Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm

Subject: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby?
From: crisw
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 12:17 AM

I swear I posted this two days ago, but I cannot find the thread anywhere...

I am looking for the title of a song, perhaps a lullaby, that was probably sung in German. A very phonetic rendering of the chorus would be "Hi-chee boom bi-chee boom boom." This was a song that my German-American father, who grew up in the 1920s in Minnesota, used to sing to us when we were small.

I don't know enough German to know if the lyric could make any sense if translated.

Subject: ADD: Heitschi-Bumm-Beitschi-Bumm-Bumm
From: MudGuard
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 12:37 AM

Heitschi-Bumm-Beitschi-Bumm-Bumm.

Aber heitschi bumbeitschi, schlaf lange,
es is ja dei Muatta ausgange,
sie is ja ausgange und kimmt nimma hoam
und lasst des kloa Büabale ganz alloan.
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum,
aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum.

Aber heitschi bumbeitschi, schlaf süaße,
die Engelein lassn di grüaßn!
Sie lassen di grüaßn und lassn di fragn,
ob du in' Himml spazieren willst fahrn.
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum,
aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum.

Aber heitschi bumbeitschi, in Himml,
da führt di a schneeweißer Schimml,
drauf sitzt a kloans Engerl mit oana Latern,
drein leuchtet vom Himml da allerschönst Stern.
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum,
aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum.

Und da Heitschi-Bumbeitschi is kumma
und hat ma mei Büabal mitgnumma.
Er hat ma's mitgnumma und hats nimma bracht.
Drum wünsch i meim Büabal a recht guate Nacht!
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum,
aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum.

--------------------------------------

Heitschi-Bumbeitschi is not really translatable, it is some kind of language used when you stroke very little babies (who don't understand language anyway).

I'll try to translate the rest.


Aber heitschi bumbeitschi, sleep long,
your mother has gone out
she has gone out and won't come home again
and leaves the little boy alone.
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum,
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum.

Aber heitschi bumbeitschi, sleep sweetly,
the little angels send greetings to you
They send greetings to you and ask you
whether you want to come to heaven.
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum,
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum.

Aber heitschi bumbeitschi, in heaven,
a snow-white horse will guide you
on it sits a little angel with a lantern
in which the most beautiful star of the sky is shining.
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum,
aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum.

And the Heitschi-Bumbeitschi has come
And has taken my little boy with him
He took him with him and didn't bring him back.
Therefore I wish my little boy a good night.
Aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum,
aber heitschi bumbeitschi bumbum.

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Uv7TnpU48

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 02:51 AM

In the last verse the Heitschibumbeitschi is personalized. A sort of sandman, perhaps.
The text is in Bavarian.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 03:15 AM

In 1968/69 the song was in the number one lists, sung by young Heintje. Here and elsewhere it is written Heidschi bumbeidschi.

tune here

---

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a1Uv7TnpU48

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 06:10 AM

Heidschi possibly from the verb heien (Bavarian and Franconian) to lull s.o. to sleep, to rock s.o. to sleep; also to fondle. Cf. Heia bed, cradle in childrens' language.
In medieval Salzburg, Austria such a song is proved with haidl bubaidl, later on changed into our heidschi bumbeidschi.

Abstract from the Brothers' Grimm German Dictionary

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: Wolfgang
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 06:56 AM

A very scaring lullaby. The beautiful tune accompanies strange lyrics for a lullaby:

And the Heitschi-Bumbeitschi has come
And has taken my little boy with him
He took him with him and didn't bring him back.
Therefore I wish my little boy a good night.

Now that's really a verse to make a little boy sleep without fear. The first verse in some versions is no better playing with the fears that the mother may not come home anymore.

Your mother may not come home anymore and you yourself may be taken away by the Heidschi bumbeidschi, now sleep well, my sweetheart boy.

(for the Germans: Did the parody Heintje Popeintje have any lyrics beyond the title?)

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: Wolfgang
Date: 23 Nov 06 - 07:12 AM

The web is full of fancy explanations for the "Heidschi bumbeidschi" part.

(1) "Heude, mu paidion" is Greek for "Sleep my child" so it could be onomatopoietic for what a greek nurse once sung to a child.
(2) Hadschi Bombaci (you get the bomb part of it?) is a feared Muslim and alludes to the Muslims stealing Christian children to make them Janitsars. Therefore the threat to be taken away and not coming home anymore.

I can't decide which is the less credible explanation.

Wolfgang

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: Wilfried Schaum
Date: 24 Nov 06 - 02:45 AM

Both are less credible than the explanation I gave according to the Grimm Bros.' Dictionary.
Janissaries weren't stolen, but enlisted as a tribute of the Sultan's Christian subjects (devshirme = choosing the boys).

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: GUEST,Duke
Date: 02 Mar 11 - 01:26 PM

I remember my motheer singing this song to me when I was little (she is German). I never knew exactly what she was singing until I ran across a Youtube video of the song with (badly spelled/interpreted) lyrics. My research has so far alluded to this song originating from midwives singing to orphaned infants (mothers dying in childbirth, etc.) Which, if it is true, explains most of the lyrics. The babies mother has died and the midwife sings to calm him and say when he sleeps he will be led by angels to heaven (possibly with his mother though that is not included in the lyric per se). It a very sad song and it seems a strange one to have become a common lullaby for young children.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 01:40 PM

I think that the reference to the little boy 'going away' means merely that he's going to sleep for good. Off to Dreamland, if you will. Or in the arms of Morpheus. There are lots of metaphors where going away means going to sleep.

If you've ever tried to get a tired, cranky child to sleep (and seen him doze off then wake up again in two minutes) you would probably find that more credible.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 03 Mar 11 - 03:37 PM

The mother has passed away a while ago, so it's no news for the boy, who obviously remembers her and feels left alone. The singer (nanny, father, stepmother) tells the boy to sleep, so that he has at least the angels for company.

YouTube is full of the most horrible kitsch. There must be decent recordings, but I did not even find an acceptable one. The record companies started the race for maximal reverb and the rock-bottom of taste; that Dutch boy singer runs neck-and-neck with Placido Domingo, Engelbert Humperdinck (the one from India), genuine Tyrolese boys, the daughter of a Romani representative, and many others. That is really sad. Some leave out the verse about the mother, consequentially.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: GUEST,sjw
Date: 15 Oct 12 - 07:08 PM

While we were living in Germany in the 70s, our daughter was born. We are both German speakers (he native, I not) and I soon became very good at German nursery rhymes and lullabies. This song, although we both loved it, unnerved us. It sounds to us as though yes, the mother has gone out and is not coming back (actually, it was not uncommon at that time for women to leave their babies sleeping while they went out and did the shop, something we never understood). But the second verse, frighteningly enough, almost sounds like a crib death.

I don't really like our interpretation of this song, but I'm not 100% on board with any of the other ones either. However, I do have a little more insight since reading the thread. Thank you.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: GUEST,leeneia
Date: 16 Oct 12 - 09:58 AM

In 2006, Wilfried supplied a link (still good) to the version which made a hit in 1968/9. That version merely says that mother is gone and won't come back for a long time. Now, a "long time" to a kid could be 3 hours.

I've been a babysitter, and I know.

In 1973-4, I was working in a library in Milwaukee. One of the other employees went on a trip to East Germany, and they stayed with her fiance's relatives. She came back to say that family life was different there (and then). The dwelling had one, large cold room for gathering, and the extended family sat around the small heat stove and talked. In a high chair sat a baby, all bundled up and named Uwe. She never did learn whether Uwe was a boy, girl or what.

I can easily picture a woman from such a group going shopping or to a show, leaving the baby with an aunt, sister or cousin from the familiar family group. And the relative sings this little song.

The third verse of the hit song is a charming fantasy that the stars are lanterns that the angels are holding in heaven. It's not a mean or scarey song at all.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: Ernest
Date: 16 Oct 12 - 01:21 PM

Leenia,

"Uwe" is a boys name. Uwe Seeler was a well known soccer player in Hamburg, his name would be known in the seventies in East Germany as well.

As for the cold room: this never happened in a socialist country, your colleague must have missed his courses in marxism/leninism... ;0)

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: GUEST,Grishka
Date: 17 Oct 12 - 05:56 PM

sjw, please tell us whether you agree that the mother will not return any more - in other words, is dead or (less likely) gone for good? If she were gone only for a short time, the nanny would say so.

In contrast, if the boy were dead, he would not profit from his mother's (earthly) return, therefore I assume the HB (sandman?) has taken him temporarily and has not brought him back yet. Would that fit your understanding of the perfect tense?

The text may have become corrupted. Experts on Austrian dialects and folklore are needed.

Commercial recordings of folk songs - particularly by star "crooners" - are often adapted to the assumed "soft" present-day taste. Death, except for murder, does not sell any more.

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Nov 23 - 04:55 PM

Wow I had this song stuck in my head from my parents listening to it and didn't know who sang it!

Subject: RE: Lyr Req: Old German lullaby? - Heitschi-Bumm
From: GUEST
Date: 09 Nov 23 - 04:55 PM

Wow I had this song stuck in my head from my parents listening to it and didn't know who sang it!