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rock and/or roll
Sumer is icumen in
For May Day, a medieval song; the manuscript source dates from the 1260s. The original earworm. Extremely twee. There is a tambourine.
[mp3]
I kept it in the original key which, at modern pitch, is probably honestly a bit too high for me-- apologies.
Percussion is me thumping the piano lid. The tambourine once belonged to the Mediaeval Baebes, if you remember them.
posted by Pallas Athena on May 01, 2025 at 8:16 AM
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Wiki page on the song
Lyrics:
Sumer is icumen in,
lhude sing cuccu!
Groweth sed
and floweth med
and springth the wode nu.
Sing cuccu!
Awe bleteth after lomb,
lhouth after calve cu.
Bulluc sterteth,
bukke verteth,
murie sing cuccu!
Cuccu, cuccu,
wel singes thu cuccu,
ne swik thu naver nu.
Modernised:
Summer is a-coming in,
Loud sing cuckoo!
The seed grows, the meadow flowers,
the woods spring anew.
Sing cuckoo!
The ewe bleats after her lamb,
the cow lows after her calf.
The bullock leaps up,
the buck farts [or cavorts?]
merrily sing cuckoo!
Cuckoo, cuckoo,
well you sing cuckoo;
Never cease now.
posted by Pallas Athena at 9:40 AM
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May 1st is the first day of summer on the cross-quarter aka Celtic calendar. The first day of Spring is Groundhog Day fka Bear Day since times immemorial. Same drill on the seeing one's shadow by the way.
posted by y2karl at 12:45 PM
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Belated, but this was fun! I can't remember now when I learned the song - ages ago, and my memory of the melody is a bit askew. Thanks for sharing!
posted by mersen at 1:27 PM
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