Lyr Req: Suo Gan - English version(s)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Suo Gan - English version(s)
From: GUEST,Visitor
Date: 28 Jan 11 - 06:14 PM

No, I wasn't looking for something specifically Welsh; those were just the songs that came to mind. That's why I preferred an English lyric. Something with an Irish background would be nice, but not essential.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Suo Gan - English version(s)
From: sian, west wales
Date: 27 Jan 11 - 06:13 AM

Yes - it does rather depend on what the character's own background is, as lullabies tend to be passed down within a family. If, for instance, the singer was from a Welsh family, they might well still sing it in Welsh. I doubt if they would have gone over to any English words for that particular one. It might have happened with All Through the Night because there were very popular English versions of it around, but Suo Gan wouldn't be in that category.

If the singer is less culture-specific, maybe something like the, "Mama's gonna buy you a mockingbird" one would suit ... although I'm talking through my hat here; I don't know anything about its background or age.

sian

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Suo Gan - English version(s)
From: GUEST,julia L
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 10:47 PM

I believe the classic Rock a bye Baby is vintage to that time- it appears in several songbooks from the period. In fact that would be the place to look for something- period songbooks. Franklin Square perhaps or others. I have not seen Suo Gan specifically- are you looking for something Welsh?
best- julia

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Suo Gan - English version(s)
From: GUEST
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 05:50 PM

Here is the other thread with at least one English version. The original is a lullaby, which is what I'm looking for. I write historical fiction, and I'm trying to avoid anachronisms. :) I'm looking for a lullaby that would be well-known in America by the 1870s - 1880s. I struck out on "Toora-Loora-Looral" and "All Through the Night," and then I remembered that "Suo Gan" was a lullaby also. I'd welcome any other suggestions anybody could offer!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Suo Gan - English version(s)
From: Haruo
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 02:57 PM

That's a very familiar tune, and I know I've heard it with a hymn text in English (in the US) but I can't recall the text offhand. I'm fairly sure when used as a hymn tune it goes under a different name, as "Suo Gan" yields zero hits at hymnary.org. Will try to find out more and pass it along. (If we had its customary tune name, I'm sure it'd be easy to locate multiple texts sung to it.)

Haruo

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Suo Gan - English version(s)
From: sian, west wales
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 02:33 PM

I can't actually answer either question but I remember the musicologist Huw Williams saying, when it was heard in Empire of the Sun, that it was used by some American churches as a hymn tune. The only words I know for it are the Welsh ones; there's another thread on the song somewhere. It's been in print in the UK since ... 1800? ... and known before then so I should think it came over with Welsh emigrants.

sian

Subject: Lyr Req: Suo Gan - English version(s)
From: GUEST,Visitor
Date: 26 Jan 11 - 01:28 PM

Can anybody tell me how many different sets of English lyrics there are for 'Suo Gan,' and when it would first have been known and sung in America?