Russian Birthday Song

I can't explain the melody, but here are the words.

Poost begoot neooklyooshl
Peshehodee po loosham
Ee voda po asfaltoo rekoi
Ee neyasno prohosheem
V etot dyen nepogoshee
pochemoo ya vesyelee takoi

Chorus: sing twice
Ee ya eegrayoo na garmoshkye
Oo prohosh na veedoo
K soshaleneeyoo dyen roshdneeya
Tolko raz v godoo

Translation:
So what if (Literally 'Let') pedestrians run
clumsily through puddles
and water is flowing along the asphalt like a river.
It's unclear to the passers-by
On this horrible (from the point of view of weather) day
Why I am so happy (merry).

I am playing the accordion.
In front of (in the sight of) the passers-by
Unfortunately, my birthday
Is only once a year.
(Repeat the last two lines)
The American (and generally universal) Happy Birthday song:

Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday to you!
Happy birthday, dear fill in the blank!
Happy birthday to you!

And, for all us Dutch * folk out there, here's every Dutch version of Happy Birthday I could find:

Antwerps Dutch : Ne gelukkege verjoardach!
Bilzers Dutch : Ne geleukkege verjoardoag!
Drents Dutch : Fellisiteert!
Flemish Dutch : Gelukkige verjaardag!
or Prettige verjaardag!
Frisian Dutch : Fan herte lokwinske!
Limburgs Dutch : Proficiat! or Perfisia!
Spouwers Dutch : Ne geleukkege verjeurdoag!
Twents Dutch : Gefeliciteard met oen'n verjoardag!
Dutch : Hartelijk gefeliciteerd! or
Van harte gefeliciteerd met jeverjaardag!

Norwegian Birthday Song

This song was written by Margrethe Aabel Munthe (1860 - 1931). The first verse is very common to use in Norwegian birthdays, although a lot of people sing Happy Birthday to You instead. The second verse of this song is less known - I didn't know it myself until today. Node what you don't know :)

Lyrics:

Hurra for deg som fyller ditt år!
Ja, deg vil vi gratulere.
Alle i ring omkring deg vi står
og se, nå vil vi masjere,
bukke, nikke, neie, snu oss omkring,
danse for deg med hopp og sprett og spring,
Ønske deg av hjertet alle gode ting!
Og si meg så hva vil du mere - Gratulerer!

Høyt våre flagg vi svinger, Hurra!
Ja nå vil vi riktig feste!
Dagen er din, og dagen er bra,
men du er den aller beste!
Se deg om i ringen hvem du vil ta,
dans en liten dans med den du helst vil ha!
Vi vil alle sammen svinge oss så glad
og en av oss skal bli den neste - til å feste...

Note: In the original version, the last line does not contain "gratulerer" (1st verse) and "til å feste" (2nd verse).

Translation (by me)

Hurrah for you who have your birthday!
Yes, we want to congratulate you.
Everyone is standing in a ring around you
and see, we will march now
Bow, nod, curtsy, we turn around,
dance for you with jump and bounce and skip,
Wish you from the heart all good things!
And tell me, what more do you want - Congratulations!

We are waving our flags on high, hurrah
Yes, now we will have a party!
The day is yours, and the day is good,
but you are the best of all!
Look around the ring and take who you want
dance a little dance with whom you'd like to most!
We will all swing around so happily
and one of us will be the next - to have a party...

Leibe Julia!

So the guy at the Antikhandel supposed by looking at the earrings that they were made somewhere between forty and a hundred billion years ago: precisely when the last dinosaur took his dying breath (or, according to scientists less sentimental than myself, watched in horror as his skin melted from his bones.) They're made out of silver, at least to some extent, and have been owned by no fewer than three ladylike princesses, as well as one particuarly ladylike queen (if you get my drift.)

I took the liberty to also enclose a copy of an illustrated dinosaur book (serving as a consolation birthday present if you decide that earrings are too uninspired and one-year-aniversary.) The book's in German because I bought it in Germany, where the people take a keen interest in both dinosaurs and picturebooks. Remember how you felt when you first discovered illustrated dinosaur books? How the dinosaurs were big and scary and filled with teeth? This book should hopefully evoke the same emotions, if not for the big and scary dinosaurs, then for the big and toothy German words. You can thank me later for this rejuvenating experience, you twenty-year-old!

(I remember when I had just turned twenty... The world seemed bright and big and new! Full of optimistic possibility! What an exciting time in your life. However, as you grow older, you will likely feel your age catching up to you. After a few months had passed since my twentieth birthday, I found I had developed some joint problems and started drinking gin with Will and had even started to go antiquing!)

So I came to realize something last week when I'd gone to a few antique stores to find you something interesting (and mail-able) for your birthday. There are a lot of expensive dressers made in the late twenties. Tall dressers with peeling varnish that were traded in by the original owners' ingrateful grandchildren for rollerskates in the later part of the century, back when rollerskating (for whatever reason) was becoming more popular than properly dovetailed bureaus. My point is, I guess, that there've been a lot of people who've had a lot of things. Things that they've valued at some point in their lives and made into some part of their personal history. And, well, I guess I've assigned a lot of value to you. I guess just by looking at a silly pair of earrings, your grandchildren (named Otis-Clunk and Pangpang-Coupon, named after their grandmother's two favourite children) might not know that they were a birthday present from that guy that you used to know back when you were twenty. And maybe someday they'll take them from your dresser and sell them to get some more money for a pair of rollerskates.

But, truth be told, I'd rather they do that than put _you_ on the shelf of a German antique store because you're prettier than any old pair of earrings and I'd never have the chance to get you back. I guess what I'm trying to say is that I'm rather fond of you.

Happy birthday and see you soon!

Love,
Thom.
Birthday song (from Denmark)
These are just the lyrics, but both in Danish and English. Unfortunately I am a musical nitwit, so I couldn't tell you how it's played.

I dag er det "Name of person celebrated"'s fødselssdag
Hurra, hurra, hurra!
Han sikkert sig en gave får
som han har ønsket sig i år
med dejlig chokolade og kager til.

Hvor smiler han, hvor er han glad
hurra, hurra, hurra!
men denne dag er også rar
for hjemme venter "Mom and Dad, whoever birthdayboy lives with"
med dejlig chokolade og kager til.

Og når han hjem fra "school, place of work" går
hurra, hurra, hurra!
så skal han hjem og holde fest
og hvem, der kommer med som gæst
får dejlig chokolade og kager til.

Til slut vi råber højt i kor:
Hurra, hurra, hurra!
Gid "Name of person celebrated" længe leve må
og sine ønsker opfyldt få
med dejlig chokolade og kager til.

Translation

Today is "Name of person celebrated"'s birthday
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
He'll probably get a present
For which he has been wishing
All with tasty chocolate and cakes.

Oh, how he smiles; how happy he is
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
But then, this day sure is nice
cuz' "Mom and Dad, whoever birthdayboy lives with" are waiting at home
with tasty chocolate and cakes.

And when he goes home from his "school, place of work"
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
He'll be going home to throw a party
And all those invited as guests
Get tasty chocolate and cakes.

To end this we'll all shout together:
Hooray! Hooray! Hooray!
May "Name of person celebrated" live long
And have his wishes granted
All with tasty chocolate and cakes.

*The song is mostly meant for children, so in danish, the melody only "fits" if the celebrated person lives with his mom and dad,
goes to school, and has a name with two syllables. We do sing it to adults as well, jokingly.

On a little sidenote: In danish "Happy Birthday" spells out like:
"Glædelig Fødselsdag" And is pronounced something like:
"Glaeth-eh-lee Fur-sells-day" That's just an approximation, though.
(I couldn't explain how it's really pronounced. Our language has the abominable soft-D's.)

But if any of you noders get the urge to wish me (30th of April) or other danes a happy birthday in our maternal language, now you know how.

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