Ah, Frankie, you're a treasure. That's all I needed to find the song here (click).
Thank you very much.
-Joe Offer- (e-mail sent to Frankie and Rain)

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"Poniedzialek Rano"

A Polish Folk Song

Melody Transcribed by Robert J. Baran

This Page Last Updated: March 21, 2003
 

This was sung for my family by my father on several occasions while I was growing up.
(There do exist videotapes with segments of Dad crooning it to some of his grandchildren.)
Dad's brothers and my grandfather before them also sang it.
Grandpa Baran was born in Lowczowek, Plesniak, Poland on January 23, 1893.
His children were all born in Cleveland, Ohio.

Two different partial transcriptions were used as a basis for the following,
plus text from a non-family source (see below).
To represent the Polish letter "l" which has a short diagonal line through its center
(and pronounced as if it were "w"), the bolded "l" is used herein.
To represent the Polish letter "a" which has a cedilla under it, the bolded "a" is used herein.
To represent the Polish letter "e" which has a cedilla under it, the bolded "e" is used herein.

Melody: C   D   E   F   G  C A   A   C   A   G   E F   F   G   F   E   E   E D   D   E   D   C   E   G F   F   G   F   E   E   E D   D   E   D   C   E   C   1 W Poniedzialek rano, kosil ojciec siano, kosil ojciec, kosil ja, kosilísmy obydwa. kosil ojciec, kosil ja, kosilísmy obydwa. (On a Monday morning, busy Monday morning, Father cut hay, and so did I, mowed together he and I. Father cut hay, and so did I, mowed together he and I.)   2 A we Wtorek rano, grabil ojciec siano, grabil ojciec, grabil ja, grabilísmy obydwa. grabil ojciec, grabil ja grabilísmy obydwa. (On a Tuesday morning, busy Tuesday morning, Father raked hay, and so did I, raked together he and I. Father raked hay, and so did I, raked together he and I.)   3 A we Sroda rano suszyl ojciec siano, suszyl ojciec, suszyl ja, suszylísmy obydwa. suszyl ojciec, suszyl ja suszylísmy obydwa. (On a Wednesday morning, busy Wednesday morning, Father dried hay, and so did I, dried together he and I. Father dried hay, and so did I, dried together he and I.)   4 A we Czwartek rano, przewracalim siano, robil ojciec, robil ja, robilísmy obydwa. robil ojciec, robil ja, robilísmy obydwa. (On a Thursday morning, busy Thursday morning, Father pitched hay, and so did I, pitched together he and I. Father pitched hay, and so did I, pitched together he and I.)   5 A na Piatek rano, skladal ojciec siano, skladal ojciec, skladal ja, skladalísmy obydwa. skladal ojciec, skladal ja, skladalísmy obydwa. (On a Friday morning, busy Friday morning, Father stacked hay, and so did I, stacked together he and I. Father stacked hay, and so did I, stacked together he and I.)   6 A w Sobota rano, zwozil ojciec siano, zwozil ojciec, zwozil ja, zwozilísmy obydwa. zwozil ojciec, zwozil ja, zwozilísmy obydwa. (On a Saturday morning, busy Saturday morning, Father hauled hay, and so did I, hauled together he and I. Father hauled hay, and so did I, hauled together he and I.)     7 A w Niedziela rano, krówki jadly siano, spoczal ojciec, spoczal ja, spoczelismy obydwa. spoczal ojciec, spoczal ja, spoczelismy obydwa. (And on Sunday morning, cows ate hay that morning, Father rested, and so did I, rested well, both he and I. Father rested, and so did I, rested well, both he and I.)   NOTE FROM RJB:  The Sunday verse that was sung to me was as follows: A w Niedziela rano, pzepilismy siano, pzepil ojciec, pzepil ja, pzepilismy obydwa. pzepil ojciec, pzepil ja, pzepilismy obydwa. (And on Sunday morning, busy Sunday morning, Father drank, and so did I, Drank together he and I. Father drank, and so did I, Drank together he and I.)

 

GLOSSARY

a	and
czwartek	Thursday
grabic	to rake
ja	I, me
jesc	to eat
kosic	to mow
krówki	cows
na	on, at, upon
niedziela	Sunday
obydwa	?
ojciec	father
piatek	Friday
poniedzialek	Monday
przewracac	to turn, to overturn
pzepic	?
rano	morning
robic	to make, to do
siano	hay
skladac	to put together, to store
sobota	Saturday
spoczac	to rest
sroda	Wednesday
suszyc	to dry
w, we	on
wtorek	Tuesday
zwozic	to carry, to transport

 

FEEDBACK

"Thanks for posting the words for 'Poniedzialek Rano' on the web.  I've intended to learn the rest of the Polish words to this song for most of my life.  I learned the chorus from my father.  He told me that the words meant, 'I sling hay, my father slings hay, we both sling hay together.', and that there was one verse for each day of the week, and that on Saturday they went out and got drunk, and on Sunday they went to church [sic].   The melody is catchy.  As a Boy Scout, I would sing this song as I hiked.  It tends to be one of the songs that run in my mind as I walk around doing other things.  I now work as a programmer, and have been sent to Korea several times.  One of the Korean men that I work with asked me about this song that I was always singing, and would I please write down the words.  This spurred me to do a web search to try to find the right words, which led me to your site.  Thanks!  In the library I found a children's book based on this song, but it only gives an English translation (no mention of getting drunk).  [Busy Monday Morning  Copyright 1985 by Janina Domanska, Greenwillow Books, New York  ISBN 0-688-03833-6;  ISBN 0-688-03834-4 (lib. bdg.)]    Thanks again, and best regards..." Herb Perkins-Frederick, Canberra, Australia, in e-mail to RJB, February 14, 2002 * * * * *      "I just saw your rendition of Poniedzialek Rano and it brought tears to my eyes. I am an american of polish decent and we always sang and still sing that song. Though my babcia and dziadziu have passed on,  I sing it to my nieces now and they love it...  Thank you!" Teresa, in e-mail to RJB, February 10, 2003. * * * * *      Per a copy in braille and English from the Phoenix Public Library, Busy Monday Morning text adapted from Treasured Polish Folk Rhymes, Songs and Games, translated by the Polanie Editorial Staff, from Koszalki Opalki of Zofia Rogoszówna, Copyright 1976 by Polanie Club, Inc., published by Polanie Publishing Company, Minneapolis.  This latter work has been also tracked down and the words and translation above are from pg. 50.  The music on pg. 51, adapted by Daniel Feigelson, is just a little different than RJB recalls, but is in the same key.  The Glossary is per the Wiedza Powszechna Polish and English Dictionary, Chicago: National Textbook Company, 1993.  Original copyright 1981 Wiedza Powszechna, Warsaw Poland.  Some questions still remain about a couple of words.

Anyone else who can supply further details about this folksong
is urged to contact me at rjb@phoenixbonsai.com.
Dziekuje bardzo.

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