Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST,Guest
Date: 02 Oct 21 - 12:33 AM

I am almost eighty. Sang this in third grade Belcher School Milton MA. I am sitting on my porch In Princeville HI and the tall papaya is in the back yard. Aloha
Pat O’Connell Foley

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST
Date: 06 Jan 21 - 08:24 AM

5th grade.. I sang it to my kids and they sang it to their kids and their grandchildren. Song gets around. I am 74 years old.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST
Date: 27 Mar 20 - 12:08 AM

I'm 77 years old and I remember singing this song in grammar school...maybe the 2nd or 3rd grade. It's amazing that I can remember it but can't remember things from yesterday :)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Mar 20 - 12:16 AM

Well from Belcher School in Milton MA we sang this in 3rd Grade with Miss Lucy. I am in Kauai looking at a papaya tree which is quite tall!
Pat O’Connell Foley
[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST,E. N. Voke
Date: 17 Jan 20 - 12:21 PM

Hadn't thought about this song for a long time, but it popped up a few minutes ago. Sang it in Miss Spencer's class in 1944 (Norfolk, Va.).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: leeneia
Date: 04 Jul 19 - 09:55 PM

Thanks!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST
Date: 04 Jul 19 - 05:57 PM

I sing to my grandkids to help them get to sleep. I also sang it in grade school.

Oh tall papaya tree, you are so straight and high.
Will you not take for me a message to the sky?
Pray tell the golden sun ,I thank him for his light.
And when his work is done, I'd like to say goodnight.

Oh tall papaya tree, you are so straight and proud.
This message take for me to any wandering cloud.
If it should turn aside and be inclined to stay,
Then say the skies are wide and speed it on its way.

Oh tall papaya tree, when I am in my bed
And all the stars are clear, bright shining over head.
Then don't you think you could, oh tall papaya tree
Stand tiptoe in the wood, and get one down for me.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST,Jake Baker
Date: 18 Aug 17 - 07:38 AM

I remember the song from about the 4th grade in Rochelle Il.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST,Fran (Valentino) Casey
Date: 27 Jun 17 - 12:13 AM

I googled this song which I have been humming for decades. This was a favorite from 5th grade music class. Mt Pleasant Elementary in Cleveland OH. I am amazed so many others share this memory as well. Thank you

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST
Date: 16 May 13 - 06:54 PM

If he should turn aside
And seem inclined to stay
Then say the skies are wide
And speed him on his way.

Ad when the night is here
And i am in my bed
And all the stars are clear
Bright shining overhead
Then don't you think you could
Oh tall papaya tree
Stand tiptoe in the wood
And get one down for me

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST,Anabel
Date: 20 Aug 11 - 12:48 PM

Oh hooray! This song from the 6th grade (1950s) has been running thru my head for days. On a whim, I googled it. So glad to find it is part of so many people's childhoods.

Subject: RE: req/ADD: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 02:00 PM

"A plate of stir-fried noodles is my foe!"

Love it! Thanks, Jim.

Subject: RE: req/ADD: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST,Tony Rozycki
Date: 03 Jun 11 - 10:54 AM

After my almost 94 year old mother Marie Skoe Rozycki had a stroke about seven years ago she began reciting the Papaya Tree poem that none of us had ever heard. I have spent many hours looking for the source. She has always loved poetry. Since we lived in Hawaii near a papaya tree in 1947 I thought perhaps it was an unpublished Hawaiian chant. Just thought I'd give it one more try on google this morning & can't believe I found it. She is Norwegian American, but her only surviving brother lives in the Philippines.

Subject: RE: req/ADD: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST,Mary Nelson
Date: 15 Mar 11 - 09:26 AM

I sang a variation of this song from a songbook in 1965 in Southern California..it was an adopted music book w/ a collection of songs including other American classics such as Swing Low Sweet Chariot and a collection of patriotic American songs ---this was at a public school chorus class--I am thrilled to see the rest of the words

Subject: RE: req/ADD: Papaya Tree/Leron Leron Sinta (Filipino)
From: GUEST
Date: 07 Jan 11 - 10:19 PM

Al Furnish

email [e-mail]

I remember learning this song in 5th grade (1935!). Little did I know I'd be spending 6 months in the Philippines in WWII. I can still remember music and lyrics.

Thanks for the jog to my ancient memory!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 18 Jun 09 - 09:07 AM

Jim, thanks for the idea of checking YouTube.

littlest catter

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: GUEST,Martha Jane
Date: 18 Jun 09 - 08:44 AM

Many thanks for the work on this and especially to Jim for the words that I now recall well. It's such a gentle, easy song to sing.

Martha

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jun 09 - 12:43 PM

Several recordings of LERON LERON SINTA can be heard at YouTube. The words may vary somewhat from the copy I posted above.

Subject: Lyr Add: LERON LERON SINTA (trad. Tagalog)
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jun 09 - 12:35 PM

I think this is the original, or at least one version of the original, from a web site called Tagalog Lang:


LERON LERON SINTA is a folk song that reflects well the humor of Filipinos.

1. Leron, Leron, sinta
Buko ng papaya
Dala dala'y buslo
Sisidlan ng sinta

Pagdating sa dulo'y
Nabali ang sanga,
Kapos kapalaran
Humanap ng iba.
        
(In these popular first verses, the woman is singing about her beloved Leron who climbed up a papaya tree with a basket in which he expected to put the papaya fruit he was going to pick. But when he reached the top of the tree, the branch broke. The woman says what bad luck that was. "I'll find someone (?) else!")

2. Halika na Neneng,
tayo'y manampalok
Dalhin mo ang buslo,
sisidlan ng hinog
Pagdating sa dulo'y
uunda-undayog
Kumapit ka Neneng,
baka ka mahulog.
        
(Man singing: "Come on, Neneng. Let's go pick some tamarind. Bring the basket to put the ripe ones in. Reaching the top, the branches sway. Hold tight, Neneng, or you might fall.)

3. Ako'y ibigin mo,
lalaking matapang
Ang sundang ko'y pito,
ang baril ko'y siyam.

Ang lalakarin ko'y
parte ng dinulang.
Isang pinggang pansit,
ang aking kalaban!

("Love me, I'm a brave man. I have seven large knives and nine guns. I'm going to walk to that table. A plate of stir-fried noodles is my foe!")


TRANSLATION OF THE TAGALOG WORDS

sinta = (my) love
buslo = basket
dala = carrying
sisidlan = in which to place
pagdating = upon arriving
sa dulo = at the end
nabali = broke
sanga = branch
kapos kapalaran = lacking in good fortune
humanap = looked for
iba = another

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 13 Jun 09 - 12:27 PM

There's another version of this song that's given in:

The Land and People of the Philippines by Josephine Budd Vaughan, Portraits of the Nations series (Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1956), page 76.

Early Philippine Literature from Ancient Times to 1940 by Asuncion David Maramba (Manila: Distributed by National Book Store, 1971), page 149.

The Philippine Progressive Music Series for the Primary Grades by Norberto Romualdez (Morristown, N.J.: Silver Burdett Co, 1948), page 79.

I think this version is a fairly direct translation from a Tagalog traditional folk song. Again, I could only piece together several snippets, so my copy may be incomplete. At least, it lacks a title:


Translation by Julia Bingham

Leron, Leron beloved,
Up a tall papaya tree
He climbed with basket gay
That held his love for me.

The tip-top branch he touched.
It broke off with a "click."
Aba! What evil luck!
Please choose another quick!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 12 Jun 09 - 09:19 AM

Thanks, Jim. Those are charming lyrics.

Subject: Lyr Add: THE PAPAYA TREE
From: Jim Dixon
Date: 11 Jun 09 - 08:42 PM

This song can be found in:

Singing in Harmony by Lilla Belle Pitts and others (Boston: Ginn, 1959) from the series Our Singing World, page 176.

Singing Every Day by Lilla Belle Pitts and others (Boston: Ginn, 1950) from the series Our Singing World, page 176.

Basic Goals in Music: a Series of Elementary Textbooks, by Lloyd H Slind & Frank F Churchley (McGraw-Hill, 1967), page 9.

[I had to piece the words together from several "snippets" viewable at Google Books.]


THE PAPAYA TREE

1. O tall papaya tree,
You are so straight and high;
Will you not take from me
A message to the sky?
Pray tell the golden sun
I thank him for his light
And when his work is done
I'd like to say, "Good night."

2. O tall papaya tree,
You are so strong and proud;
This message take from me
To any wand'ring cloud:
If it should turn aside
And seem inclined to stay,
Then say the skies are wide,
And speed it on its way.

3. But when the night is here
And I am in my bed
And all the stars are clear,
Bright shining overhead;
Then don't you think you should,
O tall papaya tree,
Stand tiptoe in the wood
And get one down for me?

Click to Play

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 09 Jun 09 - 12:01 AM

Someone may ask for the chords, but the song moves stepwise so much, that chords would require delicate handling. So I'm not going to work them out.

That MIDI is in the key of D, 4/4 time, if anybody wants to try chords.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 11:52 PM

Here's a MIDI fro Leeneia:

Click to play

What Leeneia says about it:

I am attaching a MIDI of "Tall Papaya Tree," in thirds the way the littlegirls sing it on that recording. The thread is also called "Tall PapayaTree." It's amazing the way music sticks with a person. I learned that littlesong 54 years ago. leeneia

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: Joe Offer
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 12:05 AM

Sure - e-mail to me, [e-mail]

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 08 Jun 09 - 12:03 AM

Can the Mudcat handle MIDI's again? I could make a MIDI. (It's the same tune.)

I love that recording.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: Joe Offer
Date: 07 Jun 09 - 10:24 PM

Not much background information, but the Library of Congress has a 1940 California recording of the song in the American Memory Collection (click). Maggie Jean Allen was 10 years old and Miss Johnnie V. Allen was 14 years old at time of recording at a labor camp at Visalia, California.

Anybody want to transcribe the lyrics and tune?

-Joe-

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 07 Jun 09 - 02:39 PM

Mrs. Knight led us in a different version. I wonder if it has the same tune.

Leron, Leron, my boy, be careful what you do.
The tall papaya tree is much too high for you.
The trunk is much too thin; the branches are too small.
So take your basket down before you get a fall.
======
We sang it and then repeated.

I now have a clear memory of my brother singing this little song. My brother died last month.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: Q (Frank Staplin)
Date: 07 Jun 09 - 02:31 PM

I checked the school songbook threads and Cooperative, no luck.

(The papaya grows to about 30 feet or so, not so tall and strong as a lot of other trees).

Subject: Lyr Req: Tall Papaya Tree
From: GUEST,Martha Jane
Date: 07 Jun 09 - 10:28 AM

I sang this song in 5th grade with Miss Dexter in 1964 and can remember many, but not all, of the lyrics. Does anyone know more? Thank you.

Oh tall papaya tree
You are so straight and high
Will you not take from me
A message to the sky?
Pray tell the golden sun
I thank him for his light
And when his work is done
I'd like to say Good-night.

Oh tall papaya tree
You are so strong and proud
This message take from me
To any wandering cloud
.....