I see that the first post here was posted in 1998, so I guess it's not a surprise that the questioner has given up on getting the answer.

I saved the tune in the Digitrad into Noteworthy, and it's in 4/4. I tried fooling with it a bit, calling the first note a pick-up and seeing what happened when it was changed to 3/4. Nothing much was improved. I still think the first note is supposed to be a pick-up note.

The song has got a kind of timing that we aren't used to. For example, eighth note - quarter note - eighth note. This kind of timing occurs in really old music, such as the troubador songs from 13th (or was it 12th) century France. Think Guillaume Machaut here.
I'm in a hurry, so sorry if my scholarship isn't right on the button.