My dad used to sing this Isla Marina song -- we called it "Dad's Old Indian Song" (in those pre-multicultural days.) I guess we thought the hoo ya, hoo ya, hoo ya ya sounded Native American. We only knew the first verse, though, so it's great to hear the rest of it. I don't know where in rural southern Ohio in the 40's or 50's my dad would have heard it, but the English version we learned was:

Across the plains of gold and green
A young boy plainly can be seen
A hu ya hu ya hu ya ya
Swiftly tumbling water

The image was always very evocative to me -- in my mind I saw a young Native American boy standing in warm late afternoon light on the edge of an escarpment with a waterfall tumbling down onto a green and golden waving plain at his feet. Not true to the original song, I guess, but beautiful to me nevertheless.

Does anyone know if this song was ever recorded in English?

Ellen