Someone Recognized the Tune!

Well, one of my friends recognized the tune from my atrocious singing. It's a German folk song called Du, du liegst mir im Herzen, which translates to You, You are in my Heart.  She sent me links to two videos but I found another that is very close to how we learnt the song for Glee Club.

German Folk Song video

Where they sing Ja, Ja, together is where we would have had the repeated line. I think they are also singing 4 verses where we only had 3, although I think we did repeat the last verse.

Snowy fields in the winter

White sheep looking for food

Star and angel appearing to the poor shepherd so good

Star and angel to the poor shepherd so good.

Haste to Bethlehem stable

There in manger for bed

You will find the Christ Child

That's what the angel had said

Find the Christ Child that's what the angel had said

Bowing before such glory

on that beautiful morn

there the shepherds beheld him

thus was the Christ Child born

They beheld him, thus was the Christ Child born.

So now I know, after all these years what the song was. I was probably told way back then but forgot!.

Snowy Fields

Does Anyone Recognize the Melody?

When I was in Grade 9, so many years ago, I was in the Glee Club. That year, one of the local radio stations was recording school choirs singing Christmas carols. Our club had learned I song that I thought was called You, You, Tender and Wistful. Our director said that if anyone wanted to write some words to make it a Christmas song we could sing that for the radio. I tried to find the song on the internet but couldn't find it, I'm thinking now that it might be a classical piece that later had words put to the music.

Anyway, one of my fellow students wrote the following words:

Snowy fields in the winter

White sheep looking for food

Star and angel appearing to the poor shepherd so good

Star and angel to the poor shepherd so good.

Haste to Bethlehem stable

There in manger for bed

You will find the Christ Child

That's what the angel had said

Find the Christ Child that's what the angel had said

Bowing before such glory

on that beautiful morn

there the shepherds beheld him

thus was the Christ Child born

They beheld him, thus was the Christ Child born.

After all these years I still remember the words to the carol but not the words to the song I originally learned.

Since I couldn't find the original song or music, you'll just have to listen to me sing. My apologies. If you know the melody please let me know what it is.

Snowy Fields

The Words of Wordless Wednesday

The song "Acadie of our Hearts" was written by Lennie Gallant for the first Acadian World Congress (Congres Mondiale Acadien) which was held in 1994.  The CMA has been held every five years since then. It is held in various locations mostly in the Maritime provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island but has also been held in Louisiana in the United States. Below are the words to the song (the French in blue and the English in grey, my translation with help from Google). I put a link in the song title to another recording of the song.

Acadie de nos cœurs

Séparés par la mer (Seperated by the sea)

Pendant les années tristes (During the sad years)

Dispersés à travers (Scattered everywhere)

On n’avait pas eu l’choix d’partir (We had no choice but to leave)

C’est l’temps pour se revoir (It's now the time to meet again)

Chanter danser ensemble (To sing, to dance together)

Où ça tout commencer (Where did it all start)

Presque 400 ans passés (Nearly 400 years ago)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Viennent du nord et de l’est (Coming from the north and east)

Pour fêter la joie de vivre (To celebrate the joy of living)

Viennent du sud et de l’ouest (Coming from the south and west)

Attirés par les racines (Drawn by our roots)

T’est mon frère, t’est ma sœur (You're my brother, you're my sister)

J’tai point  connu jusqu’asteur (I did not know you until now)

Je peux voir dans tes yeux (I can see in your eyes)

Comment t’a pas pu oublier (How you could not forget)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

  

La douleur du départ (The pain of the departure)

Et les larmes déjà versés (And the tears already spilled)

S’oublie dans la joie (But lets not forget the joy)

Que l’on prend à s’retrouver (we take in finding ourselves).

 Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Acadie de nos cœurs (Acadie of our hearts)

Enfin c’est ton heure (Finally it's your time)

Tes enfants reviennent dans tes bras (Your children return to your arms)

Three Day Quote Challenge - Day Three

Our journey with dogs, any animal I guess, has us having to go through the cycle of loss and grief sadly too frequently.  My quote for my last day is on my blog.

"Love knows not it's own depth until the hour of separation"

- Kahlil Gibran


This is an excerpt from the book The Prophet and, believe it or not, I have several excerpts in my journal. It is a wonderfully thoughtful book about life.

You think you know how much it will hurt to lose someone, a family member, a friend, a pet but I don't think you really do; not until it happens. And each time it is different, when I lost my Ceilidh to cancer it was the first dog that I have ever been with for the euthanasia. It surprised me that I wasn't more upset at the time but what I found was that afterwards the cycle of loss seemed to take so much longer to get through. Does it mean I loved her more, I don't think so, I just think her loss was more personal because I was there.

Ceilidh passed over to the Bridge in May 2010, the song Let Her Go was not released until July 2012. The first time I heard that song on the radio I was in tears, everything about Ceilidh's loss came back so fresh in my mind.  Songs have for me always held an association with each of dogs I have lost but I was surprised that two years after her passing this one touched me so deeply. It is now connected to the memories of my Ceilidh girl.

Video link to Passenger's Let Her Go

I guess that's life though and as the song says, you only know the highs when you're feeling low. We wouldn't know the exhilaration of those highs without the comparison of the lows.

Musical Memories

It seems that when I lost each of my dogs that certain songs brought on the tears. Now those songs bring back the memories of the ones gone ahead, some days happy memories and sometimes there's still a little tear.

Sadly, I don't recall if there was that special song for my first Sheltie Duffy.  

When my Gryffon passed I had just bought the CD by Billy Gilman for the song One Voice but two other songs on that album are the ones that now bring back Gryffon's memory to me. Gryffon was only my second dog and I thought I knew it all, as a result he wasn't well socialized. He was so shy around people, it took him a long time to get to know people and few people knew what he was really like. But as shy as he was I always felt that Gryffon would be the one to have protected me if I had ever really needed him as like the song says "there's a hero in everybody's heart".

Video of Billy Gilman's There's a Hero

The other song from the same album was Spend Another Night. Gryffon was my first bi-black, I had never even heard of bi-black Shelties before.  When I was beginning to think about another puppy, I asked a work colleague to let friends of his who were breeders know that I was interested in getting a puppy. He came into work the very next day and said they had two puppies ready to go and off we went at lunch to see them. Both bi-black, a female and a male; the female was more outgoing but Gryffon stole my heart right there and then. 

Spend Another Night

I instantly knew
When I saw you
You and I would be forever
Hearts never apart
True from the start
To each other and together
There's nothing we can't do
And until the end of time
If you tell me you'll be mine

I'm never gonna spend another night
Without you in my dreams
For the rest of my life
I'm gonna reach out to you honestly
And try
To give you what you need
With all of my might
'Cause nothing has ever felt
So real and so right
So I'm gonna never spend another night
Without you in my dreams

'Cause you
Are so in my heart
Even alone in the dark
I can feel the light of our love shining
We are so meant to be
That we are definitely
Destiny
And there's no denying
That I love you
Though it's so cliché
There's nothing else to say

But I'm never gonna spend another night
Without you in my dreams
For the rest of my life
I'm gonna reach out to you
Honestly and try
To give you what you need
With all of my might
'Cause nothing has ever felt so
Real and so right
So I'm never gonna
Never gonna
Never gonna spend another night
Without you in my dreams
I'm never gonna spend another night

I lost Gryffon to an abdominal wall infection at 7 and a half years old. He had been treated for gastrointestinal infections, bladder stones, and for an ulcer before they did exploratory surgery and found that his intestines had adhered to his body wall. The cause of the infection was unknown. 

For Ceilidh, every second song on the radio while we were on the journey with cancer seemed to have meaning. 

There's Mariannas Trench - Beside You

When your tears are spent on your last pretense
And your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defense
When it's in your spine like you've walked for miles
And the only thing you want is just to be still for a while

And if your heart wears thin, I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you, I'll be right beside you

When you're overwhelmed and you've lost your breath
And the space between the things you know is blurry nonetheless
When you try to speak but you make no sound
And the words you want are out of reach but they've never been so loud

And if your heart wears thin, I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you, I'll be right beside you

I will stay, nobody will break you
Trust in me, trust in me, don't pull away
Just trust in me, trust me 'cause I'm just trying to keep it together
'Cause I could do worse and you could do better

When your tears are spent on your last pretense
And your tired eyes refuse to close and sleep in your defense

And if your heart wears thin I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you, nobody will break you

And if your heart wears thin I will hold you up
And I will hide you when it gets too much
I'll be right beside you (I will stay beside you)
Nobody will break you

Nickelback's Never Gonna be Alone.

You're never gonna be alone
From this moment on, if you ever feel like letting go,
I won't let you fall...
You're never gonna be alone
I'll hold you 'til the hurt is gone.

Both of those songs seem to describe what we went through on that journey and that's what I tried to do was hold on with both hands but in the end all I could do was hold her until the hurt was gone.

Tucker was the first of my dogs to pass away at home. Duffy and Gryffon were both already at the vet's office. For Duffy, who had age-related kidney failure, I had brought him in and made the decision to let him go the next day. He passed away while I waited for my parents to arrive as I didn't want to be alone. Gryffon passed away following the exploratory surgery. He made it out of surgery and I thought about going to see him that evening but decided to wait until the next morning. My vet had told me that the first 24 hrs would be critical, he didn't make it so I didn't get to see him that one last time. I was with Tucker all through that last night so that made his passing somewhat easier than all the others. Both of his songs are songs by Lynn Miles, one song Fearless Heart describes me rather than Tucker as Tucker was a fearless heart and the other since it was our Good Bye.

Fearless Heart

I wish I had a quiet mind
cool water and sweet old time
and the answer to everything
good luck and pair of wings
I wish I knew which way to turn
I could remember every lesson I've learned
I wish the world was a kinder place 
and I could put a smile on your beautiful face
I wish I had a fearless heart
I wish I wouldn't fall apart
I wish I know how to make a start
I wish I had a fearless heart 
I wish I had a fearless heart
I wish I could leave the past behind
I wish I had a straighter line
a better view and a cleaner mess
new shoes and a party dress
I wish there was a golden sun
enough love for everyone
I wish this didn't have to hurt so bad
feel so crazy be so sad
I wish that I was brave and cool
and I could break my own rules
I wish that I could face the truth

I wish that I was bullet proof

Tucker Remembered - Lynn Miles' Goodbye

Tonight that video of Tucker and song Goodbye made me smile. I also wouldn't want you all to think that all the songs that bring back memories are melancholy. There are happy songs too, Little Bitty Pretty One for Ceilidh comes to mind and the Beach Boys Get Around for Tucker.   But I guess that's the way memories are; all of the sights and sounds of our lives linked in our minds. 

And those that are not forgotten are never truly gone. 

Good Night Duffy, Gryffon, Tucker and Ceilidh, sweet dreams.