Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?

Subject: Origins: Ach Ja - German or Dutch children's song
From: GUEST,BigDaddy
Date: 07 Oct 08 - 06:12 PM

Once in a while a song pops into my head that we used to sing in elementary school in the 1950s. It began,

"When my mother and my father take a journey to the fair,
Ach ja! Ach ja!
Although they have no money they're as rich as any there,
Ach ja! Ach ja!
Tra la la, tra la la, tra la la la la la la.

Just wondering whether this was actually a folk song (there was a dance that we did to this song), or just a piece composed for children's music classes. I found a reference at lloydshaw.org but no background. Anyone?

Subject: RE: Origins: Ach Ja - German or Dutch children's s
From: Susan of DT
Date: 07 Oct 08 - 07:44 PM

My mother and my father took a journey to the fair
Ach Ja, Ach ja
They hadn't any money, but they didn't seem to care
Ach ja, ach ja

Subject: RE: Origins: Ach Ja - German or Dutch children's song
From: GUEST,BigDaddy
Date: 09 Oct 08 - 02:43 AM

Well, that's a variation.

Subject: ADD: Ach Ja!
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Oct 13 - 12:00 AM

Somebody e-mailed me and asked whether the song "Ach Ja!" is a German song. I couldn't answer the question, since I hadn't known of the song. I found a bit on the Internet, which I'll copy/paste here. Does anybody know if there is an original German song that is the source of this one?

ACH JA

When the Father and the Mother
Make a visit to the fair
Ach Ja! Ach Ja!
They haven't any money
Nor does anybody there
Ach Ja! Ach Ja!

Tra la la, tra la la
Tra la la la la la la
Tra la la, tra la la
Tra la la la la la la
Ach Ja! Ach Ja!

Source: http://kalisch13.tripod.com/lyric_act.htm

---

Our songbook indexing project has the song listed in two books:

CAMP SONGS 'N' THINGS, Carl E. Zander and Wes H. Klusmann.
Songs 'N' Things, The James J. Gillick & Co. pub. Berkeley CA 1939

MUSIC NEAR AND FAR
Author: Mursell, Tipton, Landeck, Nordholm, Freeburg, Watson
Publisher: Silver Burdett
Series: Music for Living
Grade: 4
Date: 1956

I have both of these books at home, but won't be home until October 14. Anybody else have these books? Can you check to see if they have source info?

-Joe-

Subject: ADD Version: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: Joe Offer
Date: 04 Oct 13 - 12:01 AM

Also this one, from the Macaroni Soup Website.

Ach Ja!

When children learn simple folk dances, their brains practice storing the information in patterns and sequences. This is excellent practice for pre-readers and beginning readers, who will need to have those skills to process what they read!

Ach Ja is a wonderful partner dance. The title means "oh, yes!" in German, and is pronounced ACH YA. Feel that oom-pa spirit! When introducing this dance, I talk with the children about some of the vocabulary in the lyrics, such as "journey" (a trip), and "fair" (not the cotton candy and rides kind – more like a farmers market, where people did their shopping before there were grocery stores!) When we talk about what it means to sing "they hadn't any money", I've facilitated some interesting 4 and 5-year old discussions of doing without in these tough times! One child told me that "we don't have money at my house – Mom says "No More McDonalds!" Well, it has a different meaning to many children.

I introduce this dance after children have mastered simpler partner dances, as changing partners adds difficulty – and FUN! Remember, dancing is a social, emotional AND physical activity!

Lyrics:	ACH JA! Oh my mother and my father took a journey to the fair Ach Ja! Ach Ja! They hadn't any money, but they didn't seem to care Ach Ja! Ach Ja! Tra la la, tra la la, Tra lala lala lala Tra la la, tra la la, Tra lala lala lala Ach Ja! Ach Ja!
The Dance:	Each couple holds one hand to walk forward in a large circle for lines 1 and 3. Each time you sing "Ach Ja!", you face your partner and bow at the waist, one hand over your tummy, the other behind your back. During the tra la la's, face partner, holding both hands and circle around together (sashay!) Stop for the final set of bows, then find a new partner! Encourage the children to sing along!

Subject: RE: Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 04 Oct 13 - 08:00 AM

It is a well-known song and folk dance throughout German and Dutch speaking areas, of course in many variants of melody and lyrics. The oldest lyrics fragment seems to be "Wenn der Vater mit der Mutter auf die Kirchweih geht, ei ja, so, so!" Later variants have been mixed with other folk lyrics. Here is a popular "Rheinländer" version including the typical change of metre:

X:1
T:Es geht nichts über die Gemütlichkeit
M:4/4
L:1/4
K:G
D|GGG/G/A/G/|FEDc|F2zD|G2z\
w:Es geht nichts ü-ber die Ge-müt-lich-keit, ei ja, so, so,
D/D/|G/G/G/G/G/G/A/G/|FEDc|F2zD|G2z\
w:Wenn der Va-ter mit der Mut-ter auf die Kirch-weih geiht, ei ja, so, so!
[M:3/4]|:B/c/|d2B/c/|d2c/d/|e2A|A2A/B/|c2A/B/|c2B/c/|d2G|G2:|\
w:Fi-de-ri, fi-de-ra, fi-de-ral-la-la, fi-de-ri, fi-de-ra, fi-de-ral-la-la.
B|[M:4/4]G2zD|G2z|]
w:Ei ja, so, so!

Translation:
Nothing surpasses the cosiness
When the father with the mother goes to the fair [celebrating the anniversary of the consecration of the church],
Hey yes, like that, like that! [- dancers possibly imitating a typical gesture]

See YouTube, ingeb.org etc.

The "Ach ja!" occurring in the English version can mean either "Oh, I see!" or "Alas!" - the latter meaning is more likely. I guess the song has been brought to the USA by German settlers who were occasionally homesick, though generally glad to have escaped misery.

Subject: RE: Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 04 Oct 13 - 11:23 AM

Hello, Grishka. Thank you for the abc and the explanation. It's nice to be able to hear what the piece under discussion sounds like.

Subject: RE: Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: GUEST,Leadbelly
Date: 04 Oct 13 - 12:35 PM

Here is what I found out about this song (taken from:www.volksmusik-archiv.de/vma/node/1600)


Text zu: Wenn der Vater mit der Mutter oder Erlebnisse auf dem Kirchweihfest

    Wenn der Vater mit der Mutter auf die Kirchweih geht, / eija, so, so! Fideri, fidera, fideralala. Eija, so, so!
    Und der Vater kauft der Mutter einen Luftballon / eija, so, so! Fideri, fidera, ...
    Und die Mutter fährt alleine auf dem Karussell
    Und dann essen beide miteinand an Steckerlfisch
    Und dann trinken sie zusammen eine Halbe Bier
    Und dann tanzen alle beide auf dem Kirchweihfest
    Und es geht nichts über die Gemütlichkeit

In ganz Oberbayern und darüberhinaus verbreitete Melodie im Rheinländertempo. 1841 hat Herzog Max in Bayern die Melodie für seine "Amalienpolka" verwendet, die um 1860 in ganz Deutschland bekannt war. Die 2. Stimme läßt sich als Terz darübersingen, weitere Texte sollten je nach Situation dazugemacht werden. Schon die Strophen 2-6 sind 1992 mit leichter Hand entstanden.

So sorry for haven't time to translate this. Manfred

Subject: RE: Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: Phil Cooper
Date: 04 Oct 13 - 01:36 PM

Our third grade music class sang this in 1963. In the Chicago suburbs.

Subject: RE: Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: GUEST
Date: 20 Mar 14 - 05:55 AM

How nice, I finally found a place that explained an elementary school song I remember from the early 1960s. I had thought the words were, "though they haven't any money there are rich ones hare and there", but that was close enough. Instead of "tral la la" we were given German words ... all I remember was that they started with "V" (sounded like "ven ee kampf, ven ee kampf, ven ee vieder vieder kampf" to my linguistically challenged ear)

Frank Mariani

[e-mail]

Subject: RE: Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Dec 16 - 05:11 PM

Ach Ja!
Listen to the whole song on Dancing Feet, or hear it here:

When children learn simple folk dances, their brains practice storing the information in patterns and sequences. This is excellent practice for pre-readers and beginning readers, who will need to have those skills to process what they read!

Ach Ja is a wonderful partner dance. The title means "oh, yes!" in German, and is pronounced ACH YA. Feel that oom-pa spirit! When introducing this dance, I talk with the children about some of the vocabulary in the lyrics, such as "journey" (a trip), and "fair" (not the cotton candy and rides kind – more like a farmers market, where people did their shopping before there were grocery stores!) When we talk about what it means to sing "they hadn't any money", I've facilitated some interesting 4 and 5-year old discussions of doing without in these tough times! One child told me that "we don't have money at my house – Mom says "No More McDonalds!" Well, it has a different meaning to many children.

I introduce this dance after children have mastered simpler partner dances, as changing partners adds difficulty – and FUN! Remember, dancing is a social, emotional AND physical activity!

Lyrics:        
Oh my mother and my father took a journey to the fair
Ach Ja! Ach Ja!
They hadn't any money, but they didn't seem to care
Ach Ja! Ach Ja!
Tra la la, tra la la, Tra lala lala lala
Tra la la, tra la la, Tra lala lala lala Ach Ja!
Ach Ja!

The Dance:        
Each couple holds one hand to walk forward in a large circle for lines 1 and 3. Each time you sing "Ach Ja!", you face your partner and bow at the waist, one hand over your tummy, the other behind your back. During the tra la la's, face partner, holding both hands and circle around together (sashay!) Stop for the final set of bows, then find a new partner! Encourage the children to sing along!

Age Range: 4 - 7 year olds!

Purpose: Dancing promotes pattern and sequence development in the brain. It also encourages positive social interaction, multi-tasking, physical activity and following directions. AND IT'S FUN!!!

Other Partner Dances: "The Muffin Man Dance" on Sticky Bubble Gum, "Jump Jim Joe" (SOTM 3/09) and "Skip To My Lou" – both on Dancing Feet, "The Partner Dance" on Stinky Cake, and "Who Will Be My Friend Today?" (SOTM 2/06) on Tiny Tunes.

(photo)

Subject: RE: Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Dec 16 - 05:14 PM

http://www.macaronisoup.com/songs/ach-ja.htm

Subject: RE: Origins: 'Ach Ja!' - German song?
From: GUEST
Date: 14 Mar 19 - 02:44 PM

We sang that song in grade school(late forties); this was in a community with a large Mennonite influence, so I assumed it was a folk song from their background. Th only difference that I remember was the first line: "My mama and my papa took a journey to the fair . . ."