Clannad – “Crói Cróga” (Brave Heart).

   Hey guys! 🙂 

 

For today I have a song by Clannad for you, which you may know even if you’re not a big Clannad fan because it is the theme song of the movie Braveheart. Below is the translation of the Irish lyrics that I found here. 

 

Brave Heart

Brave Heart

Brave Heart

Brave Heart

Brave Heart

The King Of Scotland Died Alas

Without A Son In This Life

A Man Came From The South

King Edward The First

Oh A Cruel Pagan

The Crowd Fought

The Nobel Commoners

Between Themselves

Forced To Forget

Their Own Patriot

This Legend

The King Died

Without A Son In This Life

Edward Has The Title

The Young Fought

People And Lords

Between Themselves

Champions So Strong

Stood In Such A War

A Champion Without Soul

A Champion Without Way

Who Hanged Thirty

Thirty Without Nobility

And Young Boys

Cruel Heart

Living Legend

Their Dignity Grew

From The Word Of The Scots

Six Brave Years

Brave Enough

He Sacrificed His Hand

Too Complicated

Too Sad

They Shouted Of Their Freedom

The Man That Was Brave

Brave Heart

Child of Mind – “Pig Eyed Blue”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

 

For today, I have for you a song by Child of Mind, which is, or perhaps was (we really haven’t heard anything new from him in quite a while so no idea if he intends to ever come back) the name of a solo musical project of Declan Galbraith, who has been a singer since age 10. It’s a live recording from Shenzhen in China, and I think it sounds really good. Way better and more ambitious both musically and lyrically, in my humble opinion, than anything he did as a kid and teen (though given that he was one of my faza peeps during my own teenage years I have a lot of sentiment for his earlier three albums too). Apparently there’s a lot of people who liked him back then and dislike the direction in which he and his music have gone as Child of Mind, but I think it’s only natural and healthy for kids to grow into adults, and for artists to develop over time as well, and also I have a feeling that there is a lot more of him in Child of Mind  than in his earlier stuff, considering that he writes his own songs as Child of Mind, and I always tend to prefer music in which people put a lot of themselves into it as it shows better what they’re like as individuals. 

 

Gwilym Bowen Rhys – “Yr Eneth Gadd ei Gwrthod” (The Rejected Maiden) & Siwsan George – “Yr Eneth Gadd Ei Gwrthod”.

Hey people! 🙂 

 

For today, I’d like to share with you an extremely poignant and heartbreaking song. It’s really beautiful, despite its very dark theme, and there are a lot of amazing renditions of it, therefore I decided to share two of them in one post, and it’s possible that I’ll share some other versions of it in the future too, who knows. The first of these two versions is by Gwilym Bowen Rhys, from the first album of his Detholiad o Hen Faledi (Selection of Old Ballads) album series. This is the very first version of this song that I heard, and I love Gwilym’s expressive a capella interpretation of it very much. THe other is by Siwsan George, from her album Traditional Songs of Wales – Caneuon Traddodiadol Cymru. – I was introduced to Siwsan’s music earlier this year. She was from Rhondda and sang both as a soloist as well as part of a folk group called Mabsant. Siwsan was also a harpist. Sadly, she passed away in her forties due to cancer. 

 

As we can read on Gwilym’s Bandcamp page,, this song tells the story of a poor girl called Jane Williams, from a village in Denbighshire called Cynwyd, who was raped at 23 and fell pregnant in 1868. Predictably, she was shamed and disdained by her community as a result, and eventually committed suicide by drowning herself in the river Dee. The lyrics were written by John Jones, also known under his bardic name of Llew o’r Wern, and set to a traditional tune called There’s Love Among the Roses.

 

I’ve taken the translation below from  Gwilym’s website, where you can also find the original words in Cymraeg. 

 

On the banks of the old river Dee
A pure maiden sits
Whispering quietly to herself
“I’ve been left lonely
Without a love or a friend in the world
Nor a home to go to,
the door of my father’s house is locked,
tonight I am rejected.

The finger of shame is after me
Highlighting my weakneses
And the tide of my life has turned
And is buried under the waves.
On the alter of lust I was sacrificed,
Yes, I lost my virginity,
And that’s the reason why
I’m rejected tonight.

You little trout that plays joyfully
In the pure waters of the river,
You have many friends
And shelter from enemies
You may live and die under the water
With no one having to know you,
Oh if I could only be like you
I could die, and that would be the end.

But my sorrowfull mind flies away
To a world that’s yet to come,
And you, my harsh traitor, remember,
You must meet me there!
I need only think of your name
And living is too much for me.
Oh, deep river, accept me,
Your bed shall be my bed.”

And the next morning she was found
In the cold water of the river,
With a piece of paper in her hand
And on it, these words:
“Dig me a grave in a lonely place,
Don’t raise a stone or write an ephigy,
To denote the place where lies the dust
Of the rejected maiden.”

 

Gwilym Bowen Rhys: 

 

 

Siwsan George: 

 

Clannad – “Poison Glen”.

   Hiya people! 🙂 

 

Today, I want to share with you another song by Clannad. It refers to a glen in Gweedore – i.e. where Clannad hail from – which is known as Poisoned Glen in English. 

 

Plu – “Yr Ysfa” (The Urge).

   Hi people! 🙂 

   Today, I thought we could listen to Plu again. This song comes from their debut album. I understand a lot of single words from it but am afraid not enough to write a coherent translation. 

Jonny Ash – “Rosies”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   It’s kind of strange how many great indie rock bands have been born not even in Wales as a whole, but specifically in North Wales. I have featured many of my favourites in this category on here in the past, but today I’d like to share with you a song from another North Welsh rock act. From what I’ve read, Jonny Ash seem to have been a thing since at least 2020, but I first came across their music last year, when they released their single “Disco” through Bryn Rock Records, a label that I like to keep an ye on, out of sheer curiosity if nothing else, as it is ran by Jacob and Morgan Elwy, and Jacob, as the regulars will know, has been one of my faza people.

   I’ve liked their music ever since, and it seems to enjoy very good reception in their homeland as well, so I thought it would be a good idea to share something by them. I think Rosies is my favourite. It is about a bad experience at the Rosies nightclub. 

   The group is based in Wrexham, and consists of Callum Gaughran (vocals), his brother Dan (bass), Peter Roberts (guitar) and Mike Jones (drums). 

Clannad – “Morning Dew”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today, I want to share with you a very interesting song by Clannad. It was written in the 1960’s by Canadian folk singer Bonnie Dobson, after she talked about nuclear apocalypse with her friends. It is a dialogue between the last woman and man on Earth who have survived a nuclear holocaust. Clannad’s version was the first one of this song that I heard, and initially I didn’t know what was the background of tis song, yet I still found it kind of creepy because I assumed the man was some sort of psychopath gaslighting the woman. 😀 I like songs with unusual lyrics that aren’t all about love, so I found this one very interesting, but even more so when I actually found out what it is about. I like Bonnie Dobson’s original version as well, and as it happens, my brain considers some parts of the melody slightly sensorily creepy – not seriously creepy in a way that would actually make me freeze and creep me out like more sensorily creepy sounds/sequences of sounds/tunes/harmonies do, but just enough to contribute even more to the overall weird feel of the song. 

Cornelis Vreeswijk – “Marjolein”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today, let’s listen to a Dutch song by Cornelis Vreeswijk. Those of you who are familiar with Cornelis or just have been regulars on here will know that Cornelis songs and poems in Swedish, but he was born in the Netherlands and released a few albums in his birth country as well. 

   This song is kind of similar to the Swedish Grimasch om Morgonen  (my favourite song by Cornelis), as it has the same melody as Grimasch and the lyrics of both share some common themes, nonetheless I guess it wasn’t  meant to be just a Dutch version of Grimasch because some aspects of it are totally different. In Grimasch om Morgonen, there’s Ann-Kat(a)rin Rosenblad who is a recurring character in Cornelis’ songs. The Dutch equivalent of Ann-Katrin is Marjolijn/Marjolein (I’ve honestly no idea which spelling is the right one as both are legit forms of this name in Dutch and I’ve seen both used in reference to this particular lady). As you guys know, I don’t speak Dutch (yet), but the translation for this song was kindly written for me by Hans Heemsbergen.

   Because we are under the stars

and we like each other

I kiss your lips under the moon

and look deep into your eyes

And then suddenly you don’t know what to do

because your heart beats so restlessly

the sad fact, Marjolijn, is

that love is nothing more than appearances

 

Because somewhere else the sun shines

and exploding grenades

and there marches a battalion

a thousand soldiers die there

What is love, Marjolein

is it a war in miniature?

can one kill each other

without a gun, but with words

 

The night is long, the moon is high

now animals and people sleep

there falls a star in a long arc

then you may, I believe, wish for something

What do you want, that is the question

I’ll give you everything, oh so glad

you can get anything you want

only my heart remains my own

 

Love is a strange kind of wine

you can neither taste it nor smell it

but if I were you, Marjolijn

I would use it moderately

Because you only take one sip too many

then the bile shoots you in the throat

it’s like your heart is made of lead

Declan Galbraith – “Nights in White Satin”.

   Hey guys! 🙂 

   For today, I decided to share with you a song from Declan Galbraith’s 2006 album Thank You, which he released when he was 14. This is his cover of The Moody Blues’ 1960’s classic Nights in White Satin, written by Justin Hayward after a breakup. Unlike back when Declan was my dominant faza peep when I was a teenager, these days I find that the original speaks to me more, but I still have a lot of sentiment for Declan’s version of this song. 

Morgan Elwy – “Riddim ROck Go Iawn” (Real ROck Riddim).

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today, we’ll listen to a bit of Welsh-language reggae. This song comes from Morgan Elwy’s 2021 album Teimlo’r Awen (Feeling the Muse), which he released after winning that year’s Cân I Gymru contest with a reggae song Bach o Bach o Hwne (A Bit a Bit of That). Prior to that, Morgan was also part of a folk-rock band called Y Trŵbz, and a Manchester-based indie rock group  Lucy Lagoon. As the regular people here will know, his brother Jacob has been one of my faza peeps, which is why I’m interested in Morgan’s musical endeavours as well. 

   While I had a period as a pre-teen or thereabouts during which I listened to loads of reggae, especially our Polish reggae, and considered it my favourite genre, I don’t really feel extremely knowledgeable when it comes to this genre. Still, it seems quite clear that this song is one big reference to Real Rock by Sound Dimension. At some point it also mentions a “milky path” (llwybr llaethog) which makes me think that it could perhaps be a reference to a Welsh experimental group Llwybr Llaethog, which mix a lot of genres including a fair bit of reggae, but I guess it could just as well be a coincidence. The following translation, which probably contains some errors, has been written by Bibielz. 

   Real Rock Riddim runs in my blood, 

Standing on my hands and gloves on my feet, 

Not everything is so easy and under your thumb, [?], 

I’m thinking about the small things that worry everyone. 

 

Give me Reggae Riddim, dreaming of the sound of guitar, 

Nothing better than [?] to give rest to my square eyes, 

I miss the mountains and long for the sea, 

And the little birds singing in the forest like a choir. 

 

 

 

I want to go out tonight, but not without Mary Jane, 

I like how it makes me feel always with a smile, 

These pubs never play real Rock Riddim, 

And I have been preparing the whole afternoon. 

 

O o o o to the real Rock Riddim, 

O o o o listening to the real Rock Riddim. 

 

The gold of the world is the music that lifts a blue heart, 

Turn the speakers up, I want to hear the sound of the bass, 

Dancing in the kitchen or driving in a car, 

Wherever I’m chilling there’s always music playing. 

 

I’ve tried heavy metal and jazz, punk, soul and pop, 

But nothing hits the spot quite like reggae one drop, 

It will never disappoint me, my soul will [would?] never be full, 

Until I would have listened to the real Rock Riddim. 

 

O o o o to the real Rock Riddim, 

O o o o listening to the real Rock Riddim. 

 

Flying in the space like a star in the sky, 

Memories like galaxies fill my head, 

Can’t fall asleep, I’m hearing the echo of the beat, 

Waiting for the bass to come and knock me off my feet. 

 

Following the milky path that guides us, 

Through the adventures of time before realising, 

That there’s a reason for existence, every star, sea and galaxy, 

Has been put in its place for the sake of reggae without a doubt. 

 

To live and to be to find a free soul [?], 

Difficult at first, but it will come one day, 

Sitting round the fire, singing and laughing, 

All full of mischief, passing smoke and wine. 

 

O o o o to the real Rock Riddim, 

O o o o listening to the real Rock Riddim. 

Cornelis Vreeswijk – “Fåglar” (Birds).

   Hiya people! 🙂 

   Today, I have for you a very interesting song by Cornelis Vreeswijk. I’ve always found it very interesting and have wondered what it’s trying to convey. I mean of course birds are partly a metaphor and partly a comparison for humans and various constraints of their existence, but some things here seem to have different layers of meaning and I don’t know if I get it all right. The lyrics to this song were written by Cornelis, but I’m sure that anyone who has some more interest in his music would pick up that the same could not be true about this interesting tune, and they’d be right, because it was composed by the jazz musician Björn J:son Lindh, who also plays piano here. The song comes from one of my favourite albums as a whole by Cornelis, Poem, Ballader och Lite Blues (Poems, Ballads and a Bit of Blues). One line in this song has quite an unusual grammatical structure, which I find kind of confusing so I translated it in two ways because I’m just not sure which one makes more sense, and perhaps neither is very good. 

   Birds who are old have their own forest
Birds who are sick do not sing anything
Birds who are in love do not buy a ring
Birds never sit at a bird pub
The souls of the birds never know about birds [/The birds never know about the birds’ souls]

Birds who are dead have no grave
The one who was a bird was not seen
And she who got wings immediately flew away
Birds that can remember are a rare species
No one can fly on their own when they want 
The birds’ grandfather eats raw eggs
Birds that are sad grow beards
Grandpa’s parrot is damn smart
He has always been unlucky in love
No bird understands what he desires
But something’s not quite right somewhere 
Birds who can fly, I sure love you
But I will never fly again

Jack Vreeswijk – “Visa om ett Rosenblad” (A Song About a Rose Petal).

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Last month, I shared with you Visa om ett Rosenblad  by Cornelis Vreeswijk. Today I thought we could listen to another version of it, sung by Cornelis’ son Jack. If I had to say which version I like more I’d have a really hard time because I find them both really beautiful and gripping, each in its own way. I wrote the translation and shared some thoughts about the song in the post with the original version. 

Jack Vreeswijk – “Visa om ett Rosenblad” 

 

Y Bandana – “Dwi’m yn Fabi Ddim Mwy” (I’m Not a Baby Anymore).

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I’d like to share with you a song by Y Bandana from their self-titled debut album. I’ve been able to write a translation for you and, surprisingly for me, it wasn’t  all that difficult. Although perhaps it shouldn’t feel so surprising as I already understood most of it from listening and there were only two phrases that were  new to me (for any fellow Welsh learners out there who might be curious, it was a novelty for me that “dim llawn llathan” (literally not a full yard) means that someone is not  all there/crazy, and also that spanking is “chwip din”). Still, it’s entirely possible that there are some errors, so if you speak Welsh and see something odd, please do enlighten me or something. 

   If you’re not familiar with Y Bandana, they were a Welsh-language pop rock group made up of two brothers, Siôn and Tomos Owens, their cousin Gwilym Bowen Rhys and his friend Robin Jones. They were very successful on the Welsh-language music scene. This song is quite funny in the way that Y Bandana’s songs often are, but I think it’s also just a tad bit disturbing. Unless it’s just me who overanalyses things as is my habit or I’ve misunderstood/mistranslated something here. 😀 But it sounds like the lyrical subject is being quite badly bullied by  a despotic older sibling, rather than – as I  thought before attempting this translation, just having heard this song many times over the years – slightly smothered by an overprotective parent. Not fun. Makes me feel relieved that I don’t have older siblings and didn’t have to go through something like this as a teenager. It’s natural for parents to be protective, sometimes overprotective, of their offspring, but when a year older sibling treats you like a baby, that’s kind of humiliating. 

      Every time I go to the club I get kicked out 

Although there are some who are older than me that are not quite all there  

Don’t you dare say that I’m not responsible enough 

‘Cause you’re only a year older 

I’ve had enough 

No, no, no, I’m not a baby anymore 

Wa, wa, wa, not a baby anymore 

No, no, no, I’m not a baby anymore 

Wa, wa, wa, not a baby 

You don’t have to hold my hand for me to be able to cross the street 

And just because you’re older than me I don’t get to say anything 

I don’t have to get a spanking if I break the rules 

Well, oops, I’ve broken one and it won’t be for the last time 

No, no, no, I’m not a baby anymore 

Wa, wa, wa, not a baby anymore 

No, no, no, I’m not a baby anymore 

Wa, wa, wa, not a baby 

No, no, no, I’m not a baby anymore 

Wa, wa, wa, not a baby anymore 

No, no, no, I’m not a baby anymore 

Wa, wa, wa, not a baby 

Song of the day (7th February) – Plu – “Tyrd yn ôl” (Come Back).

   Hi people! 🙂 

   For our overdue song of the day for Tuesday, I chose a song by the Welsh alt-folk trio Plu, who have been featured on this blog many times before. This particular song is from their 2013 self-titled album. 

Trwynau Coch – “Methu Dawnsio” (Can’t Dance).

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Staying within the Celtic language family, but moving away from folk, I’d like to share with you today another song from Trwynau Coch. For those unfamiliar with them, Y Trwynau Coch (which means The Red Noses in English) were a Swansea-based punk rock band that existed in the late 70’s and early 80’s. All their songs were written in Welsh, which I don’t think wasn’t all that common at the time as it is now (not in rock music anyway) and they clearly took  advantage of that and sometimes wrote some really weird lyrics. One member of the band – Rhys Harris – later went on to become the father of alt-folk trio Plu – siblings Elan Mererid, Marged Eiry and Gwilym Bowen Rhys. – 

   I understand a lot of the individual words in this song, but despite that, I don’t think I get the broader context, other than  what the chorus basically says, which is that the lyrical subject “can’t dance at the disco”. Interestingly, they also have another song, “Wastad ar y Tu Fas” (Always on the Outside”, that I believe I’ve  featured  in the early days of this blog, and which, if I understand it correctly, goes something like this: “I don’t want to go to the disco in T-shirts and jeans from Tesco…”. Which makes me think that maybe one of the Trwynau Coch members, or whoever wrote their lyrics, must have had a strong aversion to discos, and as I can totally relate, that makes me like them even more. 😀 

Declan Galbraith – “Sister Golden Hair”.

   Hey dear people! 🙂 

   Today I want to share with you a song from Declan Galbraith’s (currently also known as Child of Mind) third album, You and Me, released in 2007 when he was fifteen. Just like his previous two records, this one also includes a lot of covers of pop and rock classics, and as perhaps some of you may figure out from the title, so is the case with this one. Sister Golden Hair was a 70’s hit written by Gerry Beckley for his band, America. 

Y Bandana – “Dant y Llew” (Dandelion).

   Hiya people! 🙂 

   Today, I’d like to share with you another song from the Welsh pop rock group Y Bandana, from their album Fel Tôn Gron, the last one they released before disbanding. This is one of their more popular songs in Wales as far as I’m aware. Unfortunately I was not able to find written lyrics for this one anywhere online, and while I think I understand a fair bit from it, it’s still definitely not everything, so I didn’t really have the courage to attempt doing a translation by ear for the purpose of this post. But basically, it is about girls, who are called Cadi and Mabli, and the lyrical subject of this song finds very attractive, and their hair is the colour of a dandelion. 

   Y Bandana – “Dant y Llew”

Jack Vreeswijk – “Hon Kommer Aldrig Hem” (She Will Never Come Home).

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I really want to share with you an original  song by Jack Vreeswijk, from his album Underbart (Wonderful). It has a bit of an emo vibe, which you can find out for yourselves, as Bibielz were able to translate it. Bibielz couldn’t, however,  find the complete lyrics  anywhere, so had to just do it by ear. As you might or might not recall, it wasn’t the first time I’ve translated Jack by ear, and it wasn’t particularly difficult this time either. . The only fragment I found a little unclear was the line that I translated as “you are marked by grief”, although I’m not sure that’s  what he’s actually singing, because what I hear is actually “You are marked over grief”, which, as far as I know, doesn’t really sound natural in Swedish and I haven’t found any other examples of the word “over” being used in this way in Swedish, so either I’m completely misunderstanding it, or just this one word, or it’s some phrase or construction I’m unfamiliar with. I’m sharing Jack’s live performance of this song rather than  the album version. 

   Nobody can handle you 

Nobody wants to understand 

That your grief is endless 

Though life is steaming ahead 

Who said that she was yours? 

Not her and not you 

Who believes in eternal love? 

Who believes in it now? 

She will never come home again 

She will never come home again 

Let them see you like this 

Who cares about it? 

In three hundred years 

No one will know anymore 

Let them babble behind your back 

That you are marked [by?] grief 

The grief is embracing you 

The grief is your last castle 

She will never come home again 

She will never come home again 

She will never come home again 

She will never come home again 

She will never come home again 

She will never come home again 

She will never come home again 

She will never come home again 

Bendith – “ANgel”.

   Hey people! 🙂 

   Today I thought I’d share with you this soothing piece by Bendith. For anyone unfamiliar with Bendith, it was a collaborative project between the alt-folk sibling trio Plu (who are very frequently featured on here since one of its members, Gwilym Bowen Rhys, is one of my faza  people) and Carwyn Ellis from the indie band Colorama. I was even able to translate this song for you guys, though it probably does have some mistakes or things that perhaps could have been phrased more aptly or something. There are some phrases in it that were completely new to me, like “sana i’n”, which is a colloquial phrase used in southwest Wales and means “I don’t”, but I was totally unfamiliar with it and it took me quite a while to figure out what it actually was. 

   And if something worries me 

She is the one who comes to my mind 

Nothing can stop her 

From coming to my side 

She is my angel 

 

If it all got too much for me 

So she waits, she comes straight away 

Just say the word and that’s all 

She’ll do it, by my side 

She is my angel 

Beside me, that’s where she will be 

Any time of the day or night 

If anything comes to bother me 

She is by my side 

She is my angel 

 

And if I’ll need a hand to help me 

I don’t worry, she’s still here 

To share the burdens between us 

Here by my side 

She is my angel 

Plu – “Gollwng Gafael” (Letting Go).

   Hey dear people! 🙂 

   Today I’d like to share with you this lovely song by the Welsh alt-folk trio Plu, whose music is fairly frequently featured on here. It comes from their album Tir a Golau (Lad and Lights). Quite surprisingly for myself, I was even able to translate it. You guys know that I’m still pretty bad at translating Welsh music solely by ear, and when you’re into some small languages, it’s not always as comfy as googling “Artist Song lyrics” and finding said lyrics right away, because often it might require a bit more perseverance to find what you’re looking for at the bottom of the Internet, or it might not be available online at all. Plu’s lyrics usually don’t seem to be, but what I always try to do in such cases is fish out a part of lyrics that I can completely understand and that at the same time is not too generic and distinct enough that it’s not likely to pop up in too many other contexts except what I’m looking for, and then I google it in quotes. And this time round, I happened to be lucky, because I found an S4C (Welsh-language television channel) transscript of a programme where Plu were singing this song. And the lyrics are pretty easy linguistically so I was able to translate it with no particular issues, though again, it’s not like I’m an experienced Welsh-English translator or a native speaker of either of these languages so it’s definitely possible that it has some mistakes or that it just could be better, but as always it’s just to give you more or less of an idea of what it is about. I am sharing with you a live version of this song which they sang at a Celtic music festival called Cwlwm Celtaidd. They precede the song with two verses of a traditional Welsh lullaby called Mil Harddach (A Thousand Times More Beautiful), for which the below translation comes from Mama Lisa’s website. 

   You’re a thousand times more beautiful than the white rose
Or the red rose on the hillside,
Or the proud swan swimming in the lake,
My little baby.
A thousand times better than all the gold in the world
Is to see your smiles in your crib,
You are my fortune and my blessing,
My little baby.

And here’s Bibielz translation of Gollwng Gafael. 

      You love the land more than the earth 

And the wave more than the water 

You love “was” more than “will” 

And what is the world without its story? 

Without sky, there are no horizons 

Without tomorrow, there is no yesterday 

Open your eyes 

To experience letting go 

For you, the inspiration is in a song 

And the bleak books in front of you 

The inspiration is everyday 

Uncovering the truth 

By pulling off every layer 

Without sky, there are no horizons 

Without tomorrow, there is no yesterday 

Open your eyes 

To experience letting go 

   You love the land more than the earth 

More than the truth