A traditional Ukrainian New Year's Carol telling the story of a swallow that flies into a house at New Years to let the people know of the wealth that will come with the Spring. Somehow it became adapted as a Christmas carol, but there has been a lot of repurposing when it comes to Christmas. The title is associated with plenty - not a bad thing to dream about in January.
I really like Kitka's performance (track 19)1, but this little duet is nice. It sounds much better in Ukrainian ...
Shchedryk, shchedryk, a shchedrivka;
A little swallow flew
and started to twitter,
to summon the master:
"Come out, come out, O master,
look at the sheep pen,
there the ewes are nestling
and the lambkin have been born
Your livestock are great,
you will have a lot of money,
if not money, then chaff:
you have a beautiful wife."
Shchedryk, shchedryk, a shchedrivka,
A little swallow flew.
________
1 If you live in the Bay Area, track Kitka down and go to a performance. They are amazing live!
Comments