Why not learn an English ballad today?
September 1, 2016
| It was in autumn of 1989 that a friend of mine taught me to play and sing this old English ballad he’d just brought with himself from overseas. It hasn’t ceased captivating me ever since. | Bylo to na podzim roku 1989, kdy mě jeden kamarád naučil hrát a zpívat tuto starou anglickou baladu, kterou si zrovna přivezl ze zámoří. Od té doby mě nikdy nepřestala okouzlovat. |
| Then, in summer 2013, when I was experimenting with video blogs on Youtube, I made a simple recording of the song to use it as a soundtrack in one of my clips. | Potom, v létě 2013, když jsem experimentoval s videoblogy na Youtube, jsem udělal jednoduchou nahrávku této písně jako zvukovou stopu k jednomu ze svých klipů. |
| The song is beautiful and I’d like to share it with you. My own rendering is far from perfect but still I choose to go with it here: | Je to krásná píseň a rád bych se o ni s vámi podělil. Mé vlastní podání má daleko k dokonalosti, ale i tak je tady použiju ;-) |
| One Morning in May (in Prague) | |
| The lyrics and guitar chords are as follows: (See the vocabulary below.) |
Text a kytarové akordy jsou zde: (Slovíčka najdete níže.) |
| Emi D G D One morning, one morning, one morning in May Emi Hmi C Emi I spied a young couple, lovers on way G D Emi D One was a lady so bright and so fair Emi Hmi C Emi The other was a soldier brave and dare |
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| Good morning, good morning, good morning to thee Where are you going my pretty lady? I’m going to travel to the banks of the sea To see the port of Dover and the nightingale sing |
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| Now they both have been there over hour or two When out of his knapsack the fiddle he drew Under chin he played, made the valley all ring Up to the sky like a nightingale sing |
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| Pretty lady, pretty lady, it’s time to give up No my fine soldier, play one tune more I’d rather hear your fiddle and one touch of your string Then the seaport glide and the nightingale sing |
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| Pretty soldier, pretty soldier, will you marry me? No my fine lady, that never can be I have a wife in London and children twice three Two wives in the army are too many for me. |
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| Note: I mispronounced the word “valley” in the recording. It should be [ˈvæli]. (Not [ˈvɒli] like in “volley”.) | Poznámka: Slůvko „valley“ je na náhrávce vysloveno nesprávně. Má to být [ˈvæli]. (Nikoliv [ˈvɒli] jako ve slově „volley“ .) |
| spied | min. č. od spy – tajně sledovat, špehovat |
| couple | pár, dvojice |
| bright and fair | čistá a půvabá |
| brave and dare | udatný |
| to thee | = to you |
| bank | břeh |
| port, seaport | přístav |
| nightingale | slavík |
| knapsack | tlumok, ruksak |
| fiddle | housličky, skřipky |
| make (st.) ring | rozezvučet (něco) |
| give up | přestat, skončit |
| tune | melodie |
| string | struna |
| glide | plachtit |
| marry (sb.) | vzít si (někoho) |
| wife | manželka |
| army | armáda |