucerne, Switzerland), David Miller (born April 14, 1973 in San Diego, California but grew up in Littleton, Colorado), and Sébastien Izambard (born March 7, 1973 in Paris, France). They sing in English, Italian, Spanish, French and Latin. Il Divo was named the Most Multinational UK No.1 Album Group in the 2006 edition of the Guinness Book of World Records.

    ~Bonnee Klein Gilligan