Birthday blues
Yesterday I went to the store to buy some food. There was a cute little blond girl sitting in her daddy’s shopping cart with a paper crown on her head. As they were heading towards the cash register, the little girl starting singing a familiar American song: “Happy verjaardag to you, Happy verjaardag to you!” Yup, ‘verjaardag’ is Dutch for ‘birthday’. I know two Dutch birthday songs, one is “Er is er een jarig” (roughly, “It’s someone’s birthday here”, and the other one is “Lang zal ze leven” (roughly, “Long shall he/she live”. They are both very catchy, I assure you.
March 25th, 2006 at 10:39 pm
Nr.3 : “O, wat zijn wij heden blij …”
March 28th, 2006 at 11:10 am
Nr.4: “Tweeeeeee violen en een trommel en een fluit…”
March 28th, 2006 at 11:12 am
Leuk!
March 28th, 2006 at 2:24 pm
Just wondering, as you call “Happy birthday to you” an American birthday song, what is sung on birthdays in Britain? Or maybe nothing is sung?
March 28th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
I know they sing Happy birthday to you, I do not know what else they sing.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Happy_Birthday
“The melody of “Happy Birthday to You” was written by American sisters Patty and Mildred Hill in 1893 when they were school teachers in Louisville, Kentucky.”
I also know another American one (need to look it up):
It’s your birthday, the day you were born
It’s your birthday, the day you were born
And it happens every year and we always give a cheer
It’s your birthday, the day you were born.
In France, there is “Bon annivesaire, nos voeux les plus sincères”, etc.
In French-speaking Canada, they have “Bonne fête à toi, etc.”, amongst others.