Lyr Add: Antonya, Friends (Hangover carol)

Subject: Lyr Add: Antonya, Friends (Hangover carol)
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 01 Jan 08 - 05:24 PM

Lyr. Add: ANTONIO, FLACIQUIA, GASIPÀ
Frei Filipe da Madre de Deus, c. 1630-1690

Antonya, *Flasiquia, Caspar!
What is it, what's that you say, what's wrong?
I'm blest if I know what ails me
this Christmas Eve.
What's this feeling, what's wrong with us,
what do we want?
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

We all feel faint
our faces are burning up,
and our chests feel tight,
after a draught of wine
that black Purity served us.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

Oh, Jesus, my head is spinning
oh Jesus, how it aches.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

Our Lady have mercy on us,
let's all be on our way.
All you black women,
the strangest motley crowd,
that all the whites are coming to hear.
You barefaced wretch / you are
you lying wretch / you are
drunken wretch / you are
a disgrace to the Negro race! / you are.
A lady's what I am, I'll have you know,
that's sick from drinking **sanguanguá, ha ha.
An honest woman, too, hi hi, ha ha,
it's you that is a barefaced lying wench,
as all black folk will see.
What are you calling for now?

To go to Bethlehem
to see the Infant Immanuel
who was born in the hay,
the black folk will do the splits
as they dance and sing
and play sweet tunes.
Oh, my head, how it aches,
the drunken woman comes and goes,
the drunken woman sings, and away she goes.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.
Drunken, drunken goes.

Verse
Here we are at the Crib,
now see how the baby cries,
nestling in Mary's arms he lies,
waiting for the black woman
to lull him to sleep.

As we stand there I watch him.
Will he fall or no?
Methinks all the beauty of the child
will be lost shaking to and fro.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

Se the mule and the oxen
watching over his crib,
the oxen are lowing
and the mule is munching hay.

The oxen feed on manna
and the mule keeps munching away.
I'll drink to the health of the child,
glug, glug, glug, another drop I'll take.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

Refrain
Le le le la la la
the drunken woman comes and goes,
the drunken woman sings, and away she goes,
and my head, it is aching so.
Le le le la la la
the drunken woman away she goes.

See the angels and shepherds
who have come to worship him,
in choirs of song proclaiming
that manna from heaven has rained
on us with the child that's born today.

I'm blest if I know
about manna from heaven and rain,
but wine's another matter
and I'll down as much as I can.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

Refrain: Le le le la la la... etc.

Look how attentive
Saint Joseph is,
worshipping the babe,
that as father he owns as his.

Joseph plied the saw by trade,
we know that to be true,
so we in his honour ourselves will ply
with this wholesome mountain brew.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

Refrain: Le le le la la la... etc.

This night we all are restless,
not stopping to draw a breath,
for we have presently witnessed
how God came down to Earth.

If God has come down to earth,
and is startled by our gaze,
this black woman's off home half crazy she goes
to knock back more booze.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

Refrain: Le le le la la la... etc.

You say what good will it do me?
And that is your mistake.
A black woman's faith
is a smoky haze,
of quicksand it is made.

In long, slow swigs
I've drunk of this and that
and since it is God's birthday,
I'll drink and snore it off as best I may.
Oh, my head, it is aching so.

Refrain: Le le le la la la... Etc.

Hey, look at the three Kings
who have come to adore the child,
and among them is our cousin
the black king, old Caspar.

Look, now, here they come,
with drink for a toast or two,
with bottles galore and a star
that dazzle and blind my view.
Oh. my head, it is aching so.

Refrain: Le le le la la la...etc.

* Creole for Señor Francisco; **red wine or liquor. One can imagine the young priest and musical director, far from home, drunk on the local liquor supplied by his serving maid, going to Midnight Mass at the Black church in Guatemala (city). A fine, comic carol.

Villancicos (carols), in the Negro or Negrilla style, tended to incorporate the strong percussive, rhythmic patterns typical of African dances. These are known from the early 16th c. to the 18th c. Often mixed in are Creole and African words, Quechua, Nahuatl, and other American languages. Negroes were taken to the Spanish and Portuguese Americas as slaves and 'servants' of the Church.
This one is preserved in the Guatemalan archives. Father Filipe da Madre de Deus was a Portuguese who served the Church in the New World as a young man; later he served as master of chamber music for King Alphonse VI of Portugal (1660-1668). Early Spanish and Portuguese colonial church music, some by natives, is slowly being discovered and performed. The cathedral cities had trained choir masters and composers, brought in from Europe.

If anyone is interested, I will post the original Creole.

From the album "Villancicos y Danzas Crioles de la Iberia Antigua al Nuevo Mundo, 1550-1750," performed by La Capella Reial de Catalunya and Hespèrion XXI, directed by Jordi Savall, AliaVox AV9834. The informative booklet and cd, produced with the support of the Generalitat de Catalunya and Iberian Air, includes original language, Castilian, English, German and Italian lyrics as well as comments on the composers. English translations by Cordelia May.

Subject: RE: Lyr Add: Antonya, Friends (Hangover carol)
From: McGrath of Harlow
Date: 02 Jan 08 - 04:14 PM

They don't write Carols like that any more...